Test Match: Australian Kangaroos vs New Zealand Kiwis

[DIEHARD]

Australia v New Zealand Preview
Suncorp Stadium Friday 7.45pm

Darren Lockyer leads the Kangaroos out to face the world champions tomorrow night hell-bent on revenge for their surprise drubbing at the hands of the Kiwis in the World Cup Final last November.

And how some things have changed since that fateful night when New Zealand hijacked the previously unbeaten Australia side to wrest the title with a slightly flattering 34-20 scoreline. For starters, the loss indirectly cost Ricky Stuart his job as coach of the green-and-golds after he mouthed off at referee Ashleigh Klein. Stuart, disgraced and embarrassed, stood down from the position, with wily and experienced Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens appointed.

That in itself is hugely significant given the newly appointed Kiwi captain is none other than Sheens? potent attacking clubman Benji Marshall. In a major surprise, Marshall has been handed the captaincy over the returning Roy Asotasi, who missed the Cup Final, after the retirement of Nathan Cayless from rep duties.

The Australian side has been tweaked since its last outing; Justin Hodges returns from injury and leave on personal grounds, pushing Israel Folau to the wing in place of David Williams, while the Dragons? in-form Darius Boyd has usurped Joel Monaghan on the other flank. Boyd?s inclusion means that for only the second time since 1924 the Australian backline will boast seven starting Queenslanders.

In the pack, Steve Price returns after missing the World Cup Final; he pushes Brent Kite to the bench which also includes Luke Bailey, Anthony Watmough and Kurt Gidley.

The Kiwis have transposed their halves, with Nathan Fien shifting to five-eighth and Marshall named at halfback. Hooker Thomas Leuluai is gone, replaced by the Wests Tigers? Dene Halatau (after Issac Luke was unsuccessful at beating a striking charge at the judiciary on Wednesday night). Greg Eastwood, Jeff Lima, Jason Nightingale and Iosia Soliola make up their bench.

The history of these one-off Tests doesn?t make for pleasant reading if you?re a New Zealander. Since 1999 they?ve lost 20-14, 52-0, 48-6, 37-10, 32-16, 50-12, 30-6 and then last year in the Centenary Test 28-12.

It?s stern evidence the Kiwis need a series of games to build their combinations and confidence. Can they turn this trend around in Brisbane?

Watch out Kangaroos: Expect the major players from their World Cup Final win to again rise to the occasion, while Asotasi should fill Cayless? boots more than adequately. The South Sydney skipper is averaging 127 metres gained each week; he should be feeling stung at not being appointed captain and consequently the Australians may be on the end of a powerhouse performance.

The Kiwis will benefit from just the one referee officiating. The ruck is likely to be more of a wrestle than it is each week under two refs in the NRL, which will give the Kiwis a chance to slow the pace of the game down and reset their defensive line.

But a dour struggle also means sides will have to look to offloads to keep the play expansive; in this regard the Kiwis are well-fortified with the likes of Bronson Harrison (31 offloads, most in the NRL), Adam Blair and David Fa?alogo.

Without doubt, though, their hopes are pinned on the unpredictable brilliance of Benji Marshall; he ranks second in the NRL for try assists (10) and can turn the tide of a seemingly lost cause in the blink of an eye.

Watch out Kiwis: The loss of Issac Luke is a massive blow for the visitors. For South Sydney the diminutive hooker has made 57 dummy-half runs, the second most in the NRL, and he was sure to present problems for the Australian defence in the ruck. His replacement Dene Halatau is not a noted dummy-half runner so a rethink on tactics, with just two days to practise them, represents a significant setback for New Zealand.

Where it will be won: Tim Sheens has made it clear he thinks the Aussies spread the ball too wide, too quickly in the World Cup Final, contributing to their loss. So he wants them to battle it out for territory up the centre. And with hard, proven metre-eaters like Steve Price (161 metres a game in NRL, top average for a forward), Petero Civoniceva (most metres by a forward with 1191) and Luke Bailey (139 metres), why wouldn?t you?

