Judging by the outcome of the New Zealand vs. England rugby match, no one can accuse the Four Nations of putting on mediocre rugby games.
New Zealand stole one from England, winning 17 – 16 on the brilliant play of their talented number seven, Shaun Johnson.
The Kiwis got off to a good start, dominating the first 20 minutes in everything by the score and they trailed 6 – 4 at the break.
Following the intermission, Johnson took it 70 metres to supply an advantage to New Zealand when he snagged a pass from Garth Widdop and added a field goal in the 65th minute to add to the advantage.
England did no surrender meekly, however, leveling the affair with tries from wingers Jermaine McGillvary and Ryan Hall.
Johnson did some of his best work by spoiling British attacks that had them constantly mired in their own end. He was able to do so without assistance from five-eighth Thomas Leuluai, who left the game with concussion symptoms.
For England’s part, first-time skipper Sam Burgess was impressive. Widdop had two conversions and two penalty goals.
Jordan Rapana, who started up the scoring for the game and added another four-pointer at the outset of the second half, led the New Zealand side with two tries.