This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Wayne Bennett has never made much of a distinction between England and the ‘revived’ Great Britain rugby league team - so when the coach said “we’ve gone backwards”, it was clear he wasn’t referring to the last time the Lions played, 12 years ago.

The 69-year-old Australian, whose contract with the Rugby Football League expires next week, reckoned Great Britain’s 23-8 defeat by New Zealand at Christchurch’s OrangeTheory Stadium indicated ‘we’ - that’s England - had regressed three years in their level of competitiveness.

He had just seen Britain remain winless in their first three internationals since 2007, a South Pacific tour that has so far included one loss to Tonga and two to the Kiwis - who England beat 2-1 in a home series a year ago.

Quick guide England Women off to winning start on historic tour Show Hide England Women kicked off their historic tour of Papua New Guinea with a hard-fought 24-10 win over the Orchids in front of a near-7,000 crowd in Goroka. Captain Emily Rudge became the first England Women's international to score four tries in a Test match while Danielle Anderson and Rachel Thompson were also on the scoresheet

England, who led 8-0 at the break before adding a match-winning 14 extra points in the second half, play the second Test in Port Moresby next Saturday. Photograph: Brendon Thorne/AAP

“We’re back to where we were in 2016 when I first came in as coach,” said Bennett, again refusing to differentiate between the two entities.

“We’re not respecting the opposition enough with how much discipline we have to play with.

“I’m not happy we’re going backwards. I think we’ve gone backwards a little bit from what last year and the World Cup year was, compared with how we’ve played this series.”

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Great Britain have so far managed just three tries in as many matches on tour. They were unfortunate to have a couple chalked off by the video referee on Saturday but that is not to say they deserved to win.

With Warrington stand-off Blake Austin incongruously playing on the wing and making an early error that led to a Kiwi try, the Lions once more struggled to sustain pressure or execute opportunities from good ball.

When the try did come, in the 51st minute, it was a result of a wonderful late off-load from substitute Josh Jones that allowed hooker Josh Hodgson to score untouched against a relaxed and puzzled defence.

“I just knew the ref hadn’t called ‘held’,” the Salford forward said later.

Aside from that, the Kiwis just turned the screw as they constructed a workmanlike win. Centre Joey Manu held off two defenders to plant the ball over the line early, scrum-half Shaun Johnson reprised his 2013 World Cup light-footedness, winger Ken Maumalo was unconcerned his entire body aside from one forearm was outside the field of play when he touched down.

And, playing in front of his terminally ill father, winger Jamayne Isaako tendered five goals and a drop goal.

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Bennett wants to stay on. Upset at his style of play, his selections and his seeming failure to grasp the concept of Great Britain, many fans think otherwise with one online poll giving him just two per cent of the popular vote over the weekend.

“Next year and the World Cup year are the prime years,” Bennett said.

“There are a lot players here who haven’t played before. There’s a number of players, we’ve tried a few new combinations so if we have to have a bit of a stumble, this is the year to do it in - not next year or the year after.

“I believe with all fit and everybody available .. we’ve lost, obviously Sam (Burgess) and Sean O’Loughlin, big losses for us … I believe the squad is stronger to get us through the next two years.

“One thing that has affected us this year is we didn’t have a mid-season Test and also our preparation wasn’t long enough going into the Tonga game.

“Every player in the New Zealand team, the Tongan team virtually, all play in the NRL. There’s a standard in the NRL we’ve got to come up to.”

Second rower John Bateman was reported for a high challenge on Maumalo. The tour concludes against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby next Saturday.

After a historic low of failing to make the World Cup semi-finals two years ago, New Zealand’s revival continues.

“The bottom line,” Bennett concluded, “is that New Zealand have played really well in the the last two games and we’re just a little bit off the pace.”