Australia v New Zealand
Westpac Stadium
Saturday 6:45pm
With
Samoa and England now in the rear view mirror, Australia and New
Zealand face off this Saturday in the 2014 Four Nations final at
Wellington's Westpac Stadium.
The home side, who enter the final
undefeated in this tournament, are certainly better placed having
destroyed the Kangaroos three weeks ago before winning tough encounters
against Samoa and England.
The Australians have improved since
that first-up defeat, regaining their composure with a tight win against
England before slaying Samoa last Sunday. With a bit of form behind
them and their rookie squad growing in leaps and bounds, the world
champions can catch the Kiwis out if taken lightly this weekend.
Coach
Tim Sheens has blooded nine debutants throughout Australia's three
Tests, but no amount of inexperience measured up to the loss of Daly
Cherry-Evans (hip) and Greg Inglis (illness) during their game against
New Zealand in the first round.
The Kiwis, despite their winning
ways, will need to find another gear if they are to overpower the
control and poise of the Australian spine. They will have to make do
without hooker Thomas Leuluai, who was close to the best player on the
paddock against England last week but has been ruled out with a shoulder
complaint. Issac Luke has been promoted to the starting team with Lewis
Brown coming on to the interchange. Bodene Thompson and Gerard Beale
have been named as cover on the extended bench.
Australia have
named the same starting team that smashed Samoa last weekend but have
added hooker Robbie Farah and back-rowers Ryan Hoffman and Aiden Guerra
to the bench, accompanying Ben Hunt, David Klemmer, Josh Jackson and
Boyd Cordner.
Official Four Nations Final team lists
Watch out Australia: New
Zealand's wingers Jason Nightingale and Manu Vatuvei have been on fire.
Dragons wide man Nightingale is in especially hot form, racking up four
tries to add to his 412 run metres, the fourth-most of any player in
the tournament. Vatuvei (who missed the Kiwis' first Test) has averaged
the second-most metres (154 per game) tournament-wide, with only Samoan
winger Tautau Moga punching out more in his single appearance. The Beast
has been typically hard to stop with ball in hand, with 12 tackle busts
from two matches.
Watch out New Zealand: There is no doubt
Tim Sheens failed to get the balance of his Kangaroos squad right, with
a surplus of outside backs and a lack of specialist props, but in
saying that big men Aaron Woods, David Klemmer and Josh Papalii have
represented the Australian engine room admirably. Papalii has arguably
put forward his best performances of the year, having averaged 104
metres per Test. The importance of Woods (28.7 tackles and 90.3 metres
per game) and Klemmer (19.5 tackles and 115 metres per game) will also
be made clear up against Kiwi trio Jesse Bromwich, Martin Taupau and
Adam Blair.
Plays to Watch: Shaun Johnson and his Warriors
teammate Sam Tomkins had a running battle last weekend when the Kiwis
halfback constantly peppered the English fullback with his kicking game.
With bombs as big as the roof of Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium,
Tomkins' impact with the ball was lessened immensely with the defence
catching up with him as he would catch the football. Undoubtedly Inglis
has been earmarked as Johnson's next victim.
Before their clash
against Toa Samoa, Australia had only scored five tries in the
tournament – a tally they had almost tripled by the end of their Samoan
fixture. Their second-phase play was a big factor in the Kangaroos'
success, with Inglis and Corey Parker's offloading capabilities again
looming as a threat this week.
Where It Will Be Won: Australia
well and truly found their feet last weekend but it might have been a
completely different tale if Samoa's ill-discipline didn't rear its
head. The Kiwis can learn plenty of lessons from Samoa's performance
after they gifted the Australians piggybacks out of trouble time and
time again. Despite the influx of rookies in their side, the Kangaroos
still have superstars Inglis, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith calling the
shots and they certainly made the Samoans pay. They will have no
troubles doing the same to New Zealand if the hosts get on the wrong
side of the referee's whistle.
Of course this won't count for
much if the Kangaroos fail to prevent the Kiwis ambushing them again for
the second time in a matter of weeks. While their dominant performance
didn't pay dividends until the second half, New Zealand enjoyed a 55-45
per cent disparity in possession and eventually ran away with the game –
with eight individual Kiwis making more than 100 metres compared to
just three Kangaroos.
The History: Played 128; Australia
95, New Zealand 30, drawn 3. New Zealand come into the final with all
the momentum after destroying the Kangaroos three weeks ago 30-12. It
was their first win over Australia in four years, a stretch going all
the way back to New Zealand's 16-12 win in the 2010 Four Nations Final.
In saying that, the last time Australia lost in New Zealand was in 2003,
while the last time the Kangaroos were defeated in Wellington was way
back in 1953.
Match Officials: Referee – Phil Bentham; Touch Judges – Jason Walsh & Robert Hicks; Video Referees – Bernard Sutton & Henry Perenara.
Televised: Channel Nine – Live, 6.45pm AEDT.
The Way We See It:
Before the Kiwis ran riot in their early tournament clash with
Australia, the game had been all balanced up at 12-all. That all changed
when Cherry-Evans and Inglis failed to return after half-time, with the
Kiwis taking advantage of their under-strength opponents. Barring
injuries, this game won't be a blowout. With Australia finding their
feet over the past fortnight, a brilliant Trans-Tasman clash beckons.
But regardless of the Kangaroos' improvement against England and Samoa
the Kiwis' experience will give them an advantage, especially on home
turf with their undefeated and – quite frankly – classier squad. New
Zealand by four points.