Fast Results
Scores
Rugby League: England beat New Zealand in the first Test in Hull
A wonderful solo try from centre Oliver Gildart on his debut helped England to a hard-fought 18-16 victory in the opening match of the three-Test series against New Zealand.
England were trailing 16-14 when Gildart, a late call-up for the series, produced a moment of brilliance to light up a dour, at-times ferocious, battle and get the post-World Cup era under Wayne Bennett off to a dream start.
Bennett could call on just seven survivors from December's World Cup final but he will be thrilled by the contribution of newcomers Gildart, Jake Connor, Luke Thompson and Tom Makinson, who all looked comfortable at international level.
There was also a welcome return for Sam Tomkins, playing under Bennett for the first time, who opened the scoring on his first appearance for England in four years.
Yet England were never comfortable against a Kiwis side fresh from an impressive 26-24 win over Australia but who once more found the KCOM Stadium an unhappy hunting ground as they went the way of their predecessors of 2011 and 2015.
England, who lost their inspirational captain Sean O'Loughlin to injury after only 14 minutes when they were 6-0 in front, were constantly kept on their guard by the prancing feet of their scourge over the years, stand-off Shaun Johnson.
They made a fine start with a try from Tomkins in the second minute after winger Makinson had re-gathered George Williams' towering kick and Connor added the conversion.
However, the home side failed to build on it as the Kiwis came back strongly, equalising through centre Esan Marsters after half-backs Kodi Nikorima and Johnson opened up the England defence in ominously easy fashion.
New Zealand had a second try from winger Jordan Rapana disallowed by video referee Ben Thaler for a knock-on but they went in front nine minutes before half-time when Nikorima made the running for full-back Dallin Watene-Zelezniak to score straight from a scrum 40 minutes out.
Johnson's second goal made it 12-6 but England drew level in controversial fashion on the stroke of half-time.
Connor forced his way over the line wide out only to be held up by Johnson but Watene-Zelezniak was pulled up for going into the tackle with his knees and referee Robert Hicks awarded a penalty try, to the dismay of the Kiwis captain and coach Michael Maguire.
Connor goaled the try to tie the scores at 12-12 and traded penalties with Johnson in the third quarter before the latter edged his side back in front in the 61st minute with a second penalty, awarded after Tom Burgess caught a ricochet in an offside position.
The pivotal moment came five minutes later when second rower John Bateman squeezed out a pass on halfway to his Wigan team-mate Gildart, who evaded the challenge of second rower Isaac Liu and held off the chasers on a 40-metre dash to the line for a glorious try.
The score lifted both the crowd and the England players as they held off a Johnson-inspired late flurry from the Kiwis to clinch a hard-earned victory.
"I hope you all realise you've got a pretty special footy team," Bennett said. "The English should be really proud of them.
"They're a great group of guys, they work really hard. We couldn't have given any more, we didn't have a bad player.
"There are about 10 guys that played in the World Cup who are not here, so we're building some depth, which is important, and we're building a lot of young men with desire who really want to rattle the cages of Australia and New Zealand.
"It was a wonderful game and the boys have given everything they've got. It was important for both teams to play like we did today to show everybody that it's a full-on Test series.
"It's the best of three games and I've no doubt next week won't be any easier, it will be tougher because New Zealand will want to win."
Winger Tom Makinson was chosen by his team-mates as player of the match on his second Test appearance.
Bennett said: "He was outstanding, I just couldn't believe what he did. The more bodies they put in front of him, the harder he ran at them."
Of Gildart's match-winning try, Bennett said: "It was a great centre's try, we don't see enough of them.
"He did a great job, 50 metres, beat two or three players on the way, it was great to watch."
The only disappointment for England was the loss of captain Sean O'Loughlin with a recurrence of a long-standing calf injury that will almost certainly force him to miss next Sunday's second Test at Anfield.
"Luke Thompson came on and did a great job for us," Bennett said.
"You miss your top players but when someone else comes out like he did and just carries on and was heavily involved in the game, it made Sean's loss much easier than it could have been.
"He he's a very fit guy and can play long minutes for us."
There was a touch of controversy with Connor awarded a penalty try after use of his feet by Kiwis captain Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
Bennett said: "I know this much, you're not allowed to go in with your knees, that's the rule in Australia.
"The reason they brought that rule in was because it puts the player carrying the football in a dangerous position, that's the way I saw it."
New Zealand coach Michael Maguire refused to be drawn on the penalty try but insisted his team would be able to bounce back.
"I'll have to have another look before make a comment, but it's one of those moments you've got to be able to handle and get through," he said.
"The game was there to take for both teams," he said. "I think they applied a bit more pressure than we did.
"We'll get a fair bit out of that one, obviously from what we did a couple of weeks ago to where we are today, shows the difference in Test match football is all about pressure.
"At the end of the day it's all part of game, it's about how we respond and I'm really looking forward to that."