Thrilling win for Kiwis
Nathan Fien's last-minute try gave New Zealand a dramatic 16-12 victory against Australia in the Four Nationals final in Brisbane.
Last Updated: 13/11/10 1:25pm
History repeated itself in Brisbane as New Zealand came from behind to win the Four Nations title after an exhilarating finish at the Suncorp Stadium.
Just as they did two years ago in the World Cup final, the Kiwis stunned Australia in their own backyard as they emerged with a 16-12 success after a bone-crunching battle between the two old enemies.
Australia made a fast start but suffered two big blows as Luke Lewis left the match in the first half with an ankle injury, before Brent Tate failed to come out for the second half and was seen in tears after suffering a knee injury.
It was Tate who had given the hosts the lead in Brisbane, but some stout defence got the Kiwis into the game and it soon started to become a real contest with tensions threatening to boil over at times.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall levelled the scores just before half time, but despite being down to 15 available men the Aussies went back in front through Billy Slater just before the hour mark.
Jason Nightingale crossed with nine minutes left, but Benji Marshall's missed conversion kept Australia in front - until the final minute when a brilliant Nightingale run led to Nathan Fien collecting a loose ball and diving under the posts for the most dramatic of victories.
Quick start
After winning the dead rubber between the teams last week, Australia started quickly again and just three minutes in the home side went in front with a try from Tate.
Replays showed the try should not have stood as Brett Morris stood on the touchline during the build-up, before Darren Lockyer's clever dab through found Tate arriving at speed to touch down.
The Kangaroos then lost Lewis to a nasty ankle injury, and the Kiwis stepped up their swarming defence to ruffle a few feathers and try and scrap back into the game.
They finally did just two minutes before the break, when Kenny-Dowall collected what looked a forward pass from Marshall 10 metres out to burst across the whitewash.
Tempers boiled over just after the hooter with an all-out brawl ensuing, before Australia suffered a second blow with Tate's injury that reduced their squad numbers to 15 for the second half.
Australia still went back in front though with a fine try on 58 minutes - Greg Bird's offload in the tackle found Slater who threw a neat step before dancing over the try line.
Errors
New Zealand piled on the pressure in response, but continually came up with errors when entering the danger zone - most notably with Greg Eastwood coughing up possession only 10 metres from the Aussie line.
The breakthrough eventually came on 71 minutes with Marshall's chip kick through for Nightingale to score, but Marshall then hit the upright with his conversion to leave New Zealand still two points behind.
The Kiwis went all-out for the winner, and the pressure started to tell as Slater dropped a high ball unchallenged right in the shadow of his own posts, conjuring up memories of the World Cup final when his error helped New Zealand seal victory.
Just as in that World Cup final, New Zealand would emerge with the trophy again after a frantic finish saw them come up with an 80 metre burst for the game-winning try right at the death.
Nightgale showed great balance to avoid stepping in touch on his run down the right wing, before he lobbed a hopeful pass inside that Marshall picked up well before powering towards the posts.
The Kiwi skipper was tackled but managed to offload over his shoulder and Fien was there to gather and touch down to start the celebrations for the Four Nations winners.