Once the Aussies have ground out a dominance in the centre and tired the Kiwis? big defenders, look for their second-wave to click into gear, with swift second-man moves to men in open space involving Darius Boyd (51 tackle breaks, most in the NRL), Billy Slater (44 tackle breaks, second in NRL), Justin Hodges and Israel Folau.

The History: Played 114, Australia 84, New Zealand 28, drawn 2. The Kangaroos have won seven of the past eight games between the nations ? but the Kiwis won the one that mattered most.

Conclusion: Australia was beaten in the World Cup Final after being starved of ball. They completed just 22 of 33 sets while their opponents ran riot late on the back of a dominant 34 of 40 completions.

That?s 12 sets more ? but don?t expect that to happen here.

Look for the ?Roos to put first points on the board ? they have scored the first try in each of the past six Tests between the nations ? and after a sorting-out period, attempt to run away to an unassailable lead. Folau (first scorer three times for the Broncos), Slater and Greg Inglis (one of only eight Australians to score a hat-trick against the Kiwis, in 2007) should lead their ?shock and awe? campaign.

If the Kiwis hang tough to trail by eight points with 20 minutes to go they are some show. Anything other than that and it will be a dominant Aussie victory.

Match officials: Referee ? Richard Silverwood (Eng); Sideline Officials ? Paul Holland (Aus) & Adam Burns (NZ); Video Refs ? Bill Harrigan (Aus) & David Pakeito (NZ).

Televised: Channel 9 ? Live from 7.30pm.

* Statistics: NRL Stats.

Source: http://www.nrl.com

[DIEHARD]

RLEAGUE: AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND

Redemption has been a key word in the Australian camp this week after Test selectors gave 12 players the opportunity to atone for last year's World Cup final defeat against the Kiwis.

It was a loss that burned especially deep among the Australians, who were odds on to win the tournament and dominated the first 40 minutes of the final before being overrun in the second term. Fullback Billy Slater will not forget the match in a hurry after he handed Kiwi five-eighth Benji Marshall a critical try and skipper Darren Lockyer knows he will never get the chance to lift the World Cup trophy as captain.

For the Kiwis, last year's triumph should do wonders for their self-belief. They also have 12 players remaining from the team that played in the final and there will be a determination amongst the group to consolidate that victory.

Australia's big forwards are expected to heavily target the Kiwi halves while Warriors pair Jerome Ropati and Manu Vatuvei are likely to come in for plenty of attention after making a rash of handling errors in last Sunday's loss to the Dragons.

Look to an Australian try as First Scoring Play ($1-75) and a win to the home side by 13+ points ($1-90).

First Tryscoring possibilities include Israel Folau ($8), Greg Inglis ($8) and Billy Slater ($9) for Australia or Manu Vatuvei ($13) or Sam Perrett ($15) for the Kiwis.

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TEST MATCH
AUSTRALIA v NEW ZEALAND
FRIDAY, MAY 08, 2009
SUNCORP STADIUM, BRISBANE
7.45PM (AEST), 9.45PM (NZ)

AUSTRALIA TEAM

1 Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm)
2 Israel Folau (Brisbane Broncos)
3 Greg Inglis (Melbourne Storm)
4 Justin Hodges (Brisbane Broncos)
5 Darius Boyd (St.George-Illawarra Dragons)
6 Darren Lockyer, captain (Brisbane Broncos)
7 Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys)
8 Petero Civoniceva (Penrith Panthers)
9 Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm)
10 Steve Price (New Zealand Warriors)
11 Anthony Laffranchi (Gold Coast Titans)
12 Paul Gallen (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)
13 Glenn Stewart (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)

Subs:
14 Kurt Gidley (Newcastle Knights)
15 Brent Kite (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)
16 Luke Bailey (Gold Coast Titans)
17 Anthony Watmough (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles)

Coach: Tim Sheens (Wests Tigers)

