Key events
TRY! New Zealand 10-16 Australia (Warbrick, 66″)
The Kiwis hit back! Just as Kodi Nikorima answered the distress call from his coach, Scott Sorensen ripped a hole down the right side and Joseph Tapine was there to catch the offload. Then Johnson swooped in and shifted it to the other side, spearing a beautiful kick crossfield which Will Warbrick snatches from the sky, shrugs off a tackler and scores!
63rd minute: New Zealand are officially in trouble now. Despite all that possession they have simply not been able to convert pressure into points. Australia’s back three of Lomax, Edwards and Coates have been exceptional in their bomb diffusal and kick returns. Still no sign of a spark like Nikorima. The Dolphins dynamo is still in his trackies on the sideline. Meanwhile, Australia are back at the halfway…
TRY! New Zealand 6-16 Australia (Lomax, 59″)
Tom Trbojevic made the bust but he didn’t get the try. But being the team man he is, Turbo hung around was there a couple of sets later at dummy half to jink to the blindside and find Harry Grant who pivoted and got the ball back to Zac Lomax who, again, takes on two defenders and reels out of the clutches of both to get the ball down in the corner. He misses the kick but is having a real day out here.
56th minute: Another pinpoint Johnson kick has Australia are pinned in their own quarter. Edwards is under siege by the time he reels it in and Moses is forced to kick it out of trouble. Now it’s Murray and Yeo chasing hard to shut down these waves of Kiwi attack before they start. A powerful charge by Griffin Neame gives Johnson time to send his 10th bomb of the day at Edwards and this time the Penrith fullback beats the first chaser and scampers 15m. Lomax comes in to helop him and they get it to halfway with the help of Carrigan. Yeo is there to launch the next wave and here comes Turbo….
54th minute: New Zealand have had all the possession in this half but the scoreline has remained static. They have now had 58% of possession in this Test match but remain six points in arrears. Surely a triggerman like Kodi Nikorima isn’t far away for the Kiwis. Johnson’s long kick on the fifth has Edwards and Lomax looking at each other in befuddlement and again Australia are running it out of their own 10m. Carrigan is back on and he gets it to 40 where Tom Dearden stabs a scratchy kick over the left sideline.
47th minute: Bang! With New Zealand heating up in the red zone, Mitch Barnett tried to put a massive shot on the Kiwi No 16 and bounced back five metres in a huge backfire! Now it’s the home side, roared on by a huge Christchurch crowd, turning the screws. Johnson wins another set of six and attempts to loop his supporting runners. Finally he floats a Harbour Bridge pass to Isaako on the wing but the altitude of the ball has slowed the momentum and it gives Coates and Tabuai-Fidow time to bundle him into touch.
45th minute: No try is the ruling! Crichton breathes easily, having wiped his slate clean. Australia try a short restart but it doesn’t come off and New Zealand are pressing. Only an incredible tackle by Cameron Murray stops Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad crossing. Now we’ve got some fisticuffs as players converge from everywhere to let off steam. Ashley Klein does a good job getting the handbags on ice and we resume. Johnson straight away spears a kick to the left corner and Lomax marks it beautifully mid-air. But he had help from an escort and New Zealand win a penalty.
44th minute: Lovely grubber on the last by Johnson means Xavier Coates has to bat it over the dead ball lijne. Australia reef a huge kick downfield – almost 70m by Moses but New Zealand run it back at speed and there are gaps opening up in the green and gold line. Johnson grubbers again on the last. He’s aiming for the post and he hits it! It’s bounced perpendicular to the line and Crichton has tried to force it. But has he? The big Roosters enforcer has already fumbled a try. Has he saved one now to make amends?
42nd minute: Australia kick it long and it’s Fischer-Harris hammering into Reuben Cotter from the restart. Johnson’s riposte is straight into Dylan Edward’s breadbasket but his offload is high and loose and unnecessary and it’s almost fumbled. And now Harry Grant fumbles in contact with James Fisher-Harris bearing down. Nervous start by the visitors and New Zealand on the attack!
Players are running back onto the field for the final 40 minutes. Here we go!
