Rugby league: Kiwis unbeaten but pushed by young England

11.15am

LONDON - The Kiwis have maintained their unbeaten rugby league tour record but produced a third unconvincing performance before overcoming England A 34-12 at Griffen Park.

Converted tries inside the last 10 minutes to Michael Smith, Monty Betham and Paul Rauhihi eventually broke the young England side's resolve but the margin was slightly flattering to the tourists who were again dogged by handling errors and muddled attacks.

After an opening try to New Zealand's Ruben Wiki, England A fought back to end the first spell level at 4-4.

In the match played on Wednesday night UK time, England A hit the front with a 45th minute penalty goal to Danny Tickle after Ali Lauiti'iti's recent high tackle problems continued.

He caught replacement Richard Moore above the shoulders continuing a trend that saw the star New Zealand Warriors second-rower cited in the National Rugby League final and the one-off test against Australia for similar indiscretions earlier this month.

However, the England lead was short-lived as three minutes later second-rower Awen Guttenbeil powered over from close range via a Stacey Jones pass.

Standoff Lance Hohaia added the extras to give the Kiwis a four-point buffer, then soon extended to double figures when Lauiti'iti broke three tackles to score in the 57th minute.

However, England A refused to buckle and scored the try of the match in the 63rd when captain and standoff Sean O'Loughlin stepped inside Lauiti'iti and streaked off on a 40m burst that put centre Chev Walker sliding over in the tackles of wing Henry Fa'afili and fullback David Vaealiki.

Tickle's sideline conversion narrowed the gap to 16-12 and the tourists promptly missed a chance to gain some breathing space when centre Clinton Toopi ghosted over, only to lose the ball.

Replacement forward Smith, lock-cum-dummy half Betham and impressive prop Paul Rauhihi quashed any prospect of an upset as the Kiwis finished with a flurry, piling on 18 points in the last 10 minutes.

New Zealand standoff Motu Tony was headed to hospital in Slough for x-rays on a suspected broken hand.

Coach Gary Freeman said the injury did not look good.

Overall Freeman was happy with the performance although he was again concerned at the amount of dropped ball, especially in the first half.

- NZPA