Aussies all class as Kiwis go west
AUSTRALIA have taken the honours in the first Test match played in Perth, emerging with a 26-6 win over New Zealand last night.
The sell-out crowd of 20,283, a record for nib Stadium in its current configuration, proves that there is a hunger for rugby league in the west and they were treated to a pulsating and physical battle.
Ultimately it was Australia’s greater cohesion that won them the day with New Zealand looking somewhat scattered in attack when they tried to move the ball wide.
The 20-point margin belied the nature of the match, with Australia clinically converting several late chances to stretch the gap between the two sides.
Greg Inglis scored a double to take his career tally to 30 tries in 36 Tests, taking him past Reg Gasnier as the third most prolific try-scorer in Australian history.
He utterly dominated his opposite number Shaun Kenny-Dowall who had a nightmare performance, letting in two tries with poor defensive reads and dropping a number of easy balls.
One error early in the second half proved particularly costly with Australian debu- tant Valentine Holmes scoring directly from a KennyDowall mistake.
Holmes was the pick of Australia’s three debutants, carrying the ball well and showing great speed to score his maiden Test try.
Fellow rookies Tyson Frizell and Shannon Boyd also enjoyed promising debuts.
New Zealand’s powerful forward pack did not assert their dominance as expected with star duo Jason Taumalolo and Jesse Bromwich failing to produce the form they had showcased for their clubs.
Halfback Shaun Johnson also had a game to forget and struggled to get involved.
Debutant centre Solomone Kata and interchange forward Martin Taupau were the black and white’s best but as a whole the team still has much room to improve.
After three years out of Test football, Jared WaereaHargreaves made his presence felt with a vicious high tackle on Johnathan Thurston in what was one of a number of ill-disciplined early efforts by New Zealand.
They were made to pay for their sins when Thurston stretched the defence with a long ball that allowed Darius Boyd to glide over untouched out wide.