England Academy, skippered by Bradford Bulls’ loose forward John Bateman, lost their clash against the Australian Institute of Sport 22-20 at Leigh Sports Village today.
Bateman scored one of England’s four tries but they couldn’t find the killer touch late on in a bruising encounter in front of 1,054 fans.
Jarrod Waton put the tourists ahead with a try in the fifth minute, which Doug Hewitt improved, but England were 8-6 ahead at half-time after tries by James Duckworth (Leeds Rhinos) and Mark Percival (St Helens).
Alex Falepaini’s try gave Australia a great start to the second half but Bateman then had a try disallowed for a forward pass before the tourists scored through captain Rhett Webster.
Bateman’s bullocking run from 30 metres gave England renewed hope after 70 minutes, George Williams (Wigan Warriors) adding the extras to reduce the arrears to 16-14.
However, Australia sealed it with Ado Waiinga’s try, England running out of time after a converted try by Greg Wilde (St Helens).
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