England have kicked off their three-match series against New Zealand with a 26-12 victory at the KC Stadium.

Steve McNamara's side were made to work hard for the win, having fallen 10 points behind with 15 minutes on the clock.

New Zealand were up and running early on when Tohu Harris made the most of a big gap to charge through, before Sam Moa was played in by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to add a second score for his side.

Hope was restored soon after when Josh Hodgson pounced on a loose ball from close range, with the try being awarded following the green light from TMO after Zak Hardaker initially looked to have knocked the ball on.

Issac Luke was then able to capitalise on some ill-discipline from England to slot over two more points, shortly before Brett Ferres scored the first of his double when touching down on the end of George Williams' pass.

That came after a controversial decision to rule out Jordan Kahu's score in the corner, with the officials deciding that Harris had blocked the run of Williams.

Despite being second best for large parts England did not look back from that point on, with Gareth Widdop putting the hosts ahead for the first time in the match five minutes into the second half.

Then came a second Ferres try after the Kiwis' defence opened up, while Sean O'Loughlin was able to get the better of Kevin Proctor to round things off with another late on.

The two sides meet again next week at the Olympic Stadium in London, before heading back North to see out the series in Wigan.