Kangaroos edge out Kiwis

Australia kicked off their Four Nations campaign in style thanks to a 26-12 win over reigning champions New Zealand in Warrington on Friday (local time).

Although the scoreline suggested a comfortable win for the Kangaroos, it was anything but at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, with the Kiwis closing within four points in the second half before late tries to Darius Boyd and Akuila Uate sealed the win.

The Aussies picked up where they left off after their 42-6 hammering of the Kiwis in Newcastle a fortnight ago, with Matt Scott barging over the line for the first try after just two minutes.

The Kiwis were under constant pressure throughout the opening stages, and it was no surprise when Tony Williams shrugged off a couple of tacklers to score a second.

Johnathan Thurston was pulling the strings for the Kangaroos, converting both opening tries before crossing himself just before half-time after Williams waltzed through the Kiwi defence with ease.

Trailing 16-0 at the break, New Zealand needed to score first after the restart and did just that when Jason Nightingale pounced on a loose ball in goal after a Benji Marshall bomb hit the deck.

Marshall converted and then combined with Nightingale again to send Kalifa Faifai Loa over for his first international try, with the Wests Tigers five eighth kicking truly once more to make the score 16-12.

New Zealand continued to attack as they looked to capitalise on their momentum, but their zeal in pushing forward cost them when the Kangaroos struck against the run of play.

Again Thurston was at the heart of the move; his cut-out pass creating a two-on-one out wide that enabled Boyd to cross in the left corner.

Any hopes of a second New Zealand fightback were soon dashed when Uate got a fingertip to a Billy Slater grubber, pushing the final margin out to 14 points.