Oh I do enjoy some razzle dazzle footy where the balls fizzes along the backline and blokes skip past defenders (like Roger Tuviasa-Sheck's predictable whacking of Ryan Hall). Yet the English commentators fascination or desire to see some razzle dazzle in this morning's second Test between England and New Zealand in London brushed aside the fact that this was a rough and rugged Test. Which is equally as enjoyable.

The Kiwis grabbed the win, which sets up a tantalizing series decider next weekend up in Wigan and they earned this victory on the back of a mighty defensive effort. Both teams defended strongly, something that I enjoy as defence is always as important as attack with the Kiwis especially impressive in shutting down England's attack when they ventured wide. Throughout the game England looked to be presented with an overlap or a scattered Kiwis' defensive line, only for the Kiwis to scramble well and smother the attacking movement.

I can understand where the commentators were coming from as both teams displayed a lack of cohesion with the footy and there were plenty of errors, again. Maybe if passes stuck and players took greater care of the ball as they were wrapped up by two or three defenders, we might have seen more breaks and half-breaks but Test match rugby league, like State Of Origin is won by defending your heart out and kicking wisely.

The Kiwis still looked a bit confused on attack and lacked consistent shape to their variety of plays. This is mainly due to the lack of a dominant half who is at first-receiver the majority of the time, calling shots and organising those around him. Unlike the first game though, Issac Luke and Peta Hiku put together a far better kicking display that effectively won the game for the Kiwis. Luke finished off tough sets with accurate kicks out of dummy half which found open pastures and sat up in the short in-goal areas as the Kiwis' co-captain showed rather lovely touch with his boot that Warriors fans will be getting giddy about. 

Hiku also showed class in this department and during the second half, Luke and Hiku combined to get repeat sets, pinning England down in their own territory. England needed to chase the game yet the Kiwis closed it out smartly. 

While the Kiwis' appeared to be attacking in isolation, this suited Hiku and his performance summed up this game for the Kiwis. Hiku often got the ball and crabbed across field or took a defender on, which limited the opportunities to attack out on the edges but Hiku always looked like he could sneak through or at least get a quick play the ball. I don't mind this, especially when the Kiwis aren't firing on all cylinders and need individuals to take matters into their own hands. 

Obviously I'd prefer Hiku to run and pass efficiently, offering balance to the Kiwis' attack. It just didn't feel like it was ever going to happen in this game though.

Games like this usually come with fine efforts from forwards and the Kiwis' big boppers were far better this week as they rolled forward with relative ease and piled on England's ball carriers. There were a few early penalties against the Kiwis, which I put down to the Kiwis trying to suss how the ruck area would be officiated. Jesse Bromwich put together another example of why he's arguably the best prop in the game, combining big metres with nifty footwork while Sam Moa, Ben Matulino, Martin Taupau and Adam Blair played their part as well. Tohu Harris and Kevin Proctor were strong on either edge with Harris showing great hands to set up the Kiwis' try. No one who watches the NRL each week should be surprised by anything great that Harris does, he's amazing and will have a long Kiwis career.

This was an Adam Blair game, there we go. Blair is the grafter in the middle of the field who is involved in everything and while Blair certainly provides some attacking impetus with offloads and tip-on passes, he was at his best chopping England's ball-carriers down and niggling away in the ruck. 

England weren't overly bad, they just never really fired any major shots. The Kiwis covered the width of the field well on defence, but England were far from slick with their passing and set-plays which gives them room to improve ahead of the decider. 

Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney opted for Kodi Nikorima in the halves over Tuimoala Lolohea with Nikorima being solid, not spectacular. This opened the door for Lewis Brown to come off the bench for Luke and Brown did a great job as the Kiwis barely suffered when Luke was off the field. You didn't really notice Brown, which is all good as he did his job and the decision to include Brown and Alex Glenn on the bench was a smart one from Kearney as they ensured that the Kiwis didn't leak points through the middle stages of the game.

A quick word on the outside backs for the Kiwis who weren't gifted too many opportunities to do what they do best out wide. Jordan Kahu, Jason Nightingale, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Dean Whare all defended strongly and helped their forwards cart the ball forward. Kenny-Dowall and Tuivasa-Sheck combined regularly with short passes between the two which I assume was designed to get Tuivasa-Sheck running at defenders who might switch off, two passes wide of the ruck.

Nightingale was his typical busy self and I was once again impressed by Kahu. I've heard a fair bit about how skillful Kahu is, far more skillful than his appearances on the wing for the Brisbane Broncos this season have shown us and this time we saw him cooly slot a droppie. I'd also like to see Kahu take over the kicking duties from Luke.

Coming into this game I was worried as I reminded myself that a loss would mean a series defeat and I'd have to revisit my optimism regarding this Kiwis squad. The Kiwis simply needed to win, so a gritty win in which a strong defensive display was the highlight is fine by me.