No panic from beaten Kiwis
There was no talk of excuses from Kiwis head coach Michael Maguire and there was no hint of panic either as he sets about trying to get his side back into the series against England.
New Zealand find themselves 1-0 down in the three-match rubber after succumbing to a late England surge that saw rookie centre Oliver Gildart cap a dream debut with a 60-metre try to snatch an 18-16 victory in Hull.
The visitors were on the receiving end of a questionable penalty try decision that levelled the scores at 12-12 on the stroke of halftime.
But Maguire was far more concerned about their poor discipline (they lost the penalty count 9-5) and inability to execute under pressure as the Kiwis scored just two Shaun Johnson penalty goals in the second half.
‘‘It was there to take for both teams and they just applied more pressure than what we did,’’ the coach said.
‘‘There was a bit of frustration but you’ve got to be able to go through that playing at this level. It doesn’t matter what’s thrown at you, you’ve got to be able to deal with it and I think that’s where this group will grow.’’
After former Warriors fullback Sam Tomkins opened the scoring in the third minute, the Kiwis hit back through two wellworked tries to Esan Marsters and Watene-zelezniak to take a 12-6 advantage.
But the Kiwis skipper then fell foul of the video referee for leading with his knee while trying to stop Jake Connor from scoring. The officials took the drastic decision of awarding a penalty try, despite Johnson appearing to have held up Connor over the line.
While reluctant to comment on the incident until after he reviewed the tape, Maguire was not about to blame the defeat on the call.
‘‘It’s one of those moments in a game you have to handle, at this level it’s all about situations The New Zealand Rugby League has given Kiwis head coach Michael Maguire full backing for his NRL coaching return with Wests Tigers.
CEO Greg Peters said the NZRL had no issue with Maguire combining dual roles with the New Zealand Kiwis and the NRL side.
‘‘We were aware when we appointed Michael that this was the likely outcome,’’ Peters said.
‘‘He made it clear to us from the outset that he wanted to coach in the NRL again as well as coach the Kiwis. He wants to develop a winning culture that takes us to the World Cup.’’
Wests Tigers issued a statement yesterday confirming Maguire had replaced Ivan Cleary, who is returning to coach the Penrith Panthers.
in a game and how you handle that,’’ he said.
Unsurprisingly, England coach Wayne Bennett was confident the officials were right.
‘‘I know this much, you’re not allowed to go in with your knees,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘He knows that, that’s the rule in Australia.
‘‘So they got that part right. Whether it was a penalty try or not, I’m happy with it.’’
The Kiwis face a tense week preparing for that must-win second test in Liverpool next weekend as they search for improvements to keep the series alive.
Maguire has no shortage of belief that they can make the adjustments necessary.
‘‘I’ve got a lot of quality out there,’’ he said.
‘‘To me it’s about how we respond. Whoever walks out on that field with a New Zealand jersey on there’s an expectation now and this group’s building that. We’ve got to take that expectation into this week.’’