Costly Success – Kiwis 24, England 10

Costly Success – Kiwis 24, England 10

Wellington, New Zealand, October 24, 2010 – The Kiwis began their Four Nations campaign with a vital 24-10 win over England at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night but will be without strike weapon Manu Vatuvei for the rest of the tournament.

The match, played in front of a crowd of 20,681, was only three minutes old when the 24-year-old Vatuvei reeled out of a tackle clutching his right arm. Within an hour it was confirmed his tournament was over.

Team doctor Simon Mayhew said x-rays revealed Vatuvei had a displaced fracture of his radius and would return to Auckland for an operation.

The setback leaves the Kiwis with a complement of 22 players for the rest of the Four Nations with the tournament’s rules not allowing replacements in the event of injury.

However, the Kiwis still have three specialist wingers in their squad – Jason Nightingale, who was again impressive in the win over England, Test regular Sam Perrett and newcomer Antonio Winterstein.

After the win, Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney said he was pleased with the way in which the team had adjusted to Vatuvei’s early exit. In a reshuffle, Frank Pritchard was brought on to run on the left edge, second rower Simon Mannering moved out to left centre and centre Junior Sa’u filled Vatuvei’s spot.

“It’s very sad for Manu and for us to lose him,” said Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney.

“He provides any team with so much but the way we reacted to losing him was good to see.”

In fact, Vatuvei had barely left the field when Pritchard broke through and, after a fast play the ball, quick hands on then short side had Sa’u over wide out for his fifth try in just his seventh Test. He was over again soon after only for referee Tony Archer to rule Mannering’s final pass had been forward.

Despite Vatuvei’s loss, the Kiwis were regularly testing England’s defence but had only the early Sa’u try and a Benji Marshall penalty to show for it with halftime only six minutes away.

It didn’t stay that way as Marshall drifted across field, teasing the defence on a weaving run until his long ball put Nightingale free down the right-hand touchline. The St George Illawarra NRL premiership winner sized it up perfectly, drew the defence and fed the supporting Lance Hohaia on the inside for a wonderful try.

With a 12-0 lead at halftime, the Kiwis went out to what seemed to be an ominous 18-0 advantage just four minutes into the second half when the New Zealand Rugby League’s Player of the Year Shaun Kenny-Dowall showed off his full array of skills. Cutting back against the grain, he straightened up and left multiple defenders all over the place before using his long reach to plant the ball over the line for a stunning solo try (his fourth in three Tests).

The opportunity was there for the Kiwis to leave England behind but instead it was the visitors who made the next big plays in the game. First James Roby scored from a kick that ricocheted about behind the Kiwis’ line, the England hooker swooping to force the loose ball.

From the restart, England came straight back with centre Michael Shenton making a long break from inside his own territory, shifting to standoff Kevin Brown in support who in turn fed fullback Gareth Widdop for England’s second try in a matter of minutes.

A score-line of 18-10 was a chance of becoming even closer when Brown claimed a try after a banana kick left the Kiwis exposed in their in-goal area. However, replays showed Brown had shoved Kiwi prop Greg Eastwood out of the way, the would-be try being rubbed out by the video referee.

It was the only reminder the Kiwis needed that they had to be the next to score and duly they were. Again it was Marshall who tantalised the defence with one of his cross-field runs, connecting with Nightingale who then popped up a return pass for his skipper. There wasn’t much room to work with but it mattered not to Marshall as he expertly put the ball down for his ninth try in his 17th Test. Marshall’s sideline conversion was superb and the Kiwis essentially had their win sealed 14 minutes from time.

If the score was a little closer than it might have been for a short period, the Kiwis enjoyed an edge in most areas, not least through a 7-2 count in line breaks.

Today the Kiwis leave Wellington for Rotorua where they play Papua New Guinea next Saturday. The Kumuls start their campaign against Australia at Parramatta Stadium today.

Match details:

At Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Kiwis 24 (Junior Sa’u, Lance Hohaia, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Benji Marshall tries; Benji Marshall 3 conversions, penalty).

England 10 (James Roby, Gareth Widdop tries; Gareth Widdop conversion). Halftime: 12-0 Kiwis.

Referee: Tony Archer (Australia).

Crowd: 20,681.

Teams:

Kiwis: Lance Hohaia; Jason Nightingale, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Junior Sa’u, Manu Vatuvei; Benji Marshall (c), Nathan Fien; Greg Eastwood, Thomas Leuluai, Adam Blair; Simon Mannering, Bronson Harrison; Jeremy Smith. Interchange: Issac Luke, Ben Matulino, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Frank Pritchard.

Coach: Stephen Kearney.

England: Gareth Widdop; Darrell Goulding, Michael Shenton, Ryan Atkins, Tom Briscoe; Kevin Brown, Sam Tomkins; James Graham (c), James Roby, Stuart Fielden; Gareth Ellis, Sam Burgess; Sean O’Loughlin. Interchange: Luke Robinson, Darrell Griffin, Joel Tomkins, Ben Westwood.

Coach: Steve McNamara.

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