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Rugby League

Room for improvement says Smith

28/10/2007

Great Britain coach Tony Smith says there is still room for improvement despite his side's 20-14 win over New Zealand in the first Test.

The Lions came back from 10-8 behind at half-time to win the game thanks to a try from 17-year-old debutant Sam Burgess.

Smith says it is positive that the side can win but they still have things to work on in training with two more Test matches ahead of them.

However, having lost the centenary match between Northern Union and the New Zealand All Golds, the former Leeds coach was pleased to be back on track.

He said: "We did a nice solid job. I thought we could have won by a little more had we been a bit better in our execution on a couple of breaks but that may not have done us any good - we may have got carried away with it."

Smith paid respect to the Kiwis' first half performance but claimed that some of their scores could have been prevented.

"It was a good, hard game. The Kiwis didn't make any mistakes in the first half and they were rewarded with a couple of tries.

"We gifted them a couple that were preventable but we stood up to them physically.

Smith believes his side will only get better as the series progresses as the new-look squad begin to gel and get match-sharpness back following the end of the Super League season.

"I thought my team were a bit rusty. Some players have not played for a few weeks so we've been able to blow the cobwebs away," Smith concluded.