HALFTIME: Australia 12-6 New Zealand
That was a fierce half of football! New Zealand edged Australia 51%-49% for possession and outshone them in completions with an impressive 17/18 sets to Australia’s 17/20. The Kangaroos won the acreage battle with 850m won to New Zealand’s 812 but Australia’s three line breaks have proven crucial. Although New Zealand could rightly claim to have been the better of the sides, it was the men in green and gold who have taken their opportunities since blowing their first – a clumsy fumble by Angus Crichton who bobbled the ball over the line while attempting a one-handed touchdown. Ouch! But this Test is far from won. Stacey Jones’s side have shown a willingness to offload and kick their way to points with Shaun Johnson’s boot fast finding its radar. But the home side have made more tackles (205-190) and missed more too (16-13) so, at the end of a long NRL season, fitness could be a factor late in the game. We’ll be back with the second half shortly…
PENALTY GOAL! Australia 12-6 New Zealand (Lomax 39″)
Lomax makes the Kiwis pay for that moment of indiscretion by potting an easy two points and extending Australia’s lead to a converted try as the players head to the shed for halftime. A high quality contest takes a breath and it’s the Kangaroos ascendant.
38th minute: Australia with their tails up now. Yeo and Crichton charge it to the halfway on the fourth and they win a six-again decision. Cam Murray swoops in for a low-trajectory lunge into the New Zealand 22. And now frustration by the Kiwis as Barnett is stripped of the ball. Yeo points at the sticks. He wants the two points – and a breather.
TRY! Australia 10-6 New Zealand (Lomax 35″)
Great bust by Tom Trbojevic showing class to take on the line and jink between two men. He sprints inside and who’s looming in support but Zac Lomax? The new Parramatta recruit does superbly to take the pass 15 metres out and barrel through two defenders to dive over in the corner. Great try by Australia! Lomax misses the kick but it’s Australia back in the lead here in Christchurch.
33rd minute: A successful challenge by New Zealand sets them up on the 30m line. Marata Niukore is on for the Kiwis in place of Naufahu Whyte and the fresh legs pay off as he sets up Sorenson for a big charge up the middle. Crichton wraps him up and Jiohnson’s bomb is straight at Edwards but Hiku has taken him out with no eyes for the ball whatsoever and Australia will win the penalty. Collins runs it out of the red zone.
30th minute: Mitch Barnett is on the field and he charges it out of trouble for Australia. Dylan Edwards puts it on the toe this time and it’s a long raking kick to the New Zealand line. They return it with interest throughb Kini and Tapine and Johnson’s fifth tackle bomb almost creates a collision between Lomax and Coates. Crisis averted as the catch is taking cleanly. Now it’s Yeo creating second-phase fever for Australia and finding Harry Grant on his hip. The contest has settled now. Who will blink first?
TRY! New Zealand 6-6 Australia (26″)
New Zealand run it on the last this time and fast hands and a basketball lob over the top get sthem over in the corner! Great stuff by the home side. Shaun Johnson found the space and Keano Kini created the second-phase opportunity to pop the ball back to Jamayne Isaako who dotted down in the corner and even it up on the scoreboard. Isaako then curls it in from the right line to convert. Beautiful kick in high wind. 6-all!
25th minute: New Zealand return the ball ov er halfway through Peta Hiku and Jamayne Isaako who are looking to convert the home side’s domination to the scoreboard. No dice on this set and Australia’s counter ends with another Moses hanger and a huge Lomax leap that almost comes off. Great leap by Lomax! A penalty to New Zealand gets them a set restart on halfway.
21st minute: Collins takes a bit of gloss off his try by giving away a penalty for a high tackle. Can the Kiwis hit back here? Johnson goes deep with his passes and Tapine makes a half break. But a loose wide pass from Johnson the other way misses its mark and New Zealand lose 30-metres of territory – and possession. The Kiwis are looking a little disjointed now, that’ll happen when you recall a playmaker to international duties with rust on him. Now Turbo and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow are launching a counter-attack on the left…
TRY! Australia 6-0 New Zealand (16″)
That try was against the run of play but Australia will take it. They butchered their first chance to touch down but have made the most of that bust. Collins showed great innovation to switch the attack and sow chaos in the defensive line. That split second and his brute power created the bust and the big Rooster showed great toe to sprint away. Lomax adds the extras for Australia.
16th minute: A fumble from Jopseph Tapine has handed the ball back to Cameron Murray and the Rabbitohs tyro slugs it out of trouble for Australia. Carrigan goes with him and Australia are rumbling here. And bang! Lindsay Collins changes the angle and two Kiwi defenders collide as he splits the black line and sprints 40 metres to score!
14th minute: Here come the Kiwis and they get within a body length of the stripe before reefing it back to Johnson who spears a kick at the left corner this time. Lomax clears under pressure and the men in black will resume their assault. Oh no! Moses has muffed his clearance and it hasn’t gone the 10 metres. Batten down the hatches Kangaroos!
