Sculthorpe stars in the equaliser

For nine years, Great Britain have lost every Test series against Australia and New Zealand, but they broke that habit at Wigan last night with a richly deserved victory to tie this one.

Some silverware even marked the occasion with Great Britain winning the Albert Baskerville trophy, which was inaugurated this year. What it really marked, however, was a step in the process of regaining some pride at this level.

Great Britain took a calculated risk by including Adrian Morley in their starting line-up, despite the Sydney City second-rower being unable to train with the squad for the best part of two weeks. His virus, still unidentified, seemed certain to have had a weakening effect on him, so it was asking a lot for him to face so physical a side as the Kiwis.

New Zealand, badly depleted by injuries themselves as this tour has gone on, were also asking a good deal of one man, calling up Sean Hoppe, who retired from Test rugby three years ago and from the game as a whole last month. The lack of fit backs saw him recalled.

If the Kiwis have had a persistent fault on this tour it has been holding on in the tackle and it was a penalty for that offence, awarded against Awen Guttenveil, that got Great Britain on the roll for the first try of the match.

Mike Forshaw and Barrie McDermott took play forward and Paul Sculthorpe was stopped on the line before long passes from Paul Deacon and Andy Farrell opened the way for Keith Senior on the opposite side of the field. Farrell could not convert from that difficult position but it was only the start of the scoring chances that went begging during a first half dominated by Great Britain.

Deacon's perfectly weighted kick forced the Kiwis to drop out, but McDermott knocked on at the first play-the-ball to waste one glorious chance. David Vaealiki made a try-saving tackle on Lee Gilmore, Paul Anderson was stopped just short and Farrell passed into touch as Great Britain found it easy to punch holes in the Kiwi defence, but far less straightforward to turn those positions into points.

After 27 minutes they finally did so. James Lowes did the initial damage with a rampaging run that belied his ageing legs and, although the move seemed to have run out of steam on the last tackle, Deacon retrieved it with a high kick to the wing, where Leon Pryce jumped with Hoppe. Initially it looked as though the Bradford winger had knocked on before Martin Gleeson touched down, but the video replay showed that the ball had come off Hoppe and the try stood.

Again, Farrell could not convert and Great Britain had to withstand the first concerted pressure of the half from the Kiwis when Senior took Stacey Jones' kick and then lost it in the first tackle. It took some determined tackling to protect an eight-point lead that was hardly a fair reflection of how comprehensively Great Britain had been on top.

They had even better chances at the start of the second half, but Vaealiki tackled Senior after Connolly had put him away and Connolly was then held up over the line, denying him his first Great Britain try in his final Test.

Great Britain at last got more points on the board when Lance Hohaia was penalised and sent to the sin-bin for holding down Forshaw. Farrell put his kick over safely, but the Kiwis hit back almost immediately, with Richard Swain running from dummy-half and finding Logan Swann whose reverse pass released Jones for a try which he converted himself.

That guaranteed a nerve-wracking climax to the series, but Great Britain finally seemed to have clinched it when Senior made yet more inroads down the left, Lowes ran across field to dummy-half and Sculthorpe slipped through a gap for the try, converted by Farrell.

It was not to be a relaxing last few minutes, however, Ali Lauiti'iti's try making sure of that. Great Britain were not certain of levelling the series until Stuart Fielden intercepted, as the Kiwis kept the ball alive after time had run out. He and his side hung on to end a memorable series with something – for a change.

Great Britain 16 New Zealand 10
Tries: Senior, Gleeson, Sculthorpe Tries: Jones, Lauiti'iti
Pen: Farrell 2 Con: Jones

Half-time: 8-0

Great Britain: Connolly (Wigan), Pryce (Bradford), Gleeson (St Helens), Senior (Leeds), Gilmour (Bradford), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Deacon (Bradford), Fielden (Bradford), Lowes (Bradford), McDermott (Leeds), Morley (Sydney City), Farrell (Wigan), Forshaw (Bradford). Substitutes: Orr (Castleford), Peacock (Bradford), Anderson (Bradford), Horne (Hull).

New Zealand: Vaealiki (Parramatta), Fa'afili (NZ Warriors), Vagana (Canterbury), Hoppe (St Helens), Meli (NZ Warriors), Hohaia (NZ Warriors), Jones (NZ Warriors), Seu Seu (NZ Warriors), Swain (Melbourne), Rauhihi (Canterbury), Guttenbeil (NZ Warriors), Wiki (Canberra), Betham (NZ Warriors). Substitutes: Puletua (Penrith), Solomona (Sydney City), Lauiti'iti (NZ Warriors), Swann (NZ Warriors).

Referee: S Clark (Australia).