Kiwis Eliminated From Four Nations Final

Hull, England, November 12, 2011 – England ended the Kiwis’ hopes of winning back-to-back Gillette Four Nations titles with a convincing 28-6 win in the sudden-death clash between the two sides at Hull’s KC Stadium on Saturday night.

The result earned England a showdown with Australia in next Saturday’s final at Elland Road in Leeds, a repeat of the outcome two years ago when England beat the Stephen Kearney-coached Kiwis 20-12 to claim a place in the 2009 final.

The Kiwis went into the match all too aware of how challenging it is to account for the home side on English soil. Indeed the New Zealanders could count only one win against England or Great Britain in the last 11 games played in the northern hemisphere; that has now become one win in 12.

They will head home in the next few days after another unsuccessful campaign in England after losing to Australia in Warrington, beating Wales at Wembley and now falling to England when everything rested on the outcome.

Both teams were without first-choice forwards, the Kiwis losing prop Fuifui Moimoi and England without Gareth Ellis. The New Zealanders brought Russell Packer in to replace Moimoi.

They began confidently, halfback Kieran Foran crossing early when England failed to handle an aerial attack but the video referee rubbed it out on an offside call, England had a relieving penalty and the tone of the contest was altered. The Kiwis weren’t helped either when they lost fullback Kevin Locke after only 10 minutes with a shoulder injury (although he returned for a time later on).

Referee Matt Cecchin would also go on to have a strong influence on the first half as he rattled up a 7-2 penalty count in England’s favour.

With the possession count running against them on the back of such a lopsided penalty count, the Kiwis were unable to impose themselves by way of creating pressure. Instead they were forced to defend deep inside their territory for most of the first half – and they did so exceptionally well.

It wasn’t until the 28th minute that their line was breached, the opportunity owing much to the skills of New Zealander Rangi Chase playing against his homeland for the first time. His dummying, weaving run across field helped to give winger Tom Briscoe a try wide out, splendidly converted by Kevin Sinfield.

Not long after the Kiwis’ defence was exceptional again as England prop James Graham was somehow held up over the line. With halftime almost up, the score was still only 6-0 in the home side’s favour until Cecchin found fault in the Kiwis’ discipline again. Sinfield guided the penalty over and England had a useful 8-0 lead at the break in what was always going to be a gritty battle.

The Kiwis’ defence had kept them in the game but it couldn’t answer the call just five minutes after halftime when big England winger Ryan Hall demonstrated his finishing skills once more with a classy finish wide out, Sinfield’s conversion taking his side out to 14-0 advantage.

The New Zealanders had plenty of time to climb back into the match and, after showing real patience, they finally did in the 61st minute. Benefiting from three repeat sets after forcing two goal-line drop-outs, Thomas Leuluai cleared the ball under real pressure, Gerard Beale zipped out a wide pass to his right and expert finisher Jason Nightingale scored in the corner, his 11th try in 15 Tests. Benji Marshall’s superb conversion had the Kiwis just eight points behind again with 18 minutes still to play. Trouble was they promptly made an error from the restart, enabling England to immediately force a goal-line drop-out and then earning a penalty to go 16-6 ahead.

The Kiwis couldn’t come back again, England scoring twice within the last eight minutes to claim a deserved 22-point win in front of a crowd of 23,447, a record for an England-New Zealand Test.

Match details:

At Wembley Stadium, London
Kiwis 6 (Jason Nightingale try; Benji Marshall conversion).
England 28 (Tom Briscoe, Ryan Hall, James Graham, Sam Tomkins tries; Kevin Sinfield 4 conversions, penalty).
Halftime: 8-0 England.
Referee: Matt Cecchin (Australia).
Crowd: 23,447.

Kiwis: Kevin Locke; Gerard Beale, Lewis Brown, Simon Mannering, Jason Nightingale; Benji Marshall (c), Kieran Foran; Ben Matulino, Thomas Leuluai, Russell Packer; Sika Manu, Adam Blair; Jeremy Smith. Interchange: Issac Luke, Alex Glenn, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Elijah Taylor.

2011 FOUR NATIONS

KIWI SQUAD

Player Club Kiwi No Tests Points

Gerard Beale Broncos 767 4 8
Adam Blair Storm 732 24 8
Lewis Brown Warriors 762 5 0
Kalifa Faifai Loa Cowboys 766 2 4
Nathan Fien Dragons 733 21 20
Kieran Foran Sea Eagles 757 7 0
Alex Glenn Broncos 769 4 0
Thomas Leuluai Wigan 704 30 12
Kevin Locke Warriors 758 4 8
Issac Luke Rabbitohs 749 20 40
Sam McKendry Panthers 763 6 0
Simon Mannering Warriors 731 28 16
Sika Manu Storm 750 14 16
Benji Marshall (c) Tigers 717 25 102
Ben Matulino Warriors 756 11 4
Fuifui Moimoi Eels 741 12 0
Jason Nightingale Dragons 747 15 44
Russell Packer Warriors 768 2 0
Kevin Proctor Storm - 0 0
Jeremy Smith Sharks 742 22 26
Elijah Taylor Warriors 770 2 0
Bill Tupou Warriors - 0 0
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves Roosters 755 10 8

ENDS