Darius Boyd and Akuila Uate scored all-important second-half tries as Australia weathered a New Zealand rebound to open their Four Nations campaign with a 26-12 win on Friday.
Traveling to the UK off the back of a convincing 42-6 victory over the Kiwis two weeks ago, Australia picked up where they left off with Matthew Scott opening the scoring inside two minutes.
Tony Williams and Johnathan Thurston also crossed the whitewash in the opening 40 minutes as the Kangaroos went into the break 16-0 ahead and on course for a comfortable win.
However, the Kiwis had other ideas and tries from James Nightingale and Kalifa Faifai Loa offered the reigning Four Nations champions a glimmer of hope after 56 minutes.
However, it was not to be as first Boyd scored in the 64th minute and then Newcastle Knights wing Uate got his fingertips to an exquisite Billy Slater kick to complete the win 11 minutes later.
From the first attack it appeared New Zealand were still on the flight to the UK as a swift move involving Sam Thaiday, skipper Darren Lockyer and Cameron Smith led to the opening score.
They combined to create space for prop Scott to bulldoze through the Kiwi defense and score under the posts and leave halfback Thurston with an easy conversion.
Tempers then flared as Jeremy Smith’s late launch on North Queensland Cowboy Thurston’s kick provoking a five-man fracas with try-scorer Scott in the thick of it.
It did not prevent the Kangaroos from doubling their advantage just before the half-hour mark though as Williams careered through the New Zealand defense and Thurston again converted.
And Australia capped a near-perfect opening half with a third try just before the break as Thurston fed Williams and the replacement returned the favor for the 28-year-old to wriggle over and score.
It appeared all the Kangaroos had to do in the second half was turn up, but the Kiwis showed they were not prepared to go down without a fight and valiantly reeled Australia in.
A Kieran Foran kick in the 48th minute caused havoc in the corner as Chris Lawrence failed to collect and the ball fell kindly off Thurston’s knee for Nightingale to score.
Kiwi skipper Benji Marshall converted and within eight minutes New Zealand cut the lead to four points, another Foran kick troubling the Kangaroos defense.
Marshall swept up before cleverly laying off to Nightingale who fed Faifai Loa and the North Queensland Cowboys wing powered over to give the Kiwis hope.
However, Australia poured cold water on the New Zealand comeback Boyd touching down after a sweeping move involved Lockyer and Thurston, the latter smartly converting his third score.
The Kiwis thought they had pulled one back when Nightingale appeared the keep the ball from going into touch past the try line and Kevin Locke touched down.
However, the video referee chalked it off.
And to add insult to injury, Uate scored Australia’s fifth try with five minutes to go, getting his fingertips to a piercing kick from Melbourne storm fullback Slater.
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