Advance Australian fear subsides

For the Kiwis, there i s no longer advance Australian fear. That has been the biggest change over the past two years of league rivalry.

The Kiwis know that the Kangaroos, with their well- oiled combinations and greater depth, are a formidable outfit, and will still be favoured to triumph in tomorrow’s Four Nations clash.

They realise Australia have rebuilt this year under their new coaching regime, headed by Mal Meninga, and that it will need a Herculean effort to topple them in Coventry.

But they also know how to beat Australia, what it takes to lower the green and golds.

The Kangaroos are no longer mythical creatures, “10 feet tall and bulletproof ” as former Kiwis coach Graham Lowe used to joke in the 1980s. But that hasn’t always been the case.

Until a few years ago, there was a generation of players who had never beaten Australia. At the start of the last Four Nations tournament ( 2014), men such as Shaun Johnson, Jesse Bromwich, Kevin Proctor, Lewis Brown, Gerard Beale, Dean Whare and Kieran Foran had only known the bitter feeling of defeat in transtasman matches.

That has all changed now, with the three game winning streak between October 2014 and May 2105 showing what is possible.

The tide may not yet be turning, but the gap is closing.

After recording a solitary win in 10 tests against the Kangaroos from 2010- 2013, the Kiwis have won 50 per cent of the clashes since 2014.

Topping Australia is still a complicated equation — everything has to click for the Kiwis, as well as some luck go their way — but it is no longer an against the odds scenario.

“At this level any team is beatable,” said Kiwis wing Jordan Rapana. “You have to give Australia respect; they are definitely a quality side, if not the best team in the world with the players that they have.”

Rapana excelled last Sunday against England with two well- taken tries, but he is part of a right edge that still has question marks over it.

“We were a bit rusty on our defence in Perth,” said Rapana. “We need to step up in that area and make sure there is no tries coming down our edge.”