THE first rugby league test match I ever watched in 1978 served up a half back duel featuring Roger Millward and Steve Nash versus Bobby Fulton and Tommy Raudonikis.

They were four street-wise players with experience, guile, skill and that certain knowledge of what was needed to make a test team tick.

And what a fair old ding-dong that was, with Nash and Raudonikis being sent off for fighting early in the second half of the first test match at Central Park.

Fast forward 37 years - it doesn’t sound as long if you say it quickly - and we have just witnessed a test match that was crying out for that sort of half back verve, spark and nous.

Although the English pack ran its blood to water and defended like Trojans, the lack of any creativity from the hands of Gareth Widdop and young George Williams made it a hard day at the office.

Sure, there was mitigation. The torrential rain that plagued the hours up to kick off and into the game led to greasy ball and inhibited the style of play England adopted.

And some credit goes to the defences. But seriously - when defences are so strong, the attack has to be that extra bit sharper and inventive.

Perhaps it is harsh to put it all on the shoulders of the two guys calling the shots, maybe they were simply following orders - sticking to a rigid game plan and hoping that fatigue would kick in or a mistake would be exploited.

So attention will go on the coach who devised the attacking strategy.

Maybe the masterplan was to bore the Kiwis to sleep and sneak in when they nodded off.

It was certainly a dull spectacle - one which will have left those thousands of inquisitive sports followers from London and home counties unimpressed.

Although the buck inevitably stops with the coach Steve McNamara, are the tactics England adopted simply part of a wider malaise?

And are McNamara’s hands tied at half back? The players that regularly organise and impress at Super League - Danny McGuire, Kevin Brown and Danny Brough no longer come on the England radar.

The Rangi Chase experiment of a couple of years ago did not work, so we are then left scrabbling around for a solution.

On one hand we can say there is a dearth of quality English halves, but on the other are not reaping the fruits of seeds sown that inflicts strict control over what sixes and sevens now do.

Everything appears programmed these days, off the cuff is frowned upon, players seem too timid to play with their heads up and try out the plays they would have have done as kids, or what Messrs Murphy, Bishop, Millward, Gregory or Long would have produced at the highest level.

We have to go back to a time where halves are allowed stamp their own personalities on the game.

And for goodness sake, if the team includes a strong running, pacy centre who has terrorised Super League defences all year then the least they can do is give him the ball!