Even when he’s trying to be funny he makes a fool of himself - classic!

Do you think that Myler would have been better than Tomkins and if not, who would you play instead of him.
Regarding Bateman, I thought he had an excellent game and despite the attention of 3 defenders, he put Gildart away to win the game for England.
Although Tomkins struggled to create too much, he's still the only England player with the "x" factor and for me, he should keep the shirt.

TM did ok tbf and I don’t think TJ would have done any better. However ‘outstanding’ no not even close mate.

I'd like to see ST take the line on. Agree he should keep the shirt as we totally lack any international class half backs, and our game is a dull shadow of itself as a consequence.
All we get is a forward battle, which England just about shaded. The excitement is now only due to just the closeness of the scoreline rather than any skill factor on show. Great persistence from Gildart for his try, but awful defence on NZ's part - same for England allowing the try from the scrum.

I don't think Big Sam would agree with this comment.

If he's to stay in the starting 13, then it needs to be at 1. He doesn't offer enough as a middle pivot.

It was Bennett who said Makinson was outstanding, for a bloke (Bennett) who doesn't give much praise its outstanding in its self for him to say that, maybe some fans don't like to agree or accept his efforts in the game.
The others that came close were Whitehead, Thompson and Connor.

If he wanted to stop the attacker he needed to use his hands/arms/shoulders/upper body, not his knees.

If he didn’t want to use his knees nobody forced him to slide in on his knees.

Oh so now Bennetts word is beyond reproach, funny hasn’t been in the past. Bennett decision to pick Tm over TJ raised a few eyebrows, very typical of Bennett to support those signings and rightly so.

However you don’t need to be Wayne Bennett to know he wasn’t sensational.

That said he did well and despite me believing TJ is the better player I certainly wouldn’t drop Makinson who imo did well.

Which is exactly what I said in the first place.

Why didn't they select an Aussie ref, why Hicks?? His man management and communication is shocking, I would be furious with his referring if i was the NZ coach. He missed so much.

Why was Thaler getting over excited when making decisions.

What a shambles Ganson has made of our officials.

Seriously Wren, maybe five years ago but now he offers very little imo - he’s lost it.

Wasn't a bad game , good try from Gildart to win it, but an international class fullback and team captain should be making those sort of tackles.
Lomax is a waste of space others nothing, halfs did very little, rather have myler in at 7 and move Tomkins back to fullback. Connor and Gildart both did well enough. Makinson shaky good and bad defo give Johnson a game, (neither a tthreat to a fit Hall)
Thompson made an impact in pack. Still think Tom burgess only gets in on his surname.
Expect tougher next week. Think it will be a 3rd test decider.

Lomax was invisible in attack, but I thought he had a good game defencively.
It'll be interesting to see who replaces Todd Flanders.

AS I saked of the previous poster, who would YOU put in the halves instead of Tomkins and Williams.
I still believe that Tomkins offers far more then Myler, Myler doesnt offer much of a running threat, whereas Tomkins has a great step, decent hands and excellent vision, no to mention a bit of arrogance (which is a decent attribute in the halves).

Few things from the game:
1.Lomax would not have been sent for a head assessment if he hadn't pretended to be unconscious when he hit the deck. The incident was a lazy flap but he couldn't resist milking it. That cost him the rest of the first half.

2. The attendance was poor. Personally, England doesn't excite me like GB did. I just don't buy into it in the same way. It doesn't have the same heritage. As others have said, buy through the clubs. If my club, Wakey, could have got a fiver's commission, selling a thousand tickets is the same as selling 200 hundred home full price tickets.

3. Hicks. Likes the game at a snail's pace. Very poor ref.

4. The RL product overall. Partly number 3. The game gets stopped too often. Every scrum becomes an opportunity to refuel. Every injury is a stoppage. Every minor incident becomes a lecture. The game needs to speed up. Water carriers on only after a try. Injury stoppages only if in the way. The game needs to go back to being relentless. Now, too much play-acting and stoppages. Not the spectacle it used to be.

5. Makinson-v-Johnstone? Makinson on form. I think he offers more threat in general play and perhaps a better defensive game. Johnstone more threat in open space.

Tomkins and Lomax offer a bit more creativity, can operate at both full back and half back positions and perhaps have a better vision than what Myler can offer. That is one of the reasons the Tomkins and Lomax teams have done pretty well for the majority of the 2018 season I reckon we won't see any change in the backs for the next game, the newcomers Makinson and Connor to keep there shirts.