NEW ZEALAND TEAM

1 Lance Hohaia (NZ Warriors)
2 Sam Perrett (Sydney Roosters)
17 Iosia Soliola (Sydney Roosters)
4 Jerome Ropati (NZ Warriors)
5 Manu Vatuvei (NZ Warriors)
6 Nathan Fien (NZ Warriors)
7 Benji Marshall, captain (Wests Tigers)
8 Roy Asotasi (South Sydney)
9 Dene Halatau (Wests Tigers)
10 Adam Blair (Melbourne)
11 David Fa'alogo (South Sydney)
12 Bronson Harrison (Canberra)
3 Simon Mannering (NZ Warriors)

Subs:
14 Greg Eastwood (Bulldogs)
15 Jeff Lima (Melbourne)
16 Jason Nightingale (St George Illawarra)
19 Sika Manu (Melbourne)

Coach: Stephen Kearney

Predictions:
Matthew O'Neill: Australia by 22
Paul Booth: Australia by 18

Source: http://www.rleague.com

[GCT_07]

Have we got a gates open time yet

[DIEHARD]

Really enjoyed the game! REVENGE!

Laffranchi and Bailey looked great. Great to see Boof back up Billy in that scuffle. Thurston was sensational, I think he will fire up tonight for the Cowboys as well.

I went with my brother and Dennis and my Broncos mate Bradley was there as well.

Kiwis really missed Luke and Prichard.

Although we won in style, it still was disheartening to know that there was no World Cup at the end and we bottled the most important international in the last couple decades.

[DIEHARD]

Kangaroos re-assert dominance with big win over New Zealand

WORLD order has been restored after the Queensland-powered Kangaroos last night avenged their World Cup humiliation with a 38-10 demolition of New Zealand.

In front of a healthy crowd of 37,152 Australia ran rampant, scoring seven tries to two against the hopelessly out-classed Kiwis.

The victory provided a fitting stage for Kangaroos skipper Darren Lockyer to celebrate equalling Mal Meninga's record of 46 Test appearances.

"There is a fair amount of satisfaction in the dressingroom," Lockyer said afterwards. "New Zealand won the World Cup last year and we can't take that away from them.

"All we could do is come out and play the way we did. We walk out of here feeling good about ourselves and very proud of representing Australia. It wasn't about revenge, it wasn't about repaying the faith of selectors, nothing like that was talked about.

"This is a Test match, you're playing for your country. You go out with the same attitude every time you play. We just executed better in this game than we did last year and we got the result."

In his first outing as Test coach after succeeding Ricky Stuart – who resigned in a bitter aftermath to the World Cup loss – Tim Sheens said he had been happy with his men's attitude and aptitude.

"Our forwards needed to stand up tonight, we all knew the class of our backline but we needed the platform laid first," Sheens said. "I was particularly pleased with the grit on the line that they showed for each other."

The loss continued a wretched run of outs for the Kiwis in mid-season Test matches with their last win coming over a decade ago.

"I am disappointed with the result, but I couldn't fault our effort of the lads, they kept trying," NZ coach Steve Kearney said.

Unlike in the World Cup final Australia did not advance on the Kiwis pre-match haka, instead linking arms a metre into the Kiwis side of the field. The Kiwis, led by Benji Marshall, marched forward with Marshall making a point of eye-balling Lockyer.

Lockyer had his revenge.

Source: http://www.thecouriermail.com.au

[GCT_07]

Brilliant Game..... that hit on Laffranchi next to the posts right in front of us... OMG... how he got up and then packed the scrum.. no idea.. he had the wobbles big time.... Laffrankly Speaking.... TOUGH

[GCT_89]

this was a BRILLIANT game and it felt so good to leave suncorp holding those BIG Green Kangaroos flags up high (literally, the poles extended to like 4-5metres) with all the aussie chants going off......well actually just the same old one (Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!) but everyone loves it.......Except the kiwis....hahahahaha

[daveyk]

was this game sold out??
coz that is what i had heard and the entire top tier of suncorp was empty

[GCT_07]

There were still plenty of seats there......