- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
New Zealand have taken out the 2014 Four Nations final, and will be champions until the next edition is played in 2016.
FINAL SCORE:
New Zealand 22
Australia 18
The Kangaroos and Kiwis will bring down the curtains on a highly entertaining Four Nations series with a replay of the 2013 World Cup Final. Join The Roar from 6:45pm (AEDT) for live scores and coverage.
Just 80 minutes of hard, combative rugby league is all that is left for the 34 men who will line-up for Australia and New Zealand in the Four Nations final in Wellington tonight.
A refreshing break looms on the horizon for these players, before they’re back into training and doing it all again, and tonight’s final has extra significance. Bragging rights for the victors will be extended for an extra 12 months, as the tournament won’t be played again until 2016.
The Kiwis have had an excellent campaign qualifying first for the final with victories over Australia (30-12), Samoa (14-12), and England (16-14).
Despite the close margin of the latter two games, New Zealand have played excellent tournament footy, and would love to take home another piece of silverware at the expense of the Australians.
Tim Sheens and the Australians have had a tournament full of distractions. Pre-tournament a number of established representative players were withdrawn from the competition by their clubs, forcing them to blood a whole new bunch of rookies (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!). Jarryd Hayne withdrew from the squad the day after it was announced, and injuries and illness have also taken its toll.
In between they lost to the Kiwis (30-12), thrashed Samoa (44-18) scraped home over England (16-12), and avoided the ignominy of becoming the first Australian side in six decades to not make the final of a major tournament. All-in-all it’s been a busy month for the Australian boys.
Both teams have named extended squads for the match, and will not finalise their team until just before kick-off.
For the Kiwis, hooker Thomas Leuluai is out after suffering a shoulder injury against the Samoans, with Lewis Brown being named on the bench as his replacement. Brown’s elevation to the bench means that Isaac Luke will now start.
The Australians have named the same 17 that took the field against England, but have reshuffled their bench to include Robbie Farah, Aidan Guerra and Ryan Hoffman. Hunt, Jackson and Klemmer have been named as emergency replacements.
The Kiwis have enjoyed a smoother preparation than their Australian counterparts after an illness spread through the Aussie camp forcing the cancellation of training, and resulting in a number of players being quarantined from their teammates.
Prediction:
Having won the World Cup, and the Four Nations on enemy soil, the Kiwis would love to win a trophy in front of their home fans.
With a huge forward pack, and the creativity of Foran and Johnson in the halves, this could well be their best chance to do it.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.