BLACKOUT Shaun shatters Bennett’s battlers

The Kiwi half-back destroyed England’s World Cup hopes at the death three years ago – and he came up with another killer display here.

England made a terrific start in this opening clash in Huddersfield but crucially they could not score a try in the first half.

The Kiwis were far more ruthless in targeting the try line, pouncing for three touchdowns to put them in control.

But England kept chipping away, with Ryan Hall’s 29th try in his 29th appearance helping pull them level at 16-16 after the hour mark.

Johnson went for a drop goal early but – with 15 minutes left – Wayne Bennett’s side looked to have enough time to either pull level again or take the lead.

As time ran out, with New Zealand defending their try line superbly, England finally decided to go for a drop goal.

But Gareth Widdop, who had kicked four goals from four attempts, was way off with his attempt.

Still, England looked to have time – and still they dithered.

The final cruel blow was when skipper Sam Burgess dropped the ball on the second tackle of their final chance.

It leaves England needing to beat both Scotland and Australia – and even then they might still not get to the f i n a l at Anfield next month.

Disappointed coach Bennett said: “We probably lacked a bit of smarts Graham both went close to scoring a try.

But New Zealand led 6-4 at the break thanks to a Jordan Rapana try and Johnson pounced for another early in the second half.

Jermaine McGillvary – the Huddersfield Giants winger playing on his home turf – touched down to cut the lead to two points before Rapana grabbed his second of the afternoon.

Hall then did superbly to ground in the corner, with Widdop converting to leave the game on a knife-edge – only for Johnson to strike with the killer blow.

Kiwi boss David Kidwell said: “That is what Test matches are meant to be about. It had everything.

“It was an outstanding performance, both teams need to hold their heads high. England came out firing and we knew we had to build up our sets and make sure we had a high completion.”

Meanwhile, Wales have qualified for next year’s World Cup after beating Italy 20-14 in Monza.