12th minute: New Zealand get it within 20m of the Kangaroos line and this time Johnson’s kick finds Dylan Edwards. Not enough chasers there but they amend their ways with robust defence in the next three tackles and Moses is happy to clear. New Zealand are winning the battle for territory and now have a penalty for interference in the ruck. Yeo will challenge this… but he loses. He was crowding the tackler and that forced the fumble. Challenge gone after 12 minutes and New Zealand on the attack!
10th minute: Good deception by Johnson gives New Zealand a sniff in the red zone and now they get six again. James Fisher-Harris has put his side on his back, that’s two charges in the set and it gets Johnson the time he needs to kick it to the corner. But again Coates is clean in the air and now Turbo Tom gets a little space as he chases a fifth try from his last five Tests. But now Moses has erred – his fifth tackle kick skids off the side of the boot and goes out on the full. New Zealand resume on the 40m line.
6th minute: New Zealand try to make their arrogant cousins from across the ditch pay for that terrible error. They barrel it deep into enemy territory but the fifth tackle bomb is hauled in with ease and Australia roll it back. It gets to the fifth and Moses puts it on the boot… and what a jump by Lomax! He flew six feet off the ground and took it cleanly but his alley-oop inside gave it back to the Kiwis.
4th minute: Hang on a second! Crichton has dropped the ball over the line. An early contender for Pelican of the Day. Good grief! This will be called back. Crichton did all the hard work, juggling the ball and retrieving it as he spun a 360 but in putting the ball down one-handed he has let it slip. What a shocker by the Roosters hardman!
3rd minute: First penalty of the game goes to Australia. Zac Lomax went high and referee Ashley Klein has pinged the home side for an escort. Here come the Kangaroos 10 metres out. Tom Trbojevic makes a half biust and New Zealand bend and scatter. Now comes the chance. Moses takes it left and creates the space and on the next tackle Dearden spins it to Crichton on the charge and he spins, juggles and scores!
2nd minute: Isaah Yeo and Angus Crichton lead the early charges but Pat Carrigan makes the biggest dent. Moses puts it into the right corner where Warbrick takes it safely. New Zealand return it to the halfway before Johnson puts it back at Xavier Coates who breaks one tackle before being hauled down by the second.
Kickoff!
New Zealand send it skyward and we are away in the Pacific Championship grudge match!
The Kiwis went with the throat-slitting version of the Haka – a sure sign they want to give the crowd Australian blood. Harry Grant’s smirked response should add a little more fuel to the fire for the home side and the sea of black in the stands today. Teams are in their final huddles and kick off is nigh…
Time for the anthems. The Kangaroos have their arms around each other and are doing their best to lend some volume to a pretty tepid rendition of Advance Australia Fair played with a drum machine backbeat that sounds like a MIlli Vanilli remix.
Unsurprisingly, God Save New Zealand fares better. Lots of passionate fans lending it gusto from the grandstand. Tears are flowing from the men in black. They look up for it. And that’s pre-Haka!
Players are taking the field to cheers and jeers respectively. A crowd in excess of 17,000 has crammed into Apollo Projects for the first rugby league Test in Christchurch since 1989 and they have welcomed their ancient enemies with a rousing wave of boos.
Kangaros coach Mal Meninga has admitted last week’s showing against Tonga was “clunky” but says he was “happy with the mentality” his men brought to the contest.
Australia not only have the spectre of last year’s 30-0 shellacking to shake off but the weight of history is firmly against them. The Kiwis have won their past three Tests against the Kangaroos on New Zealand soil, and are undefeated against Australia since 2012. Moreover, New Zealand have won their last seven Tests on home soil!
Latest Team News
Kiwis: New Zealand have made a late change with Naufahu Whyte to start and Griffin Neame shifted to the bench. Captain James Fisher-Harris has five Test debutants to lead into battle in fullback Keano Kini, winger Will Warbrick, hooker Phoenix Crossland, prop Naufahu Whyte and Jordan Riki.
With Jahrome Hughes injured, wily veteran Shaun Johnson has been wooed out of retirement at halfback alongside Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who shifts to No 6 in the absence of the injured Dylan Brown. Centre Peta Hiku plays his first Test since 2022 while Kodi Nikorima makes his first appearance since 2019. Erin Clark is 18th man.
