New Zealand head coach Stephen Kearney was delighted with his side’s attitude after they levelled the Test series with England.
Restricting the hosts to just a penalty goal throughout, a second-half try and drop goal handed the world’s highest-ranked side a much needed victory, with both teams now preparing for a winner-takes-all showdown at Wigan next Saturday.
And Kearney was thrilled that the Kiwis managed to take the series to a decider.
“I’m immensely proud of the effort tonight,” said Kearney
“I thought it was a real good, old-fashioned test match tonight and it went down to the last couple of minutes. That’s what Test match footy is all about. I’m really proud of the boys. We had a real hard look at ourselves earlier on in the week and we responded fantastic tonight.
“I’ve never doubted the skill or the talent of the individuals in the group. I thought last week we lacked a bit of attitude, but tonight we had attitude. At times we probably didn’t execute the way we would like, but that’s testament to England. I think both teams defended their line a lot and that’s an indicator of what tonight was about.”
