New Zealand have drawn first blood in the three-match Test series against Great Britain after a pulsating 22-16 victory at the McAlpine Stadium.

The match was played at a scintillating pace but ended in controversy when Britain's players protested that they had been denied a penalty-try.

In virtually the last action of the game Britain's winger Keith Senior was tackled in mid-air by Robbie Paul before catching a high ball on the New Zealand try-line.

Paul bundled Senior out of play as he tried to touch the ball down before the referee awarded a straight penalty and thirty seconds later the match was over.

'Denied draw'

Man-of-the-match Senior said: "It was definitely a penalty-try.

"He took me out without any attempt to get the ball. We're all very disappointed. We gave away a couple of sloppy tries and we should have won."

Great Britain's hopes of victory seemed to have been dealt a fatal blow when the Kiwis stormed into a 12-2 lead on the very stroke of half-time.

The British players began walking to the dressing room at the sound of the hooter, but Jo Vagana realised that the referee had not blown his whistle and stormed over for New Zealand's second try.

Daryl Halligan secured his second kick of the night after with Britain's only points of the first half coming from an Andy Farrell penalty.

Explosive comeback

But Britain made an explosive start to the second-half as they ran in two tries in three minutes and then levelled the scores at 12-12 with a Farrell penalty.

The Kiwis wasted no time in retaliating however, when Robbie Paul sprinted clear, but Sean Hoppe dropped the Bradford star's pass with the try-line beckoning.

Minutes later Britain secured their first score when Chris Joynt and Keiron Cunningham combined to release Senior who touched down in the left corner.

Farrell missed the difficult conversion but Britain grabbed their second try in four minutes following a horrendous error by Swann.

Farrell's kick off was going to fly out of play on the full but the New Zealander caught the ball and carried it over the dead-ball line to put his side under pressure.

Britain ran the ball on the last tackle after receiving possession from the drop out and Harris' brilliantly-timed pass to Paul Newlove allowed the centre to power over.

Skipper Farrell was again off target from the left hand touch-line but he kicked his side level at 12-12 on 56 minutes, slotting over from close range after New Zealand were penalised for offside.

But the tourists took the lead on the hour when brothers Robbie and Henry Paul combined to send Jones racing over before a Robbie Paul try coverted by Halligan put the Kiwis out of sight at 22-12.

Jason Robinson gave Britain hope of snatching a late victory when he went over in the corner to reduce the deficit to six points.