Kangaroos: The Kangaroos are 1-17 with no late changes. Meninga has shown faith in the same 17 who defeated Tonga. Matt Burton hangs onto the No 14 jersey but will hope to get more than the nine minutes he played last week in Brisbane while Hudson Young (12 minutes) is also looking to play more of a role. Last week’s rookie halves pairing of Mitch Moses and Tom Dearden unite again at No 7 and 6. Ben Hunt is the 18th man.
Here’s how the teams line up today:
Australia
Dylan Edwards
Xavier Coates
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
Tom Trbojevic
Zac Lomax
Tom Dearden
Mitch Moses
Patrick Carrigan
Harry Grant (vc)
Lindsay Collins
Angus Crichton
Cameron Murray
Isaah Yeo (c)
Matt Burton
Mitch Barnett
Reuben Cotter
Hudson Young
Ben Hunt
New Zealand
Phoenix Crossland
James Fisher-Harris (c)
Peta Hiku
Jamayne Isaako
Shaun Johnson
Keano Kini
Casey McLean
Griffin Neame
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
Kodi Nikorima
Marata Niukore
Isaiah Papali’i
Jordan Riki
Scott Sorensen
Joseph Tapine
Leo Thompson
Matthew Timoko
Trent Toelau
Will Warbrick
Naufahu Whyte
Our referee for today’s Test is Ashley Klein
The Kangaroos looked a bit ragged against the pride of Tonga last week. To rest his tired NRL finalists and rouse his rookies, Meninga fielded six debutants including Parramatta halfback Mitch Moses, who looked sharp in his first game since rupturing a bicep in July’s State of Origin decider. His halves partner Tom Dearden had a mixed debut but a handful of errors were forgotten and forgiven when he scored a terrific final-minute solo try to ice the contest.
For the pleasure of our Kiwi cousins and to fire up the Aussie bretheren, here’s how things went the last time these two sides met in the Pacific Championship…
Preamble
Angus Fontaine
G’day and Kia ora rugby league fans! Welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Australian Pacific Championship men’s match between Australia and New Zealand.
Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch has already played host to a thrilling women’s Test in which Australia’s Jillaroos beat New Zealand’s Kiwi Ferns by 14-0. But its green fields will be at a very literal fever pitch for the boys after the events of last year.
Today is the first meeting between the fierce Trans Tasman rivals since New Zealand’s thumping 30-0 victory in the Pacific Championship final in 2023. Not only was it the biggest international defeat in the 116 years of Australian rugby league history, it was the first time the Kangaroos had been held scoreless in almost two decades.
Mal Meninga’s team launched its 2024 campaign with a clunky 18-0 win over Tonga last Friday. That side featured just seven players from the hammering in Hamilton last year. Meninga has been ruthless in selecting his squad for this revenge mission. Kangaroos captain James Tedesco, and State of Origin skippers Jake Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans have all been dumped and Penrith’s Isaah Yeo takes over as captain.
“It’s stung for the last 12 months,” Yeo says of 2023’s record drubbing. “It was a really disappointing way to finish the season. Those boys who were part of that last year, they get an opportunity to try and turn that around.”
It’s a new-look New Zealand too. The men in black won’t have the injured Dylan Brown, Kieran Foran, Moses Leota, Brandon Smith, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Briton Nikora and Jeremy Marshall-King. However, 32-year-old Shaun Johnson is making his big return from representative retirement and the Kiwis still boast plenty of firepower in the form of midfield musketeers Joseph Tapine, Moses Leota and James Fisher-Harris.
“What we did last year certainly set a benchmark and there’s quite a few players who were involved last year that have come back again and will set standards,” said coach Stacey Jones. “And then we’ve also got players that have come back that have been part of this side before, like Shaun and Peta Hiku and Kodi Nikorima, players that have tasted Test footy so the experience they bring has made my job a lot easier.”
Jones’s side had the first week off in the Championship and are looking to secure their first back-to-back wins over Australia in a decade. A win for Australia will put them through to this year’s final at Commbank Stadium in Sydney next Sunday. New Zealand’s path to the final rests on today’s result and next week’s Test against Tonga in Auckland. A win over Australia and a loss to Tonga would see all three Pacific Cup sides finish on one win apiece, with finalists to be determined by for and against.
Kickoff is 4.05pm AEDT and 6.05pm NZDT but we’ll have the latest team news, the results of the coin toss and the pre-match ceremonies before action gets under way. So batten ‘em down and buckle ‘em up because this Test is going to be a beauty.