Australia proved to strong again for New Zealand in Game 1 of the Four Nations in Warrington this morning.
The Kangaroos got off to a perfect start with 26 to 12 victory of the Kiwis. Yet again, the Kiwis got off to a bad start by letting the Kangaroos in for an easy try with prop Matt Scott scoring next to the posts in the sixth minute.
The Kiwis then muscled up before Australia unleashed super sub Tony Williams. Williams wrecked havoc down the right side of the Kiwi defence, crossing for the Kangaroos’ second try and could have had another but passed inside to Jonathan Thurston.
Thurston’s try set up a 16 nil lead at half time.
The Kiwis came out in the second half with some fighting spirit scoring the opening two tries through Jason Nightingale and Kalifa Faifai Loa.
The game looked to be heading for a grand stand finish until Thurston put winger Darius Boyd in the corner to extend the Kangaroos lead back out to 10.
That try broke the back of the Kiwis and killed off any hope of a comeback. Five minutes out from full time Akuila Uate sealed the win with a diving fingertip four pointer after chasing through a grubber kick from Billy Slater.
Only the one bad incident came out of the game with Isaac Luke again using the cannonball tackle on David Shillington. Amazingly Luke was not penalised nor put on report.
This is something the Leagues from all Nations have to rub out quickly before somebody is seriously hurt.
English match official Phil Bentham also allowed both sides to slow the play the ball down which didn’t really help either the Kangaroos or Kiwis. Australia adapted quicker to the English refereeing style. This brings my attention to next week’s game in Wembley.
If an English referee is in charge, how will they rule in the ruck? It is no secret that the slower the game, the better for England and Wales. The referee style could have a big impact in this tournament. We will wait and see who will be in charge of next week’s games in London.
But before we look forward to next weeks games, England host Wales tonight in Game 2 of the Four Nations. I expect England to get over their neighbours comfortably, which will make for a great match up next week when Australia meet England at a packed Wembley Stadium.
Queensland's game is rugby league
Guest
NRL clubs train their players to slow down the play-the-ball by smothering the ball-carriers in various wrestling holds. It prevents the ball-carrier from getting to their feet before the tackler does. These tactics aren't used in the Super League Australia and New Zealand blow England away when they play under an Australian ref who is accustomed to allowing players to use these techniques. Allowing players to hang around the ruck area is pretty much the only way England can nullify the advantage that Australias and New Zealand gain from using wrestling holds to slow down the play-the-ball.
Razza
Guest
When are the Kiwi's going to learn that putting on the rough tatics is not always going to win them games against the Aussies, the Aussies feed off this sort of play and punish them. The Aussies learnt by their mistake of getting in the Kiwi's face while they were performing the Haka and the Kiwi's beat them in the World Cup, so why don't they learn from that and maybe they might beat the Aussies, until then, stiff chedder Kiwi's. Razza
Stu Wilsons Gloves
Guest
Packed Wembley Stadium?