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England defeat New Zealand to win the series

14th November, 2015
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Gareth Widdop makes a break. (AP Photo/NZPA, Ross Setford)
Roar Guru
14th November, 2015
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1764 Reads

They’ve done it. England have finally done it.

After eight long years without any silverware to show for their efforts, England have taken out the Baskerville Shield 2-1 with a 20-10 victory over arch rivals New Zealand.

In a wet but thrilling final Test, England and New Zealand traded ascendancy with some real defensive grit and attacking flair.

The first half saw the two nations brush off the cobwebs that seemed to have dogged both teams in the first two Tests with the kind of performances fans had been expecting and waiting all series.

The introduction of Matty Smith into the English team proved a masterstroke as the halfback kicked and drilled the ball into places it hadn’t seen in the series to date. With his organisation and creative nous, the English offensive structure looked clever, creative and as the commentary team suggested, ‘full of layers’.

For the Kiwis, Jason Nightingale, having been on the receiving end of a classic Zac Hardaker cover tackle earlier on, took out his revenge on the English fullback by leaping over – yes over – what would have been another Hardaker classic to score a remarkable four pointer.

Despite heading into the break only two points ahead, England had shown enough in the first half to be confident of going on with the match.

New Zealand, however, seemed to have other ideas and once the second half was underway, began to wrestle back the momentum and began to dominate as the rain started to tumble down.

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The Kiwi forwards seemed to be getting away offloads almost at will and five-eighth Peta Hiku’s running at the line was proving threatening each time he did it.

But somehow, the English defence held on.

Finally getting the ball, England made their possession count with a second try to Elliott Whitehead off of some nice lead up play. England had pick-pocketed the momentum back and were full of running.

It wasn’t long before captain, Sean O’Loughlin, stormed over with a brilliantly motivating solo charge to take the English side to a 20-6 lead with 10 minutes to go.

And then the unthinkable almost happend.

Off of a James Graham fumble from the kick-off, New Zealand hit back with a try to fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Issac Luke’s failed conversion kept the pressure on the Kiwis but they scored a few minutes later courtesy of centre Jordan Kahu. Again, Luke failed with the conversion and the score remained at 20-14 in favour of England.

Getting their heads back into the right space, England held off this belated New Zealand fightback to win the match, the series and the Baskerville Shield.

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There was much to like about this English performance and their victory over the world number one will do wonders for English rugby league.

Commiserations to New Zealand but well played England.

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