Late try hands Kangaroos dramatic draw

 

By , 25 Oct 2009 Steve Jancetic is a Roar Pro

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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 Saturday night.

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 Sau 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.

© AAP 2012
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