Rugby League: Kiwis overcome resolute English defence

Shaun Kenny-Dowall scores the only try of the test early in the second half. Picture / Getty Images

The Kiwis are still alive, levelling the three-match league test series with a narrow win over England at London's Olympic Stadium yesterday.

New Zealand were completely dominant but a combination of incredible English defence - this team doesn't know when to give up - and missed chances by the visitors kept the game in the balance until the 77th minute, when Jordan Kahu kicked a field goal to extend New Zealand's lead beyond a converted try.

The flash point of the match came eight minutes from fulltime, when the video referee disallowed a James Graham try besides the posts. Referee Gerard Sutton had awarded the try, but the video decision was probably correct, as it appeared Graham had lost control.

In a new stadium, this was old-style test football. The Kiwis produced a courageous effort, retaining their self-belief after the disappointments of last week and being frustrated on attack for much of the match.

Unlike last week, the New Zealand bench overshadowed their opposites, and Kodi Nikorima and Peta Hiku combined well in the halves.

Though the game was staged far from league's northern heartland, Londoners responded by buying two-thirds of the 43,000 tickets sold.

The marketing tagline for this series asks England fans to "be the White Wall". Their team took heed in the first half, with a staggering defensive effort to keep the Kiwis tryless. The Kiwis threw everything they had but the England line was as fortified as the Tower of London.

Hiku was twice stopped just short of the line, while Kevin Proctor was hauled back centimetres short by some outstanding defence. No matter what the Kiwis tried, England had an answer, even managing to scrag Roger Tuivasa-Sheck at full pace on several occasions.

But the Kiwis also lacked direction. They lacked someone with the ability to see one or two plays ahead, spotting the eventual gap rather than what was just in front of them.

England threatened only in the final moments of the first half, with Lewis Brown stopping Tom Burgess in the shadow of the posts, and Tuivasa-Sheck shutting down two dangerous opportunities.

The Kiwis should have led at the break but made amends minutes into the second half, with Shaun Kenny-Dowall crossing for the only try. Credit will go to Nikorima, who made a half-break and freed his arms but it was mostly due to Tohu Harris, who showed the hands of a slips fielder to gather the ball centimetres from the turf and send Kenny-Dowall over.

Almost all the second half belonged to the visitors. They forced three line dropouts and were camped in English territory. England's defence was magnificent, with Hiku again going closest, losing the ball across the tryline in the 65th minute.

Issac Luke missed a 70th-minute penalty handy to the posts which would have put a tight game out of reach. The home side and crowd were noticeably lifted from that point, and it looked like Graham had brought them level as he dived on a grubber close to the posts. Sutton awarded a try but the video referee correctly found enough doubt, as the ball seemed to escape from Graham's grasp as he dived on it.

The Kiwis should have sealed the game minutes later, only for Nikorima to lose the ball on the tryline after a break engineered by Tuivasa-Sheck, before Kahu's crucial late kick.

New Zealand 9 (S Kenny-Dowall try; J Kahu, I Luke goal, Kahu field goal)

England 2 (G Widdop goal). HT: 2-2

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