Bennett urges team to win close games

huddersfield — England coach Wayne Bennett says his new side must learn how to win close games after the hosts opened their Four Nations campaign with an agonising 17-16 loss to holders New Zealand on Saturday.

There was a sense in which history repeated itself as manof-the-match Shaun Johnson — whose last-minute try saw New Zealand beat England in a 2013 World Cup semi-final — returned to haunt the hosts with a late drop goal in Huddersfield.

The half-back also crossed for a try while Jordan Rapana grabbed a double for the world No.1 Kiwis as they gained revenge for last year’s defeat in a three-Test series on English soil.

England have now twice lost narrowly in recent international events, while the 2014 Four Nations saw them slip to defeats by both Australia and New Zealand by a combined total of only six points.

England, or Great Britain as they were, have not won a major global event since the 1972 World Cup and in order to make next month’s Four Nations final they will likely now need to beat outsiders Scotland and the world champion Kangaroos in their upcoming group fixtures.

“We didn’t do the smart stuff well enough, everything else was there,” said celebrated Australian coach Bennett after his second game at the England helm following a comfortable warm-up win over France.

“I’m disappointed in the result, but I’m not disappointed in anything else.

“We’ve got to learn how to get over the line in tight games. They (England) have got a history of not being able to do it (win close matches) so they’ve got to learn to do it. It’s part of the process.

“The effort and commitment was there today, we’ve been unlucky here.” Ryan Hall and Jermaine

I’m disappointed in the result, but I’m not disappointed in anything else

Wayne Bennett, England coach

McGillvary both crossed for England, who had Gareth Widdop’s sublime goalkicking form to thank for keeping them in touch in Sam Burgess’s first match as a Test captain, but were unable to turn the game around.

Victory gave New Zealand head coach David Kidwell his first victory since taking charge of the Kiwis following two defeats by Australia.

“What a Test match, it had everything, I thought, that’s what Test matches are meant to be about,” Kidwell said. “We had some adversity that we had to overcome but we just covered each other out there.

“It’s very humbling to get my first win. It’s always good to get that under your belt but we’ve now got to set our minds on the task at hand and look ahead to the Australia game.

“There are still areas of improvement for us, we’re always looking to get better and continue to grow.” Next up for the Kiwis is another crack at the Kangaroos after their 20-point defeat in Perth earlier this month.

Australia put 10 tries past Scotland to kick off the tournament on Friday and coach Mal Meninga was pleased by the depth of talent at his disposal.

“That’s the beauty of this team,” said the Kangaroos legend. “We’re 24 deep and they’re all great players, they all deserve to be here.

“Our job is to get the best team out of all that but it’s nice to have that competition. It’s nice to have internal pressure amongst the players, they responded really well to it.” —