Rugby League: Embroiderer's needle stitched up test

By PETER JESSUP

KIWIS 30 AUSTRALIA 16

The Kiwis were inspired to their victory over Australia in the 100th contest between the two countries by the way captain Ruben Wiki handed over jerseys and shorts stitched with each player's name.

Wiki told each man that the name on the jersey meant a responsibility to perform with pride. He was out for redemption for the big loss in July.

Afterwards, the Kiwis refused requests by the vanquished Kangaroos for the traditional jersey swaps. In the dressing-room young players such as Sione Faumuina and Thomas Leuluai who had performed so well on debut were getting theirs autographed by heroes like Wiki and Nigel Vagana.

Emotions ran wild for the Kiwis and their supporters after the rare win - the last was in 1999 - in such commanding fashion.

Tough builder Warwick Anderson had tears streaming down his face as he stood in the front row of the stand and wrapped his arms around son Vinnie on the other side of the security fence and thanked him. Vinnie scored the first and last tries in the six-try victory.

"I couldn't make it myself [the Kiwis] but I'm so proud of him, my heart's pumping," the father said.

The tears in Vinnie's eyes when he ran out in front of the 21,296 at North Harbour Stadium gave Wiki motivation for his 39th test. "It got me fired up, I had goosebumps," the captain said.

Australian-born coach Daniel Anderson said it meant a lot to win and win well in front of a home crowd and have the Kangaroos concede afterwards that they had been beaten by a better team. "They're the world's most dominant team in their sport so to get a win over them is very special."

He predicted more to come. "The boys who were not part of the win will want to get involved in a win. There are a lot of new players here ... there's also a core of players who have had 10 or so games who are ready to step up to the next level."

Kangaroo prop Shane Webcke's body language during and after the game signalled how tough the Kiwi defence had been all night and how much it had taken out of the visitors. On kick-return just after half-time he passed the ball - another rare event.

"They punished us," he said in a sombre Kangaroos dressing room. Their heads were down and there was little talk in an atmosphere vice-captain Robbie Kearns described as "sour".

"We just couldn't get going," said Webcke. Coming from the go-forward stalwart of 184 Broncos games, 18 State of Origin games and 10 tests, that says a lot. "Our kicking game wasn't as good as it might have been so there was a lot of hard work in the middle.

"They're big boys and we did a lot of tackling - that takes a lot out of you. We tried to lift but we were getting tired and the mistakes came."

The Australians scored two early tries but punishing tackling started to tell. They dropped the ball or knocked on four times in the Kiwis' 10m zone.

Then another New Zealand debutant, Thomas Leuluai, came on at halfback to provide control off the ruck, darting runs to link with the centres and kicking options.

Anderson had kept the 18-year-old out of the early fray by he wasn't smashed but ran on with some confidence. "My dad [1979-86 Kiwi James] had been telling me to relax, that my natural game would come to me. I've been trying to play like that for weeks at the Warriors and it just wasn't coming. Dad told me it would and tonight it did.

"When I went on I was thinking about what it was like for dad when he started. I got a couple of good kicks in early and that gave me some confidence and the boys were good, they kept encouraging me."

The Kiwis scored through Vinnie Anderson, wing Henry Fa'afili and centre Clinton Toopi to be 14-10 up at halftime. Faumuina, who had taken one goal kick during the NRL season, landed one from three conversions.

Webcke scored in the 53rd minute to give Australia a 16-14 lead but Toopi touched down again in the 67th and 70th minutes to equal the record for tries in a test against Australia (Brian King 1909, Karl Ifwersen 1919, Brian Reidy 1963).

Early in the second half it was Toopi who had chased down monster Kangaroo second-rower Willie Mason and punched the ball out in a tackle from behind as Mason charged full steam at the Kiwis line. An injured Motu Tony had stood his ground 10m out from the line and looked Mason in the eye and thigh, then went low to stall his progress enough for Toopi to catch up.

It was another defining moment in a display of guts. Tony had suffered a calf tear mid-first half but played on so the coach didn't have to use a precious interchange. He had a painkilling injection at the break but couldn't continue, forcing a major backline re-shuffle. But by then the Kiwis knew they could win. Leuluai said he could feel match fitness was playing a part, could sense the Aussies wilting.

That sense was not better expressed than by Vinnie Anderson, who backed himself to run 20m through two tackles to end the scoring three minutes from time.

Wiki said they'd used the call "Kiwi" when under pressure and needing to counter-punch. "We looked each other in the eye and used the call and in the last 15 minutes the crowd was chanting 'Kiwis' when we were doing it and that really picked us up."

There were no complaints from the Australians. "We didn't take our opportunities at the attacking end of the field," Webcke said. "It was a good, tough game, you couldn't ask for any more." He rejected any suggestions the victory was lessened because the Kangaroos were weakened by injury, withdrawals and complacency.

It was a big wake-up call for the tourists to Great Britain, Webcke said, and would not make things easier when they got to England because the Lions would take some confidence from the Kiwis' win.