By Louis Anderson-Rich
We bring you live updates as the Kiwis take on the Kangaroos in tonight’s one-off Test in Townsville. The visitors have struggled in recent years against the old foe and will be looking to turnaround a five match losing streak against them.
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LIVE COMMENTARY… Kangaroos 18 – 10 Kiwis
80 Min: There goes the siren and the game is over! Great performance from the Kiwis but the Australians just do enough to grind out another win!
75 Min: NZ really under the pump as Cronk runs at the line, passes inside to Morris who goes very close to the line! Ref blows for double movement.
74 Min: Inu’s restart is short and Slater has it on the full and bursts through a gap! He’s in space! Hoffman brings him down! Inu gives away the penalty.
73 Min: Johnathan Thurston lands the extras.
72 Min: Aussie string a move together now and it’s Inglis in field to Gallen who opens up the Kiwi defence! Pass out the back to Gallen who cuts in behind him and slides under the posts! TRY!
71 Min: Marshall with another early kick. Gets some good territory but Slater is there to come back and pick it up and run it out.
70 Min: Thurston bringing the ball up, swarmed by Kiwi defenders…now Cronk to Shillington who gets some easy yards. Cameron Smith with a kick on the last but Hoffman is there to take it and run it up 10 metres from the line.
69 Min: Kiwis can’t make much ground and Foran makes a good kick that bounces around a bit downfield…
68 Min: Morris with a good run over to the right, cut down by Beale….Cameron Smith with a little grubber, bounces off kiwi legs and then goes to Beale who does well to tidy up.
67 Min: Kiwis with the ball over halfway…final for them and Marshall put in the low grubber. Blocked. Judged as not played at. Marshall with the ball again, tackled, ball back with Australia.
64 Min: Roos run the ball up past halfway and Smith from dummy half almost keeps the momentum going. Fifth for Australia and Cronk goes high down the middle, Slater is up! Hoffman gets to it first though.
61 Min: So Inu penalised for stripping the ball illegally and Thurston is going to have a shot at goal…Thurston adds two points to put Australia in the lead.
61 Min: Roos still with the ball 10 metres out…Farrah delivers the ball to Inglis who picks it up off the ground and loses the ball in the tackle! Ref calls a penalty against the Kiwi’s!
60 Min: Kanagroos 15 metres from the tryline, it’s Farrah at dummy half, goes to Thurston who crashes over the line! Ref is going to go upstairs!...replays suggest he looks like he’s pulled up short. And if he has that is try-saving stuff from Josh Hoffman…NO TRY! Big call!
59 Min: Cronk to Slater out wide on the left to Morris who goes back inside to Bird who is tackled. Final for Australia and Cronk runs it to the line, puts over the chip but Beale gets up to take it well again. Australia force him back into the in-goal. It’s a real arm-wrestle out on the pitch right now.
58 Min: Inu now under pressure, spins out of the tackle of Thurston…final for the Kiwis and Luke goes to Marshall who runs himself into trouble, finds Foran who hits down field taken by Slater on the full and plays Boyd who takes it up to the halfway line.
57 Min: Australia with good field position on this set. Cronk to Scott now Thurston with a grubber to the in-goal but Hoffman picks it up and charges up to the 10 metre line, great work from him.
56 Min: Frank Pritchard runs the ball up and looses the ball from the ground. Bird comes up with the loose ball.
55 Min: Tamou picks up the ball deep and bumps off three players! He’s broken the line! Passes off to Slater who is pulled down and now it’s Cronk who plays it up to the 20 metre mark…Thurston shows it then delivers to Scott who can’t spot the gap, final back to Smith who stabs a ball through but there’s no chasers and the ball goes dead.
54 Min: Greg Eastwood looking very dangerous on the attack, again he almost wriggles his way through the line. Benji Marshall on the fourth, kicks, finds touch.
53 Min: Smith to Cronk to Bird to Josh Morris. Final for Aus and Cronk goes very high but Hoffman does well with the take once again.
53 Min: Restart now and Australia have the ball 12 metres from their own line…
52 Min: Number of players down for both teams after that passage of play. INglis, Luke, Ryan Hoffman all down.
52 Min: Frank Pritchard with a good run and Offload to Eastwood who plays the no-look pass inside to Luke! Field opens up for Luke! Elijah Taylor in support! Tackled! Gets up to play the ball and passes it back to Hoffman who knocks it on! Chance goes begging for NZ.
