League: Hohaia helps Kiwis out of jail

Lance Hohaia

England 22 New Zealand 30

WARRINGTON - England self-destructed in two disastrous minutes after looking capable of succeeding where Great Britain had failed by beating New Zealand.

For 65 minutes of an absorbing game at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, England were more than a match for a strong Kiwi side that included seven members of the previous weekend's victorious full Test team and eight others who had previously played for their country.

But then the Huddersfield prop, Eorl Crabtree, again impressive at this level, blotted his copy book by knocking on as he played the ball.

The Kiwis seized on that possession and some fluent handling ended with Motu Tony supplying the final pass for Henry Fa'afili to score on his home ground.

Almost immediately, Crabtree's team mate, Chris Thorman, who had played well despite suffering from tonsillitis, fumbled a difficult pass in his own 20.

In trying then to smuggle the ball back to Lee Radford, he only succeeded in presenting it to Paul Whatuira and New Zealand had a four point lead.

That was extended to a flattering eight in the last minute when the Kiwi's Man of the Match, Lance Hohaia, underlined his credentials as the likely successor to Stacey Jones when they next meet Great Britain, by scoring their fifth try.

Hohaia stood out throughout the game, but England had stars of their own, particularly Mark Calderwood, with his two tries in the first half.

His first was an example of opportunism, as he sneaked in to touch down from Thorman's kick, but his second was a classic wingman's effort, drawing in Fa'afili and then beating him on the outside with a change of pace.

In between, Manu Vatuvei had kept New Zealand in touch from Hohaia's high kick and some of the exuberant handling that typifies their current style brought them a second try through Shontayne Hape.

The Kiwis also took the lead early in the second half when another pin-point kick from Hohaia paid off for Jake Webster.

England then struck twice in quick succession, with David Hodgson going over from Richard Mathers' long pass and Crabtree stepping through nimbly from Thorman's sublime back-handed flick.

Although they could not hang on to that advantage, their coach, Karl Harrison, was still enthused by his young team's performance.

"I'm very proud to be associated with these guys," he said.

"I think some of them should have been in the senior squad from the start."

- INDEPENDENT