THE dust had barely settled at Mile High Stadium, but England coach Wayne Bennett could not be clearer — the fight for the Denver Test to continue starts now.

Moments after England came back from a 12-0 deficit to overwhelm New Zealand 36-18 in front of 19,320 fans in the historic Denver Test, Bennett got on the front foot to defend the fixture and its future.

“It starts now. It starts today,” Bennett said.

“I’m proud of our game and anywhere in the world I can take it, I’d take it. There was not one player that didn’t want to be here.

“The game needs to recognise the importance (of the Test). If we don’t have a global product we’re not going to have a product in 20 years.

“We’ve got a great product. I don’t know why we’re embarrassed about it. Other codes don’t have the product we have and they put themselves out there.

“I hope so many people watched this game in America today and they’re looking on their TV guides to see when the next game of rugby league is on so they can watch it again.

“It’s my third time I’ve brought teams here — I brought Queensland in ’87, I brought Australia in 2004. This is the best presentation we’ve ever done, the best crowd we’ve ever had and I just don’t want to leave it behind like we left the other years behind, walked away and didn’t come back.

“We’ve got to come back. We’ve got a great product.”

The enthusiastic crowd was treated to nine tries in the hot conditions, with Canberra backrower Elliott Whitehead and Hull FC utility Jake Connor the two best on ground.

The Kiwis grabbed their early lead on the back of some sparkling footy from debutant centre Esan Marsters, who touched down for the first try in the 10th minute.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak crossed after a break from Issac Luke to put the Kiwis right on top but then Connor, who was thrown into the fray at five-eighth for Jonny Lomax, exploded into life.

The debutant set up tries for Ryan Hall and Whitehead before halftime to narrow the game to 12-10. He totally altered the complexion of the match.

Whitehead, who played with the energy of two men, scored his second after 52 minutes after some fine lead up play from Gareth Widdop and another debutant in centre Tom Makinson.

Connor then gave England the upper hand with a stunning solo try where he raced 50 metres and beat Watene-Zelezniak with a dummy that sent the Kiwi fullback halfway to the Rocky Mountains.

Connor left the field with a shoulder injury shortly thereafter but he’d already put on one of the best Test debuts in years by any international player.

As the Kiwis scrambled to fight back, Whitehead set up Makinson for another after pouncing on a loose ball and despite a consolation try to Watene-Zelezniak the day belonged to England.

New Zealand started fast, but lacked composure at times, which was to be expected with seven first-timers in the team. Simple errors and needless penalties killed them — three times they sent the kick off out on the full in the thin mountain air.

There was a carnival atmosphere before the match, with tailgate parties taking place around the stadium and fans still flooding in until well after kick-off.

Were it not for baseball’s Colorado Rockies playing a game across town at the same time the crowd could have been higher.

The match was also broadcast into 60 million homes as part of a deal with CBS Sports.

Kiwi coach Michael Maguire admitted New Zealand were their own worst enemy after the opening quarter, but joined Bennett in defending the concept’s future.

“One thing the Americans do, they get behind their sport. I think if we can get rugby league into the American market it’s going to be huge.

“I hope everyone realises how special international footy is.”

England star Sam Burgess, who got through 80 minutes in the hot conditions, also backed the match to go ahead next season.

“It’s been fantastic, the whole week. I thought the game was good, it was physical, it was pretty entertaining so hopefully we can build it and grow it over the next few years.

“I think this year the whole argument was that the organisation could be better and now we’ve got 12 months to be organised, so let’s get on the front foot.

“I think we can grow on it now. Maybe next year there’s more awareness of it; there could be a bit more promotion. There’s 12 months of planning to put in place.

“We’re really proud of what we can produce on the field. I’m proud that the game wasn’t a flop; both teams turned up and played.