51 Min: Australia 30 metres out and it’s Matt Scott with the football. Last for Aus, Cronk with the kick and a great take by Hoffman on the line.
50 Min: Opportuinty opens up for the Kiwis as Beale has it down the left, but he’s been tackled and loses the ball in a good position. Slater looks to counter but is tackled by Kasiano.
49 Min: Tony Williams with the ball for Australia 30 out numbers away to the left but Sam Perrett makes a great tackle on him and forces the knock on.
48 Min: Luke to Foran to Blair…now a lovely ball over to the far right for Inu who tears away down the right! Tackled just over halfway and Eastwood comes up with the ball and kicks of all people. Slater there to take it.
47 Min: Australia linking up nicely now as Thurston goes to Cronk to Slater to Boyd…cross-field kick by Inglis but Beale takes it nicely.
45 Min: Smith with the restart and Foran with the take…Luke goes from dummyhalf slipping and sliding through the middle, offloads to Eastwood who gets some ground and throws a loose offload which Foran picks up. Kiwis within five and here is Sam Kasiano at the line! Held up! Final for the Kiwis and Marshall goes high for Perrett, Inu is up instead and taps it back but Tony Williams gets the loose ball.
43 Min: Marshall off the back of the scrum…Luke to Blair who is wrapped up 2 metres from the try line…L:uke again to Foran who almost gets away…Luke plays a poor pass to Blair who has to go low to catch it…final for the Kiwis and Foran puts through a little grubber kick, Morris clears up the ball but Whare tackles him in the in-goal area.
42 Min: Kiwis on the halfway line, it’s Greg Eastwood…now Adam Blair tries to find a way through…Foran back to Inu who gives the offload to Hoffman who gets away from run! Slater takes him down ten metres from the line! Ball comes out the back to Marshall with a big lofted pass over the top but Morris intercepts and loses it! Penalty to the Kiwis.
41 Min: Cameron Smith with the kick that gets us back into it!...NZ run the ball up to the 30 quickly and Kiwis get an early penalty.
Players back out on the field and we are very close to getting another 40 minutes of international league underway!
40 Min: Kick to come, can NZ take a lead into the break? Inu misses the conversion and it’s all tied up at halftime!
38 Min: Kiwis run it back up and Marshall puts up a massive bomb, Slater underneath but Perrett has got up ahead of him! Hands it off to Luke! Who has numbers away to the left! It’s Dean Whare! One more over to Gerard Beale who goes over low in the corner for his third career TRY!
37 Min: Inu’s restart goes into the in-goal and the Asutralian forwards bring the ball back up strongly again…Smith runs it up over halfway. Final for Aus, kick for Cronk which sits up but Perrett takes it very well.
35 Min: Thurston with his second conversion attempt…which he lands, bringing up his 100th test goal.
34 Min: Australian play is lightneing fast as Cronk gets some ground down the right, no Shillington. Back for Cronk who drops it short to Tamou who finds the gap in the Kiwi’s defence! Tamou races over the line! TRY!
33 Min: Kiwis just on halfway at the moment…Inu plays it for Proctor to Marshall who gets a kick in on the right wing…ball goes dead.
31 Min: Slater in dummy half goes to Gallen on the 30…now Thurston tackled by Marshall quick play from Slater to Smith to Bird who is smashed in the tackle and loses the ball…Marshall at the centre of a bit of afters between him and Shillington. Just a bit of push and shove.
30 Min: Kiwis with a scrum on their 10 metre line. Chance for them to slow the play down a little…Benji with another massive kick which is taken by Boyd…
29 Min: Inu’s drop kick this time only goes 35 metres…Cronk running and now Paul Gallen charges up some metres…Smith inside to Greg Inglis 5 out! Thurston to Cronk to Slater but the pass is in front of him! Morris cleans it up! Goes for the line! Kiwis come across to force him into touch!
27 Min: Cronk with a kick from 13 out, Beale is under it and takes it well but is then driven back by three Aussie players into the in-goal. Goal line drop out for NZ.
26 Min: Smith now gets an offload away on halfway. Thurston with a bit of a duck and weave and Cronk goes from dummy-half but Mannering makes a good tackle. Kick from Cameron Smith is high, Hoffman underneath but he spills it! And New Zealand are back under the pump!
