The only plan I could see was "Get the Ball to Ryan Hall", which lasted 5 minutes in the first half and then it was "Everyone run up the middle".

Hardaker didn't have a great game...but who did? No idea what anybody sees in Widdop....a tedious team devoid of ideas or ability to put anybody into a gap. NZ looked like a poor version of Leeds' 2015 offloading game team.

i agree, widdop looks very average, luke Gale on season long form deserve a shot over both widdop and williams. would certainly give him a chance over widdop, but no national coach would be that ruthless especially mcnamara.

If you've just spent the last fortnight working with Widdop and Williams to set up your shapes and patterns of play, why would you change it now after winning the first game?

It's not like we're talking about bringing a Shaun Johnson or Jonathan Thurston into the side, it's Luke Gale FFS.

The issue I have with Widdop and Williams as a partnership is that neither is particularly a dominant voice or leader. Williams has had O'Loughlin and Matty Smith doing that role at Wigan, Widdop has had Cooper Cronk and Benji Marshall in those kinds of roles at Melbourne & St George.

I'd like to see one or the other step up and drag the team around the park a little more, but I wouldn't be binning either of them off for Gale on the basis of one performance.

Good summary. Halves tend to get blamed for running in circles but usually it's because they don't have a runner they were supposed to be passing to. Timing etc. is an issue with what is basically a scratch side (we don't play enough international games to develop anything).
I also agree that neither of our halves really did much talking, or are likely to in the rest of the series.

add george and Sam burgess, walmsley and cuthbo to that pack and it would comfortably be the best in the world.

I thought Williams got better as he got into the game and widdop was starting to pull the strings. Hall showed why he is still one of the best wingers and took some pressure of the forwards. It wasnt really a day for the backs generally though

Hardaker did what he needed to do. He'll improve on that performance. The kiwis read some of our plays really well resulting in Hardaker getting manand ball on occasion. To say he flopped is one eyed nonsense from a Tomkins apologist. Hed have got flattened had he played. I still think despite his tackling Farrell is a touch to lightweught for test rygby. Good player though but undersized against the massive kiwis

The more I see of Widdopp the more I think he is Ben Walker reincarnated - looks classy, seems to do everything you'd expect of a great stand off, but then after a while you start to wonder where the breaks are (none), half breaks (almost none) and try-scoring passes (almost none). He is a better defender than Walker though.

I think he's less prone to daft mistakes and probably a lot more professional than Walker. But I agree with the general point. A lot of activity but not much actually ends up happening.

I don't think he flopped but I think he was pretty anonymous but as others have said it wasn't a game where he had many chances to shine due to the style of the battle.

I do however think if Tomkins was fit and performed the same way these boards would go into melt down calling for him to be dropped. That is a mute point however as he isn't fit and Hardaker is our 1 for this series at least and deserves the backing of the England fans.

The only real disappointment for me with his performance was I feel he could have really stood up and made a name for himself on the first try, I think it was, that was his only real "test" and he couldn't prevent the try when he had a reasonable shot at doing so. Being realistic this Kiwi team is miles off the pace missing most of their key players and they should not win a game in this series, I think opportunities will be few and far between for him to be tested in defense so when they come along I think he needs to take them to show up his ability in this respect.

It was his first run out at this level however and I am sure there is more to come, hopefully if we can be a bit more expansive we will see more of him going forward as against this Kiwi squad that is probably where he is going to get more opportunity to show off his talent.

Not sure how you've figured out that given the angles and how close Harris was to the line when he made the break that it's one any full-back could have prevented?

I don't care who is at full-back, Harris should be scoring there 99 times out of a hundred.

I'm amazed this thread has gone this far. Even the Wigan lot called it a day after a few posts

Very passive aggressive post from a massive Tomkins/Wigan fan.

This honestly feels like a knives sharpening post if I have ever seen one.

People have failed to mention that his kick offs add another threat from the start and his organisation of the goal line defence especially in the second half was outstanding.

Tomkins attack is benign at test level. It seems obvious to go with a FB who can catch and tackle.

For his first real international game he was perfectly steady.

Thought he did well just to get near stopping the kiwi's first try. Harris would've gone in untouched by quite a few FB's who'd have given it up.