Improved Kiwis savour victory over England
An ice pack on his knee but a smile on his face, Jared WaereaHargreaves was a picture of how important this win was to the Kiwis.
‘‘The ice doesn’t lie,’’ the prop quipped, pointing to his strappedup knee when asked how tough his side’s 17-16 triumph over England had been.
A gutsy defensive display early on, and again in the closing stages, was the catalyst as New Zealand fended off a desperate England challenge to open their Four Nations title defence in style yesterday.
It was a remarkable turnaround from the lacklustre display the Kiwis dished up as they were comfortably beaten by Australia in Perth a fortnight ago.
If one player embodied their transformation, it was WaereaHargreaves, who finished a physical encounter alongside veteran Thomas Leuluai as one of the walking wounded on the bench.
The Roosters enforcer freely admits he’s struggled for success at international level, just as the Kiwis as a whole have found life tough in the UK ever since winning the 2005 Tri-Nations.
Limited to just four runs in his first test match for three years in Perth, Waerea-Hargreaves took to the field in Huddersfield with a point to prove.
This time around, he carted the ball forward four times in the opening 10 minutes, and in the tunnel at the John Smith’s Stadium shortly after the match, he admitted he’d been put on notice.
‘‘Yeah, I’ve spoken to the coaches,’’ he said.
‘‘I couldn’t really find a rhythm in that Perth test and I was made aware [of] that. I was keen to start the game strong and go out there and lay a platform. I thought I did that and I was quite happy.’’
While the likes of WaereaHargreaves were solid in defence as they held England to just two penalty goals in the opening exchanges despite the hosts dominating territory, the Kiwis struggled to find any impetus in attack until late in the first half.
It was the introduction of interchange forward Martin Taupau that seemed to turn the tide in the visitors’ favour.
‘‘I believe it was [a turning point],’’ Taupau said when asked about his entry to the fray.
‘‘Myself and Adam Blair … our objective was to come on and change the energy in a positive way.
‘‘We did the little things right which was just to ramp it up in the middle. [The win] feels good.’’
Fresh from his first win in charge of the national side, Kiwis coach David Kidwell agreed with arguably his most dangerous impact player.
While he stressed that the entire squad deserved credit, the rookie mentor had special praise for those who came off the bench.
‘‘[Taupau] made an impact in the previous match in Perth … that’s his role in the team,’’ Kidwell said.
‘‘Again, I thought he stood up. The starting team laid the platform first and I thought Manu Ma’u brought some energy (as did) Adam Blair again, and even Lewie Brown with his little cameo.’’
Having spoken before the tournament about the wish to make international rugby league the sport’s pinnacle once again, Kidwell admitted to being blown away by the spectacle he’d just witnessed.
‘‘What a test match … it had everything, I thought,’’ he said.
‘‘That’s what test matches are meant to be about. We had a bit of adversity there that we had to overcome. I thought we covered each other well out there. England started off like a house on fire. They came at us straight away and for us to get back in the game the way we did was just a wonderful effort from the boys.’’
The result leaves England facing an uphill battle to make the final, needing victory over Australia in two weeks’ time to qualify.
The Kiwis can secure their place in the decider by beating the Kangaroos next weekend in Coventry. but Kidwell and his players insisted their job was far from done. But it was clear how much yesterday’s win - their first since November 7 last year - meant to them as the players gathered in a huddle on the field after the match.