25 Min: Inu’s restart almost goes dead on the full…
24 Min: Johnathan Thurston with the conversion…which is way off.
23 Min: Goal line drop out from Inu makes 60 metres but Shillington has run it back up and bounced off Mannering and made it within 30 of the Kiwis line…Smith works the right and sees the defence open up! Smith goes over! TRY!
22 Min: Final from Aussie and Thurston stabs a little kick through for Inglis but Beale tidies up the football and is then tackled dead by Morris.
21 Min: Smith of the back of the scrum to Slater to Morris who looks dangerous with his running…now Smith again to Cronk to Hoffman who had runners but Marshall wrapped him up…
20 Min: Pritchard with the ball just over halfway…Eastwood gets the ball from Luke and knocks it on as he goes to ground in a Thurston tackle. Ball to the Kangaroos.
19 Min: Slater has a big tackle put on him by Perrett, and then Inu dumps Ryan Hoffman…big defence still from the Kiwi’s…Last tackle and Smith kicks, taken by Hoffman on the full who picks up 20 metres.
18 Min: Marshall with another driving kick, this one’s a good one as it rolls out into touch 5 metres from the Aussie line. Bit of a breather for the Kiwis.
17 Min: Matt Scott meets the shoulder of Matulino but now it’s Cronk out to Slater on the outside back to Smith on the inside and they’ve made some decent ground between them. Australia pull close to the Kiwi tryline and it’s Thurston with a chip for Boyd, Perrett is there, he fumbles Boyd out the back with a chance! He’s stepped into touch.
16 Min: Kieran with a big bomb and there are players from both teams under it. Morris goes up and Beale fouls him in the air. Australia penalty.
15 Min: Smith with the ball on the halfway line, goes short to Thurston…with the kick and Perrett comes up with the loose ball.
13 Min: Kick from Foran on the fifth goes dead….Kasiano has come off with what looks like an injury to the back of his knee.
12 Min: Gerard Beale with a strong tackle on Slater and then another follow up tackle from Foran on Smith big, big Kiwi defence! Kangaroos on tackle four and struggling to get out of their own half…final for Roos, kick from Cronk and Josh Hoffman runs it back up.
11 Min: Gallen looses control when he plays the ball and the Kiwis have another penalty from some more sloppy play by the Kangaroos…Here come the Kiwis again and Marshall goes inside to Hoffman who seemed to play the ball incorrectly but no call from the ref…kiwis on tackle four and Inu fires a ball to Bromwich who steams his way forwards. Ball goes to ground, looked like a Roos hand was in there. Roos ball.
10 Min: Issac Luke finds some easy metres with a burst down the left…here is Mannering now…plays it to Marshall with the kick from just behind halfway but Slater cleans up.
9 Min: Krisnan Inu with the kick…and a smile…he strikes it very sweetly!
8 Min: Replays certainly show a TRY! What does the TMO say?! TRY IT IS!
7 Min: Now the Kiwis with some good territory it’s Bromwich inside the 10…ball played out to Inu who steps inside and goes so close to the line! Quick play from Luke who’s gone over! We’re going upstairs!
5 Min: Aussies up over the halfway line now…last tackle and Cronk chips a ball over which is run up by Josh Hoffman.
4 Min: Kiwis on halfway and Big Sam Kasiano goes in with a hard hit up and then gets the offload away. Beale makes some good ground on the wing…Blair goes to Foran and now Dean Whare…Foran again round the back and it’s Benji Marshall with room! Goes out to the right for Sam Perrett who is met by Slater! Kick from Perrett! Goes dead.
3 Min: Early mistake from Australia after Tony Williams knocked it on. Penalty to the Kiwis.
2 Min: Mannering aims up at Paul Gallen. 20 yards from halfway. Now Adam Blair to Marshall with a low kick which is picked up by Slater…he’s run right across field and finds Morris in some room who is tackled.
1 Min: Krisnan Inu kicks off for the Kiwi’s and gets us underway!...early set from the Aussies doesn’t get them much ground. Jason Tamou (traitor) met with a strong kiwi response…Josh Hoffman gets the first touch for the Kiwi’s and it’s a good take and a good run.
The challenge has certainly been laid down by Benji Marshall and his kiwi’s after that very charged haka. Now on with the footy!
