League: Coach jubilant at Kiwis win

LONDON - Coach Brian McClennan praised the spirit of the Kiwis after they withstood a determined Great Britain comeback to notch an emphatic 42-26 victory at Loftus Road this morning.

The Kiwis raced to an early lead and were cruising 24-8 up at the break only to be pegged back to 24-20 by two British tries in the opening seven minutes of the second half.

"What I'm proud of is that we kept playing footy," McClennan said.

"Sometimes when you are four points up you can choke up a bit and just play it safe but we chose not to do that.

"I'm really rapt that the boys had the courage to keep playing footy and keep passing the ball."

Asked if it had always been the plan to play that way, McClennan said: "We scratch where it itches a bit. We had our tactics but in the last 20-minutes of a game tactics normally go right out the window. You play on automatic. It is just about a philosophy, really, not tactics."

The Kiwis ran in seven tries, all converted by Stacey Jones, while second rower Paul Johnson scored a hat-trick for the hosts in a see-saw encounter that wasn't decided until Paul Rauhihi slithered over from a Jones pass in the 72nd minute.

Brent Webb and Manu Vatuvei tries gave the Kiwis a 10-point lead inside six minutes after Great Britain had opened the scoring through Paul Deacon's first-minute penalty.

Vatuvei thought he'd stretched the lead only to be harshly denied by video referee Bob Connolly in the 11th minute after beating opposite number Brian Carney to David Solomona's grubber.

Jake Webster climbed well to claim Jones' 23rd-minute bomb for the Kiwis' third before Johnson rounded Jones with ease and raced 30-metres to kickstart Great Britain's resistance.

Second rower Lee Gilmour was held up over the line by Solomona as Britain pushed for a second before the break but it was the Kiwis who landed the telling blow, with Jones and Webb combining neatly and Paul Whatuira supplying a sublime return pass for Webb to cross for his second.

Once again the Kiwis were caught flat after the break, allowing Keith Senior to muscle his way over from close range in the 45th-minute, before Johnson raced through for his second just two minutes later. Kevin Sinfield cut the gap to four with his third conversion.

A determined tackle by Nigel Vagana forced Paul Wellens back into the in-goal to stop the bleeding and, from the resulting drop out, Jones sent Awen Guttenbeil through a hole and the loose forward popped up a neat pass for Clinton Toopi to dive over.

Johnson sauntered through for his third to keep the British in touch before Irish winger Brian Carney, who endured a horror night, threw the ball over his own dead ball line to allow the Kiwis back on the front foot.

Vatuvei went over in the corner only to again be denied by video referee Connolly but, after Motu Tony had clashed heads with Gilmour to jar the ball loose, the jubilant Rauhihi pounced for a rare try.

Five minutes from time Toopi crossed for his second as the Kiwis profited from their expansive approach.

- NZPA