CONNOR IS KCOM KING
FC STAR HAPPY TO HELP ENGLAND BEAT NEW ZEALAND
England and New Zealand reminded everyone what Test rugby league is about, it’s just a shame there were not more fans to witness the gritty battle.
The hosts edged out the Kiwis 18-16 at the KCOM Stadium to win the first Test of the three-game series. Neither side was at their free-flowing best but the commitment shown was something to behold. Wayne Bennett’s men produced bags of effort and defensively held firm when they needed to.
Considering the Kiwis beat Australia earlier this month, it was a good win as England began the series in the right manner, with the second Test at Liverpool’s Anfield next Sunday.
Hull FC star Jake Connor grabbed a ten-point haul as he kicked three goals and scored a brave first-half try but it was Oliver Gildart who grabbed the headlines.
Seemingly fatigued and under the pump in the second period and trailing by two, the debutant gave England a lift as he provided an excellent 50-metre finish following a sublime offload from John Bateman.
But the two-point Test win was overshadowed by the low crowd. The race to retain the Baskerville Shield began in Hull as it did three years ago when the Kiwis came to the KCOM for the first Test.
Back in 2015 the attendance for the first clash was 23,526 but at the weekend just 17,649 turned up for the repeat. A switch from night to day may have played a part but the Rugby Football League and the two local professional sides will need to have a look in the mirror to see what went wrong.
A total of 1.5m fans may have tuned in on the BBC but the lack of footfall represents a missed opportunity for the city, especially in light of the bid to host meaningful matches at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
England lost Sean O’loughlin to a calf injury in the first half, but began on the front foot thanks to dominant forward play and took the lead.
George Williams kicked high for Tommy Makinson to rise above the defence and offload for Jonny Lomax to provide a pass wide for Sam Tomkins, who saw the gap and dived over. Connor converted to make it 6-0 but the visitors hit back. Shaun Johnson produced the killer ball back inside for Esan Marsters to slice through. Johnson levelled the contest before the Kiwis had a try ruled out after Makinson lost control backwards, only for Rapana to spill the ball forward before touching down.
The teams traded knock-ons during an error-riddled period, with Jermaine Mcgillvary’s loss of possession from the play of the ball the most critical.
New Zealand scored from the subsequent scrum when Kodi Nikorima shifted the ball wide left and found Dallin Watene-zelezniak to ease over untouched, with both Tomkins and Bateman exposed defensively.
Johnson handed the Kiwis a 12-6 lead after landing the conversion before Lomax went down injured following a high shot from Marsters. Lomax left the field and Marsters evaded punishment, with the centre lucky not to be sin-binned.
England were forced into a reshuffle with Makinson moving to full-back, Gildart switching to the left wing and Bateman filling in at centre briefly but Lomax did return after the break.
Before then, it was Connor’s chance to shine as the ball found its way to the Hull FC playmaker who dummied and ducked low to go over.
The video referee awarded a penalty try due to Watene-zelezniak kneeing Connor in the head, before the versatile back kicked the conversion for parity at half-time.
The Kiwis regained the lead ten minutes into the second period when Johnson added a penalty goal after he was held down for too long by Chris Hill.
England levelled the contest within five minutes as Connor added his own penalty goal before Nikorima went close, only to lose possession five metres from the line. The Kiwis edged 16-14 in front in the final quarter as Johnson added his second penalty goal. As the crowd raised the atmosphere, England produced a brilliant try. Bateman provided the offload on halfway for Gildart to race clear before rounding Watene-zelezniak to score.
Connor missed the conversion but
England still led 18-16 heading into the final 12 minutes. Williams thought he was over four minutes later only for referee Robert Hicks to rule a knock on prior to the half-back receiving the ball.
The Kiwis had two good chances inside the final two minutes but two grubber kicks from Johnson were cleaned up by Bateman and Connor as England’s defence stood up to claim an impressive first Test win.