Both Graham Henry, the head coach of the All Blacks, and one of his predecessors in the role, John Hart, launched themselves headlong into a celebration of the virtues of Super 12, the southern hemisphere's cross-border provincial tournament - a competition ritually dismissed north of the equator as rugby candyfloss."Down here, rugby is an athletic sport," crowed Henry "What we did in the second Test is what we do in Super 12. The Auckland coach, Pat Lam, has yet to decide whether to include Rokocoko, the best wing in the world this time a year ago, because he has just returned from Junior All Black duty in Australia.Predictably, the Lions' record defeat at the weekend has led to a cacophony of triumphalism. The tournament gets a lot of criticism, but this should make a few people appreciate its value." Hart insisted that the New Zealand game was faster and more intense than anything to be seen in Europe, where, he remarked, the onus was on "size, defence and tactical kicking".As the first reading of the All Blacks' manifesto ahead of the 2007 World Cup, it could hardly have been bettered. Two-nil down in a three-Test series is no place to be, particularly in this country, and with Jonny Wilkinson and Gavin Henson unlikely to feature this weekend - Wilkinson left the field on Saturday with yet another of the "stinger" injuries that routinely affect his neck and shoulder, while Henson suffered concussion making a try-saving tackle on Rico Gear early in the game - the prospect of more major surgery on the ?te side is growing by the minute.Tomorrow's team features some of the tour's obvious underachievers - Denis Hickie and Gordon D'Arcy in the backs; John Hayes and Ben Kay up front - along with genuine Test contenders in Geordan Murphy and Charlie Hodgson, plus the Scottish blind-side flanker Jason White, who flew in last week as a replacement for the stricken Richard Hill.
New Zealand have not lost there since 1994, when the French pinched the spoils in injury time with the "try from the ends of the earth". Auckland, who take on the midweek Lions tomorrow, are no pushovers either and have beaten the Lions six times. With the likes of Sam Tuitupou, Ben Atiga, Daniel Braid and, perhaps, a certain Joe Rokocoko in their line-up, they will provide by far the sternest midweek opposition of the trip. All things considered, this final week could not be more demanding. The tourists, shattered by both the scale and nature of Saturday's defeat here, face the far more demanding task of salvaging some honour from consecutive games at Eden Park, perhaps the most forbidding citadel in world rugby. They might have finished empty-handed, but performances like this against the lesser lights will bring them the points they need.Widnes: Holmes; Imelio, Whittle, Fa'alogo, Viane; Craigie, Jules O'Neill; O'Connor, Smith, Stankovitch, Cassidy, Frame, Finnigan. Substitutes used: Julian O'Neill, Mills, Myler, Whittaker.Warrington: Grose; Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Kohe-Love, Gaskell; Briers, N Wood; Leikvoll, Clarke, Hilton, Swann, Noone, Westwood. The All Blacks will have to restructure their midfield for this weekend's final Test with the British and Irish Lions in Auckland, having lost the new genius of the silver-ferned game, Daniel Carter, and the lavishly gifted Aaron Mauger, to shoulder and hamstring injuries respectively They will not be losing much sleep.
Substitutes used: P Wood, Lima, Appo, Mark Gleeson.Referee: I Smith (Oldham).. The Wolves scored through Martin Gleeson and Danny Lima before the break.Widnes showed the fighting spirit which, if they could recapture it every week, would surely see them safe when Viane grabbed his first try. But Warrington seemed to be taking over again when Nat Wood went over, and then put through the kick from which Graham Appo scored.A mighty late effort from Widnes' man of the match, the prop Terry O'Connor, helped them level things. Widnes, whose preparation was disrupted by a late return from their Challenge Cup defeat in Toulouse last week, drew level with two converted tries in four minutes, the first when Owen Craigie threw a wide pass to Gray Viane and the second when Nat Wood's attempt to clear ended in the arms of Julian O'Neill. The game was suddenly in the melting pot, but it was Warrington, winners of their previous six in Super League, who got themselves into a winning position.After Briers had missed with one attempt, he put over his vital drop goal and Widnes could not get close enough to match it in the time that remained.Their last throw of the dice was a Craigie kick straight from a scrum near their own line in the last minutes.