Rousing stuff and now for something even more rousing, The Haka…
Please stand now for the national anthems…
Benji Marshall leads out the Kiwi’s on the green! And here come Cameron Smith’s Roos. We are very close to kick-off…
Big crowd has turned out in Townsville which is good to see. Going to be a great atmosphere.
The heat issue cropping up in the pre-match interview with Stephen Kearney. Kearney’s not concerned and rightly so. We have hot days here in NZ…sometimes.
However New Zealand’s average age is much younger at 24 years old, in comparison to Aussie’s 27. Can the young legs give the Kangaroos a run for their money?
One big stat, the have also lost every single one-off match against Australia since 1998…yikes.
The Junior Kangaroos have just beaten the Junior Kiwis 48-16 in the curtain-raiser for tonight’s game. A sign of things to come?
Tonight’s game has been built up as a battle between the best players in the NRL but also two pretty averagely performing coaches. Stephen Kearney lost his job at the Eels towards the end of last season whilst Tim Sheens has since moved on from Wests Tigers. Who can walk away from tonight’s match with some international retribution?
Not far away from kick off, stay tuned for live commentary of the match.
While you wait check out rugby reporter Tony Wright’s preview story.
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Teams:
Kiwis: 1. Josh Hoffman (Brisbane Broncos), 2. Sam Perrett (Canterbury Bulldogs) 3. Krisnan Inu (Canterbury Bulldogs), 4. Dean Whare (Manly Sea Eagles) 5. Gerard Beale (Brisbane Broncos), 6 Benji Marshall (Wests Tigers) 7. Kieran Foran (Manly Sea Eagles), 8. Jesse Bromwich (Melbourne Storm), 9. Issac Luke (South Sydney Rabbitohs), 10. Sam Kasiano (Canterbury Bulldogs) 11. Frank Pritchard (Canterbury Bulldogs), 12. Kevin Proctor (Melbourne Storm), 13. Simon Mannering (NZ Warriors).
Interchange: 14. Elijah Taylor (NZ Warriors), 15. Ben Matulino, (NZ Warriors), 16. Greg Eastwood (Canterbury Bulldogs), 17. Adam Blair (Wests Tigers).
Kangaroos: 1. Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm), 2. Darius Boyd (Newcastle Knights), 3. Greg Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs), 4. Josh Morris (Canterbury Bulldogs), 5. Brett Morris (St. George Illawarra Dragons), 6. Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys), 7. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm), 8. Matt Scott (North Queensland Cowboys), 9. Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm), 10. James Tamou (North Queensland Cowboys), 11. Greg Bird (Gold Coast Titans), 12. Paul Gallen (Cronulla Sharks), 13. Nate Myles (Gold Coast Titans).
Interchange: 14. Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers), 15. Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne Storm), 16. David Shillington (Canberra Raiders), 17. Tony Williams (Canterbury Bulldogs), 18. Ben Te'o (Brisbane Broncos).
Pregame banter:
The Kiwis are happy with their preparation ahead of tomorrow night's one-off test against the Kangaroos in Townsville.
They're confident they can turn around a run of five straight defeats to their main rivals.
The last time these old enemies met, Eden Park was the scene of disappointment for Stephen Kearney's men. But it's what occurred before that 20-12 defeat which is giving him reason to believe Townsville won't become the scene of a repeat.
“I thought we made some great strides in terms of preparation for the Anzac Day test and we've certainly used that as a bit of a blueprint for what we've done this week,” says Kearney.
The Kiwis spent two days acclimatising in tropical Cairns before moving south to Townsville, and their captain has been impressed with how the team has trained.
“If we can turn up with that intensity, we can go set for set with these guys and give ourselves every chance to win,” says Benji Marshall.
And today, at the Great Barrier Reef Aquarium in Townsville, was also a chance for Marshall to impress his counterpart Cameron Smith.
“Benji was giving me a bit of a lesson on what fish are in that tank and all that sort of stuff,” says the Kangaroos captain.
But he had a warning as well.
“I don't think there's a guy in our side at the moment that's out of form.”
The test will be Marshall's 19th as Kiwis captain, drawing him level with Gary Freeman's record. And while the Wests Tigers' playmaker hasn't always brought his NRL form to the test arena, he believes this is the moment to get one over his former mentor Tim Sheens.
“He's the greatest coach I’ve played under, I know what he can do as a coach and what effect he has on the Australian team – it's always going to be difficult but we've got our own things in place that we think will work for us and hopefully those things work better than what he puts in,” says Marshall.
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