Australia overcame a magnificent effort from New Zealand in a semi-final for the ages as they qualified for a 13th consecutive men's Rugby League World Cup final with a 16-14 victory at Elland Road on Friday.
In a compelling contest the Kiwis led three times but were subjected to a second-half barrage from the 11-time world champions and just couldn’t find a way to respond despite a late effort by Peta Hiku which wasn’t grounded cleanly.
Nathan Cleary’s conversion from a Cameron Murray try midway through the second period proved to be the difference as the Kangaroos were given as tough a test as they have seen in many a World Cup.
READ MORE:
- Victor Radley and the addiction of rugby league
- Wane confused by RLWC conspiracies
- Betfred's RLWC men's tournament outrights*
The Kiwis piled on the pressure early on and got their reward when Dylan Brown’s perfectly-placed kick allowed Joey Manu to pat the ball away from Latrell Mitchell into the path of Jahrome Hughes, who collected to score.
But the Kangaroos bounced straight back as Ben Hunt’s crossfield kick from deep had Jordan Rapana back-pedalling and Josh Addo-Carr burst onto the ball brilliantly to stride in and register his 12th try of the World Cup.
While a Rapana penalty edged New Zealand back in front, it was Australia who scored another brilliant try soon after, Jack Wighton somehow keeping the ball alive on the floor after a superb Manu tackle. From the centre’s last-ditch pass, Valentine Holmes made a fantastic pick-up to score unchallenged in the corner.
The tie swung again though just as Australia seemed to be taking some sort of control, with the Kangaroos leaving themselves one short on the right edge and allowing Ronaldo Mulitalo to make a break down the wing from deep. The winger drew the cover and passed inside for Brown to stride over and open up a 14-10 NZ advantage at half-time.
There was a degree of controversy early in the second half when Cameron Murray ran in and began a melee after Cleary had lost the ball in a tackle, but referee Ashley Klein decided not to send the back-rower to the sin bin.
And just six minutes later, Murray was in to score on a short charge to the line to level the scores, with Cleary’s kick putting the Australians back in front.
The Kangaroos then continued to batter at the door as their opponents appeared to be suffering from their earlier huge efforts, but somehow the Kiwis kept within two points going into the closing stages.
On a rare foray forward after a break from Rapana, Peta Hiku couldn’t find the space to ground Hughes’ grubber kick but the near-miss seemed to give New Zealand new life.
With two minutes to play a stray kick by Holmes gave the Kiwis a seven-tackle set, but when Mitchell took in Hughes’ high ball to the right on the last tackle the hopes of an upset were finally extinguished.
Australia now head to Old Trafford for next Saturday’s final to face the winners of the second semi-final between England and Samoa.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
