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Lance Hohaia scores for the Kiwis - Source: Photosport -
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It was a point gained rather than a point lost as Australia
wrote another entry into their list of great escapes, the Kangaroos
making a shaky start to their Four Nations campaign courtesy of a
20-all draw against the Kiwis in London on Sunday morning.
The Kangaroos looked headed for a shock defeat until Cameron Smith
dived over with less than two minutes left on the clock, his try
reviving memories of Australia's dramatic golden point win over the
Kiwis in the the 2006 Tri-Nations final and the series of close
calls in their 2003 tour of England.
Captain Darren Lockyer admitted to calling on his recollections of
those last-gasp wins as the Australians huddled together in their
own in-goal, after Frank Pritchard looked like he had sealed the
game for the World Cup champions with a 76th-minute
four-pointer.
"We never gave the game away," Lockyer said.
"Five minutes to go in the in-goal I was thinking about the escapes
we've had over here - in the end it was a valuable draw for
us.
"A great escape again."
Bryson Goodwin's failure to convert the Pritchard try from the
sideline left the Kangaroos trailing 20-14 with time winding down,
but a short kick-off worked to perfection when Jarryd Hayne tapped
the ball back for Johnathan Thurston to pick up the pieces.
From there Australia moved downfield, Smith crossing after his pass
from dummy half had hit the ground only for Greg Inglis to keep the
play moving.
"GI beat a few players like he always does and I just sort of
popped up there," Smith recalled.
"We spoke about it before the game and then again at halftime that
the big play might not come until the last couple of minutes.
"There wasn't too many heads down (after the Pritchard try) - we
knew we were capable of scoring."
While neither side would be delighted with the result, the draw
gave the tournament some much wanted credibility following fears
Australia would romp away with the trophy in an embarrassing
advertisement for international rugby league.
Instead, both sides now need to win both of their last two matches
to secure a berth in the final, while England - who play Australia
in Wigan on Saturday - need only win one of their remaining two
matches after they beat France 34-12 in Friday night's tournament
opener.
"At one stage it was a point lost from our of view and then at the
end of it it's really a point gained," Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens
said.
"I think we had the game, we had enough ball, but they just
wouldn't lie down.
"The one point keeps us in but it also makes next week's game very
important to us. We need to come up with a win so there's an
element of pressure on us."
The Kiwis would understandably feel they deserved more than just a
share of the spoils after overcoming a hammering in the penalty
count courtesy of an ordinary display from English referee Steve
Ganson.
They also recovered from a 14-6 deficit midway through the second
half after Thurston had broken a 6-all halftime deadlock with the
softest of tries thanks to a one-on-one strip on Lance
Hohaia.
Junior Sau's try when he beat four players only heightened the
intensity of an already frenzied pro-Kiwi crowd before Hohaia gave
them a 16-14 lead just after the hour when he brushed past a flimsy
Billy Slater tackle from a scrum win.
"That's footy - you can be in front for so long and Australia's
that good a team they can come back from anywhere," skipper Benji
Marshall said.
"It's disappointing for us but in terms of the start of our
campaign it's a good base for us."
Can the Kiwis go on and win the Four Nations? Have your say below.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentBOPMAN03 said on 2009-10-26 @ 16:14 NZDT: Report abusive post
They sure can "GIVE EM A TASTE OF KIWI'S"