Australia have recorded their first win of the 2014 Four Nations, getting home against England by four points on Sunday afternoon at AAMI Park.
FINAL SCORE:
Australia 16
England 12
A struggling Australia will be looking to save their Four Nations campaign as they take on a strong England outfit at AAMI Park. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4:00pm (AEDT).
The Four Nations tournament is truly alive and thriving. After a highly entertaining and competitive first round of matches we now have a situation as rare as Phil Gould making a sensible comment – Australia are outsiders.
Though they will start the game on Sunday as considerable favourites, New Zealand are now leading the market to take out the trophy.
New Zealand demoralised and dominated the Australians en route to an impressive win with significant ease.
Australia’s most glaring weakness, one many fans and analysts alike foretold, was in their forward pack.
New Zealand was able to dominate with size, speed, footwork and ball skills – descriptions usually reserved for backs.
New Zealand (1528) ran for a significant 382 metres more than the Australians (1146). It will be interesting to see how Australian coach Tim Sheens responds to the issue, and whether or not it is currently fixable.
England will be coming into this game happy to have a win under their belt. Last week they were not so surprisingly dragged into an uncompromising battle with Samoa, one they were lucky to win.
They struggled to find rhythm and play consistent football due largely to their awful ball control – making 11 errors. Their efforts could be described as no greater than ‘good enough’. Good enough against Samoa will not cut it against an Australian team regardless of injuries.
Sione Matu’utia will make his debut, becoming the youngest Kangaroo to ever do so, replacing Daniel Tupou on the wing. Corey Parker comes into the starting side at lock, with Hoffman moving to the bench to make way for Bird at second row.
Tim Sheens has again named an extended bench consisting of Ryan Hoffman, Boyd Cordner, Robbie Farah, Aidan Guerra, Ryan Hoffman, Ben Hunt, David Klemmer, and Josh Papalii. Tim Sheens looks to be sticking with a side that prioritizes mobility over size – will England be able to thwart this strategy as effectively as New Zealand?
England have named an unchanged side from last weeks clash, though captain Sean O’Loughlin is still a possibility if he is able to overcome a quad injury.
England have an impressive forward pack headlined by the best prop pairing going around, George Burgess and James Graham, and certainly have the ability to cause prolonged concern and pressure on the smaller Australian men.
In saying that, Australia as a whole are still a class above the English. If the men in the green and gold (or blue and maroon) are able to hold the ball, play with intensity and win the battle through the middle they should be able to pull out the win.
Australia by 10 points.
cedric
Guest
what I saw was Hall's finger bent backwards touching the upper side of the ball nearer the end of the ball closer to him. Maybe he only had that one finger touching, I don't know? The rules state that a player must have downward pressure on the ball. The rule dosn't say anything else, it dosn't say one finger, two fingers or anything else. So I saw one finger bent backwards on the upper side of the ball, well by the rules that's a try. However some say it was a knock on. Well I heard the ref say to Tomkins something like, " the ball was off the ground when he touched it ". So the refs didn't think it was a knock on and they thought Hall had touched the ball, but the ball was off the ground. What I saw, after a few ales I might add, was Halls finger bent backwards on the upper side of the ball when the ball was on the ground. I might add I hadn't partaken of a dram at this time!!! Am I alone in what I saw, because me and I think the commentators thought a try should have been awarded!!!! And really does it matter what Hall thoughts were.
Bobbo7
Guest
But if his finger is on the ball on the ground that is downward pressure, however light
kiwijack
Guest
I agree about Peranara he was awful and should not have been there. A neutral ref is required for theses games. Sutton and Peranara are surely not the best ref's in the NRL. I have read elsewhere where these ref appointments are part of a conspiracy theory and the unfortunate thing is watching the games you could almost beleive it. I hope next week for a Samoan'win because if any team deserves a win they do.
johnno1
Guest
Matt Edwards, I don't think it was foul play on Graham, just clumsiness, but your point about 10 in the bin for foul play is another issue with rugby league. They bring in the 'one punch' rule and send a player to the bin for 10 mins for that but then they say the bin is reserved for professional fouls. So I am not sure what the game is doing any more. I also don't agree with everyone saying it was a try at the end. Hall got a finger to it but only to touch it. No downward pressure. You slow down a moving object enough and it will look like it is stationary, which is wasn't. For the record I think it should have been a penalty try to England as Hall was impeded on this way to the line. I didn't see the number on the player, one of the wingers I think or maybe Papali but the Aussie player definitely had his arm extrended and grabbed at Hall slowing him down. Of course, Sutton would never have awarded it. Forget the coward punch. He is a coward ref.
Basil B'borgnay
Guest
yup
Johnnyball
Guest
Main things to come out of the weekend games 1. Far superior to SOO 2. Andrew Voss best commentator in the game 3. One ref clears most confusion during games with one set of rules/interpretation4. 4. Little miffed with nine for game ending right at news time, some analysis would have been good
Basil B'borgnay
Guest
yup
Jay C
Roar Guru
noop
Wii
Guest
Are you serious he missed a clear try whilst standing right there then somehow he and his TV official somehow managed to dream up a obstruction call to disallow the Kiwis their 2nd try. The Kiwiswere pinged relentlessly in the first half, the Samoans were allowed to get away with some dirty play throughout the match. P.s Just for your own knowledge Perenara is Half Maori Half Samoan.....
nerval
Guest
Does Fitzsimons really charge $8000 to front a cancer charity fund raiser? Really?
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Aaah ok, so that's where you are going with this. The Hall try was not a try. It was a knock on. Very, very clear from the front on angle. And I would have been happy for Jennings to also have his try disallowed.
Mr Humphries
Guest
Dream on . Peranara's display yesterday was a disgrace. It was obvious he was instructed to make sure the kiwis won that game. Every 50/50 call went to the kiwis at the crucial stages. Samoa can feel more ripped off than the pommies.
M.O.C.
Roar Guru
I doubt he even knew he touched it, but that does not mean that it was not a try. It was as much of a try as Jennings' dropped ball.
kiwijack
Guest
Why was this done, very controversial thing to do. Neither of them are good enough where are the top refs.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Of course not, but it just goes to show he knew he knocked it forward and didn't ground it. He didn't even want to alert the officials to the fact he had touched it, as he wanted the ball back from the line drop out. You score the match winning try, for your country's first win over Australia in 20 years, and that is your thought process? That certainly would be a first.
kiwijack
Guest
Really. Crap ref who allows the Aussies to lay around in the ruck. Slow play the balls due to players laying all over the tackled player. I didn't think much of this game compared to the NZ/Samoa game. The Aussies won't run through Samoa, they will find the best defence in this competition waiting for them. England were ripped off by the ref all game buy still didn't deserve to win, they have no grunt Graham and the Burgess's went missing.
tezza
Guest
turned on the telly and thought I was watching a game of French rugby. What is is it with the stupid colours of the Kangaroos jerseys? We are green and gold get em back into it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sylvester
Guest
As joyous as it would have been to see Australia lose, giving that a try would have been a travesty. The fact Hall's finger was on the ball when it was touching the ground was incidental - that's gravity, not downward pressure.
M.O.C.
Roar Guru
Hall doesn't need to celebrate for it to be a try - it's not cricket, he doesn't have to appeal!
Basil B'borgnay
Guest
I'm not sure why players try to knock the ball out of play, when it would seem easier, and safer to just force it.