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Isaac Luke of New Zealand and Paul Gallen of Australia fight. - Source: Photosport -
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A Cameron Smith try two minutes from fulltime has allowed
Australia to snatch a dramatic 20-20 draw with New Zealand in their
Four Nations rugby league clash at the The Stoop in London on
Sunday morning.
The tournament favourites looked gone when they trailed 20-14 with
two minutes left on the clock before Smith burrowed over from close
range after Greg Inglis had popped a desperate ball out the
back.
While the result did little to help either side in their bid to
qualify for the final, it did give the tournament the competitive
start it was craving after fears the Australians would romp away
with the trophy.
It was an inauspicious start for the Kiwis with Fuifui Moimoi
stepping on the dead ball line as he fielded the kickoff, but in a
sign of things to come, the Kangaroos couldn't take advantage of
the leg-up.
New Zealand tackled with ferocity, and when Moimoi made amends with
a powerful run to get them into the opposition half for the first
time in the match, it was 6-0 after five minutes with Frank
Paul-Nuuausala scything through.
Despite their surprise lead, the Kiwis were holding on for dear
life with errors and four straight penalties giving Australia all
the field position and possession they could hope for.
But the Kangaroos seemed rattled by the punishment being dished
out by the Kiwis - in particular by young tyro Jared
Waerea-Hargreaves - and it was hardly surprising to see Darren
Lockyer turn over the ball when penalised for running behind a
teammate.
Debutant winger Brett Morris then spurned the Kangaroos' best
chance when he tripped over his own feet ten metres out from the
Kiwi line, but he ensured it would be a first game to remember for
all the right reasons when he scored shortly after.
The move was inspired by Smith deep inside his own half, the
Australian hooker sending Greg Inglis away with a delightful flick
out the back before he found Morris in support to lock it up at
6-all in the 28th minute.
Kangaroos backrower Paul Gallen entered the fray and immediately
found himself in hot water after a swinging arm on Isaac Luke
sparked an all-in brawl which was lucky to end with 26 players
still on the field.
Given the commitment shown in the first half, Kiwi coach Stephen
Kearney would have been devastated with the meek surrender less
than four minutes into the second period when Johnathan
Thurston stripped the ball off Lance Hohaia to score from five
metres out.
Another Hohaia error when he dropped a bomb which Adam Blair was
ruled to have cleaned up from an offside position allowed Thurston
to extend the advantage to beyond a converted try via a penalty
goal.
Junior Sa'u then dragged the Kiwis back into the contest when he
bulldozed through four defenders, but his side still trailed 14-10
when Luke missed a conversion he should have made.
The pro-Kiwi crowd could smell blood and their side lifted
accordingly, an Inglis fumble giving them a scrum feed ten metres
out from the Australian line from where Hohaia brushed past a poor
Billy Slater tackle, the conversion giving New Zealand back the
lead.
The match looked theirs when Frank Pritchard went over out wide
with less than four minutes on the clock, but Bryson Goodwin's
missed sideline conversion left the door open for the
Kangaroos.
tvnz.co.nz's Game commentary:
80mins:
It's a draw with no extra time in the early
tournament games. Kiwis will be disappointed they didn't hold on
for the win but an impressive comeback in the second half after
being 14-6 down. Hohaia wins Man of the Match.
78mins: Cameron Smith muscles over for
Australia off a short kick off and Thurston kicks it - it's
20-all with less than two minutes left.
76mins: Frank Pritchard scores!! But Goodwin
misses the conversion, only six points ahead.
74mins: Kiwis get a penalty and continue to
attack, Matai is within inches of the line on the left then they
switch it back right, the 5th tackle kick catches Hayne in goal and
they just hold on to him.
70mins: Hohaia scores! Kiwis made a good set with
Perrett taking the attacking bomb and Australia knocking it on when
he tries to offload. Hohaia runs his classic dummy-half trick to
score straight off the scrum and Goodwin makes the vital
conversion.
68mins: Kiwis get another penalty - the count is
now 11-9 to Australia. Australia attacked again in that set but
Kiwis stayed the line with Hohaia wrapping it up then being held
down.
66mins: Line drop out and Kiwis amazingly sustain
another set of six although Australia come very close. Kiwis don't
make much ground in their set and the kick goes straight and easily
to Jarryd Hayne who has had a very quiet game.
62mins: Anthony Watmouth drops the ball two metres
from the line and the Kiwis are let off the pressure there. Kurt
Gidley has come on for Australia. Kiwis lose the ball
themselves within the first couple of tackles again and Australia
camp themselves on New Zealand's line.
Sa'u makes an impressive tackle on Lockyer on the fourth and the
Kiwis carry the ball over the dead ball line from the bomb.
57mins: Long, effective kick from Hohaia and a
great chase from Hohaia and Perrett to pin down Slater but then a
penalty is given for holding down. English commentators agree it's
a touch call.
55mins: Sa'u scores! Frank Pritchard was held down
in a tackle close to the line and Junior Sa'u muscled his way over
the line from the ensuing penalty. It's game on at The Stoop! Issac
Luke hits the post with the conversion attempt though.
The game is continuing at a relentless pass with the Kiwis
continuing to tackle at a punishing rate.
52mins: Another critical Kiwis mistake. Hohaia and
Sam Perrett both went for a Lockyer bomb and fumbled it between
them into a knock-on. Thurston takes the two points to give an
eight-point buffer to the Kangaroos. Bronson Harrison has been
carried off the field with a suspected leg injury and Jeff Lima is
also injured.
49mins: Fuifui Moimoi spills the ball one metre
from the line as the Kiwis attacked after a rebounded kick
re-started the tackle count for them.
43mins: Thurston has scored! Chased Smith's kick down, Hohaia gathered it, pushed off Lockyer, tried to bounce off Thurston who stripped the ball one-on-one and only had to take a couple of steps to score.
40mins: It remains 6-6 as they head in. Goodwin
looked away down the line for the Kiwis but it was called back for
a forward pass. The Kangaroos came very close again but were
denied.
37mins: Marshall throws off a swinging arm himself
and gives away another penalty
.
33mins: The first fight of the night erupts with Issac Luke going after Paul Gallon who had came in with a swinging arm late in the tackle on the Kiwi. The ref tries to defuse it but gives Australia the penalty as Luke actually threw the first punch. Tough call for the Kiwis.
28mins: Morris redeems himself. Kiwis came very
close to scoring but the off-load went array. In the mop-up
the Kiwis got the scrum but Billy Slater wrapped up Benji Marshall
in an impressive tackle that dislodged the ball in the first tackle
off the scrum.
Cameron Smith lead the counter-attack, linking with Greg Inglis who
sprinted down field, drew Lance Hohaia off his line and off loaded
to Morris who fell over the line.
20mins: Australia blow a golden try-scoring
chance. Their kick bounced forward off a Kiwi head allowing
Johnathon Thurston to recover the ball; he raced away and
off-loaded to Brett Morris who stumbled only a metre from the line
and lost the ball.
18mins: Desperation defence came from New Zealand as they held out three sets on their line while conceeding three penalties and Australia, despite their normal impressive attacking flair, could not get over the line by the 18th minute.
The referee has blown ten penalties in the first 18 minutes with the count favouring Australia 4-6.
6mins: Frank-Paul Nuuausala, wearing number 15,
scored the try coming off a Adam Blair pass with winger Bryson
Goodwin adding the extra two.
2mins: The Kiwis had a horror start with Fuifui
Moimoi receiving the first kickoff with a foot in touch and then an
early spill in their first set but Australia gave away early
penalties.
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"