Four Nations Week 3
Well there we have it, Kiwis vs Kangaroos in Wellington next weekend. Be there or be square, or be watching it on the box. The first few rounds of the Four Nations offered the very real possibility that we might see something a wee bit different this year, but the cream has risen to the top.
The Kiwis and England played out one of the best international games that many can remember off the top of the dome. England were on point and looked dangerous combining a forward pack capable of rolling forward with some excitement and class out wide. It wasn’t a case of England being sub-par, it was more a case of the Kiwis rising to the occasion and matching the effort from the English which was great to see.
The Kiwis were damaging up the guts, multiple swift blows up the guts. Jason Taumalolo has continued to rise in stature in the Four Nations, he hasn’t just continued his form for the Cowboys, he’s gone to another level. The key is the way he plays, getting the ball one pass of the ruck where he is able to run at defenders who are either trying to get back onside or are stranded on an island by themselves. Being 1 on 1 with Taumalolo is possibly the worst place you could find yourself on a rugby league field.
But I also love Tohu Harris. And when Harris is combined with Greg Eastwood and Jesse Bromwich the Kiwis are freaky. I’ve said many times how they all offer footwork, skill and size but within that they all offer something different. Whereas Taumalolo is all power and speed, the other 3 have a wee bit more skill – Nooooo Jason don’t pass. They are also different sizes which makes them harder to line up against as defenders set themselves for the hulk like Taumalolo, then they have to stop the slightly rounder Eastwood and then the taller, leaner Harris and Bromwich. That doesn’t meant that they’re hard to tackle, it just means that stopping off loads and slowing the play the ball is near impossible.
The Kiwis looked on the brink in the first half as they couldn’t slow England’s ruck speed. That meant that the Poms could charge up the field, which they did a few times. The Kiwis defence was up for it albeit rather sporadically. The English created too many chances that wouldn’t have been there in the first two weeks. Unfortunately for me, it was my main man Manu who was at fault a few times giving Josh Charnley too much room to flex and flex he did. But that’s all homework to be done this week.
Once again we saw a solid display from the Kiwi playmakers. Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran weren’t spectacular, but like their first game against the Kangaroos, they don’t need to be. They need to be solid, get repeat sets, play field possession and simply execute their plays. They persisted with towering bombs, which didn’t look to be an attacking option. You can tell because Foran was the man on the chase most of the time as Johnson put lace to ball and Foran would offer Tomkins a free catch, then hit stick’em. That results in pretty much England coming off their own try line, which is perfect.
I liked the work of Peta Hiku as well. He was safe at the back catching pretty much everything and scooping up what he needed to. He doesn’t have amazing Roger Tuivasa-Sheck footwork, nor blistering pace and power but he manages to get in between defenders with the first hit up every time. The use of Isaac Luke and Thomas Leuluai was interesting as well. They were both good so they both deserve to be on the field and I don’t mind them being on at the same time. They both hit hard and when Leuluai runs the ball like he did against England, then there’s a whole new quick, nippy dimension to the Kiwis ... well two of them.
It’s a game plan that the Kangaroos adopt so why can’t the Kiwis? Especially when they have the right talent to do so. Ah, the Kangaroos. They are warming up to the threat that the Kiwis are offering, they have only got better over the course of the tournament which is slightly scary. I genuinely thought that Samoa had a chance because their pack could have dominated the Kangaroos ... it was the other way round which was hugely disappointing for Samoa. Sure the Kangaroos were good, their best so far but Samoa didn’t show up at all.
The Roos benefitted from having Josh Papalii starting at prop which gave them some muscle up front. While I was leaning towards the Kangaroo forwards being put to the test by Samoa, the big boys for Australia really stood up with Papalii, Aaron Woods and David Klemmer dominating the middle of the field. How about Klemmer!? This guy has gone from coming off the bench for the Doggies to being a huge part of the Kangaroos and he deserves it. He’s huge and is exactly what Tim Sheens needs.
It was pretty hard to watch Samoa play because you knew that while they the first 5 tackles would be entertaining with either some strong running or a bit of razzle dazzle, the 6th play option was torture, simply torture. They were never really set up for anything and when the ball got to either Ben Roberts or Kyle Stanlely, they didn’t really do anything. You can bet the bank that the Kangaroos would have come out with the plan to put the Samoan play makers under pressure and the story panned out as expected.
So we say goodbye to England and Samoa. Valiant performers who showed that international rugby league is alive and well. I really hope they both learn from this tournament because while they were good and surprised many people, they could have done a lot better. Kiwis vs Kangaroos, Wellington, chur.