Kiwis get off to a winning start

v BYE

In a nervy encounter, it was Shaun Johnson who stood up with a clutch field goal to seal a 17-16 victory over England at the John Smith Stadium in Huddersfield. 

The first half was a stop-start encounter, as both teams felt each other out in their opening fixture of this year's four nations. A pair of Gareth Widdop penalty goals sparked the 24 thousand crowd into full voice as they sensed a scalp of the number one ranked nation. 

New Zealand dug deep though, after defending several sets on their own line - firstly got themselves on the board from a Jordan Kahu penalty goal. They got the only four pointer of half as Jordan Rapana took his scintilating NRL form into tonight as he finished a nice passage from the Kiwis to make it 6-4 at the break. 

If the first half was stop-start, the second was a thrill a minute. Shaun Johnson had the ball on the string as he forced several restarts. It was his quick thinking a minute after the restart though, as he snaffled a English pass to run the remainder for a 12-4 lead. 

England responded promptly though, first through home town hero Jermaine McGillvary provided a class finish to reduce the deficit as the English started to find some gaps in a tired New Zealand defense through the edges. 

The Kiwis edged themselves ahead once again, Rapana created something from nothing really, taking an offload and skipped through some loose tackles to stretch it back out to 16-10 in a see-sawing contest. 

Next it was a 29th try in English colours for bleach-blond Ryan Hall as the hulking centre muscled his way over. Gareth Widdop potted his fourth goal of the afternoon to draw level at 16-all and bring the crowd to their feet. 

Despite the best chances falling to the home side, it would be New Zealand who clinched the game - Johnson snapped a field goal in the 66th minute and the Kiwis were able to defend well enough to take home the win.

Next weekend both teams are at Ricoh Arena in Coventry - England host UK counterparts Scotland before New Zealand square off against Australia.