‘Pretty special’ England edge New Zealand in thriller

LONDON: A try on his Test debut by Oliver Gildart sealed an 18-16 victory for England over New Zealand in the first of their three Test rugby league series on Saturday.

The hosts performance earned glowing praise from their legendary Australian coach Wayne Bennett who suggested they were a “pretty special footy team”.

Gildart’s try -- converted by Jake Connor -- turned a four point deficit into a two point advantage and determined defending for 14 minutes saw England to their seventh win in their last eight Tests.

Victory was all the more creditable given their star player Sam Burgess is out of the series after undergoing wrist and shoulder surgery.

It looks likely they will also be without captain Sean O’Loughlin for next Sunday’s second Test at Anfield as he went off with a calf injury.

The visitors will have taken some heart from their loss as they are rebuilding after the last World Cup and came into the game on the back of a 26-24 victory over world champions Australia.

It had been edge of the seat stuff throughout from the moment early on when Sam Tomkins went over for England -- converted by Connor -- only for the visitors to hit back with two converted tries of their own.

Esan Marsters and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak touched down for them to lead 12-6 before an illegal tackle on Connor led to the hosts being awarded a penalty try which was converted.

“I hope you all realise you’ve got a pretty special footy team,” said Bennett, who this week agreed to take over at the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 2020 although they have said he can carry on as England coach.

“The English should be really proud of them.

“They’re a great group of guys, they work really hard. We couldn’t have given any more, we didn’t have a bad player,” added the 68year-old.

Gildart -- who has enjoyed a superb year winning the Super League Grand Final with Wigan Warriors -- said he had seen the opportunity and gone for it.

“To score the winning try was unbelievable,” he told the BBC.

“I just backed myself, saw a bit of space and luckily got over.

“I was just buzzing to make my debut for England and get the win. It was tough, really tough, it was a bit of a shock to the system and I really enjoyed it.”

New Zealand head coach Michael Maguire said the defeat was part of the learning process at the highest level.

“We’ll get a fair bit out of that one, obviously from what we did a couple of weeks ago (beating Australia) to where we are today, shows the difference in Test match football is all about pressure,” he said.

“At the end of the day it’s all part of game, it’s about how we respond and I’m really looking forward to that.” - AFP