KEY POINTS:
The Kiwis were simply outclassed by a more experienced Great Britain side at Wigan yesterday but at least they turned up to play, thank God.
Another embarrassing, dispirited performance like that at Hull the previous weekend would have shattered any standing they had internationally and set the game here back by years.
The Kiwis led 12-0 after a smart start in which they played with the football for the first time on this tour, deadening the 21,235 crowd and giving themselves a chance.
Then they were run down like bunnies, conceding three tries in seven minutes right before halftime and 26 unanswered points.
The 28-22 result makes the game sound closer than it was, the Lions always in control from the 30-minute mark on. They were last to score in the first half, first to score after the break and teams that do that inevitably win.
The upside for the Kiwis - they played with enthusiasm, 18-year-old Dragons centre/wing Chase Stanley was introduced to test football and played solidly to earn two tries, the halves picture became clearer with Souths' Jeremy Smith and Ben Roberts standing up, and they uncovered another goal-kicker in Storm secondrower Jeremy Smith, who landed three difficult kicks.
In all three games the Kiwis were beaten at hooker, halfback and five-eighths, the playmaking positions. In all bar the first they lost the penalty count and in all three games the Lions scored after taking possession from penalties.
Another reason they lost - they either did not have the game plan or did not have the composure and experience to put it into effect to score when given chances. If there was a defining moment for them in the third test yesterday it came at 70 minutes when the Kiwis had a scrum on the Great Britain 10m line, fullback Sam Perrett took the ball from the hook and deceived the defence but then threw an unnecessary back-flip pass aimed at Stanley, who overran it, the ball crossing the sideline. The score was 26-18 and could have become 26-24. Had the boot been on the other foot, the Lions would have converted the opportunity, as they had done with earlier set plays.
The Kiwis started with a try to Stanley with kicks early in the tackle count and quick handling then put centre Paul Whatuira in when they ran on the last tackle. But at 30 minutes and 12-0 up they began to falter and the Lions took advantage of their fatigue to find holes.
Lions forward James Graham came from the bench and barged over with his first touch, then lock Sean O'Loughlin was allowed to offload to put centre Keith Senior in. O'Loughlin, who won Man of the Match on his home ground, engineered the next points from a set move, peeling from a scrum on the Kiwis' 10m and running the blind to put wing David Hodgson in for a 14-12 lead 24 seconds from the break.
Halfback Rob Burrow, who won Man of the Series, stole the game two minutes after the break when he dummied, stepped, fended and slid past the defence from 10m. Then came another piece of coaching brilliance and perfect execution, O'Loughlin kicking over a scrum on the Lions' 20m line because no one was at the back for the Kiwis, Danny McGuire regathering the ball and racing 40m untouched.
The Kiwis forced a goal-line drop-out after which Simon Mannering believed he'd scored but was denied by referee Tony Archer. Stanley took the heat out of the argument when he was first to a kick two plays later to close the gap to four points.
So Great Britain keep the Albert Baskerville Trophy named in honour of the organiser of the first New Zealand tour in 1907/08, their coach Tony Smith proud they came from behind to grind out a win. "It showed what we're made of."
He blooded players during their series, changed combinations and they all worked and so he is in a good position going into World Cup year.
The opposite is true for New Zealand. They were exposed in the playmaking positions, experience was found wanting as was discipline and, worst of all, motivation.
Coach Gary Kemble said it was "vital" they now get a win against France in Paris next Sunday. "We have to win now so the tour is not all lost in regard to building for the World Cup. The players need a win. We need confidence heading into next year."
Kemble said he felt he was up to the coaching job and was looking to stay on for the tournament in Australia. "For sure, I've got the backing of the NZRL, they know what's been going on in terms of development. We just lost the first test by six points, we lost this one by four. The middle test was a learning curve for sure - if they didn't learn from that they shouldn't be international players."
He was pleased with the improvement in attack yesterday. "We threw everything at them, we went so close on so many occasions, you have to give them credit for holding us out."
The positives he saw: "Chase Stanley, he's a talent, he'll be around the Kiwis for a while. We had a better kicking game from Ben Roberts, Jeremy Smith played well, too, at halfback, the other Jeremy Smith showed he is an international and Louis Anderson and Simon Mannering were good. We had better go-forward, we'd worked on that during the week. I was pleased with that, but it's still disappointing [to lose]."
Kemble explained how they discovered Storm secondrower Jeremy Smith, who never kicks for his club, could kick goals. "We saw him having shots at training. I asked him if he could hit the crossbar from the kick-off and he said 'yes' so we gave him that job and after he did that I asked him if he could kick goals and he said 'yes.' He was very confident."
Confidence is what the Kiwis need looking ahead, along with better service from dummy-half, better organisation in the halves, more composure and discipline and better finishing - all the things Great Britain brought to this series.
New Zealand 22: Chase Stanley 2, Paul Whatuira, Taniela Tuiaki tries; Jeremy Smith (Storm) 3 goals.
Great Britain 28: James Graham, Keith Senior, David Hodgson, Rob Burrow, Danny McGuire tries; Burrow 4 goals.
H/T Great Britain 14-12.
GARY KEMBLE ON ...
Effort
"We threw everything at them, we went so close on so many occasions, you have to give them credit for holding us out."
The positives
"Chase Stanley, he's a talent, he'll be around the Kiwis for a while."
"We had a better kicking game from Ben Roberts, Jeremy Smith played well, too, at halfback, the other Jeremy Smith showed he is an international and Louis Anderson and Simon Mannering were good."
"We had better go-forward, we'd worked on that during the week. I was pleased with that but it's still disappointing."
The next test
"The players need a win. We need confidence heading into next year."
His job
" I've got the backing of the NZRL, they know what's been going on in terms of development."
