'Black Wall Call' dazes Kangaroos but it's not enough

David Kidwell crashes the Aussie defence during last night's 28-26 league Tri-Nations test loss to the Kangaroos at Ericsson Stadium. Picture / Dean Purcell

Australia 28 Kiwis 26

The Kiwis employed a brutal defensive screen to drive the Kangaroos out of the first half of the game at Ericsson Stadium last night but the usual Kangaroos smack-back earned them a victory to level the points in the Tri-Nations series.

Each team tested and exhausted the other in a high-quality game that belied the gusty, wet and slippery conditions. And it panned out to be the classic game of two halves.

The referee Steve Ganson from England was frequently too far behind the play to make correct calls.

It's unlikely we'll see him again in the series, which continues with New Zealand against Great Britain at Loftus Road next Saturday.

Early on last night, the Australians were dazed and confused by the efficiency and effectiveness of the "Black Wall Call".

From the kick-off when Steve Price received the ball and was driven backwards by Warriors team-mates, to turnovers from drop-outs forced when Matt King and Craig Fitzgibbon were carried to the in-goal, the Kiwis earned territory by putting three and more men in the tackle and holding up the ball-carrier then driving him backwards. In the wet conditions it was a brilliant tactic and it stung the Australians, who were clearly hurting.

But after trailing 16-8 at halftime the Kangaroos had the first three tries of the second spell in the space of six minutes to lead 24-16. From the start, the Kiwis enjoyed plenty of possession and it was not until late in the half that they made a couple of errors, holding on to the ball and wearing the Kangaroos down with their size in the middle.

Their fullback Anthony Minichiello saved them early. After a brief scuffle between Andrew Johns and Nigel Vagana, just to show the intensity, Vagana was penalised. A few plays later the Kangaroos scored through Darren Lockyer when the Kiwis let Johns' bomb bounce.

Motu Tony dismissed the field size argument and showed his familiarity with the pitch to land the kick-off just short of touch, forcing the Aussies to drop out again. After a dummy-half delusion with two runners, Stacey Jones put the ball over the heads of Matt Cooper and Brent Tate and Jake Webster scored.

After the Black Wall Call on Fitzgibbon, and another drop-out, Vagana scored in the right corner. It was almost a mirror of the try awarded to Mark Gasnier in the first test in Sydney and the video referee Ian Macintosh awarded it. With that, Vagana equalled Sean Hoppe's all-up try-scoring record of 16.

After some comedy from the kick-off, the ball slipping away from players from both teams, the Australians twice got confused in off-side plays and from the second off those, after a Jones bomb in front of their posts, Jones goaled and it was 10-4.

The Australians got a second set of six when the Kiwis were penalised for running interference, Manu Vatuvei knocked their kick to goal forward and Cooper scored.

But right on halftime the Kiwis replied through Motu Tony when Brent Webb made a break with a loose ball and it was then moved quickly by Vagana, Jones, David Kidwell who was making plenty of telling runs, to Tony for the points to make it Kiwis 16-8 at the break.

The joy was short-lived. Gasnier stepped Shontayne Hape and out-paced the cover four minutes into the second 40, then Lockyer got his second.

Cooper got his second, all in the space of six minutes, there were shades of deja-vu from the latter stages of test one when the Aussies scored three times in quick succession.

The Kiwis needed an injection of power and enthusiasm as the game got down to a grind. They had a chance with repeat sets on the Australian line.

Price returned the favour to ex-Warrior Jones, hauling him back by the collar and dumping him to prevent a kick-chase and Ganson missing it.

They toughed out a long period of Australian possession and in the 64th minute Webster got his second close to the touch line. But three minutes later Minichiello replied from long range when Ben Kennedy broke the line.

The Kiwis muffed the kick-off by conceding a penalty and a few plays later Minichiello got to the line, but not over it, denied by the video referee.

Momentum looked to be Australia's way. Two penalties, when Luke O'Donnell went high on Jones then Brent Webb was held back from chasing the kick, changed that. Bench hooker David Faiumu showed a classy step to score under the bar and when Jones converted, they were just two points down, four minutes to go.

But they ran out of time, the game ending with one of many too-short kicks that bounced back off Australian legs.

There had been no quarter asked or given by either side. Both finished with reputations intact.