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NZ misses out on finals
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
New Zealand’s nine year hold on the Universities Rugby League World Cup came to an abrupt end at Griffith University in Brisbane last night when it went down 30-22 in its semi-final match against England in slippery ground conditions.It was a game that New Zealand as it began superbly with a 10-nil lead after just seven minutes before it began to let itself down with missed tackles, bad ball handling and again too many unnecessary penalties.
New Zealand coach Trevor McLeod believed his side also failed to capitalise on opportunities when they were given close to try line due to England putting in some tight defensive pressure which resulted in ball turnovers.
“England’s defence was flat a lot of the time and due again to the inconsistency of the referee of not spotting them inside the ten metres, they were able to get away with it which slowed down our momentum.”
England coach Colin Baker felt his forwards were the key behind his side’s success that started to settle down and get in some good sets of tackles after the first 20 minutes of early nerves had passed.
New Zealand’s first try of the night came early after just two minutes when England were quickly penalised twice which resulted in standoff Roy Leoni doing a superb cross chip to allow his right wing Emmanuel Toka to go over for a converted try.
Toka scored his second try five minutes later to put his side further ahead and could have gone ahead twice more before the end of the first quarter only to turn the ball over inside the ten metres.
England got on the board at the start of the second quarter when its fullback Tom Lever ran around some New Zealand defenders for an easy converted try, before his side further closed the gap to 10-8 after loose forward Mark McKinley had kicked over a penalty over.
England went ahead 14-10 after its Bradford Bulls prop Neil Cherryholme crashed over on the final tackle for his side’s second converted try.
The start of the second half saw both sides spend time in their opponents halves before England widened the margin which in the end was to prove to be the turning point of the game when its centre Nick Walker went over again after the ball had been spread wide on the final tackle.
New Zealand gained some hope of getting back in the game when its hooker Danny Maera barged over for a converted try near the start of the final quarter, but soon was set back again when it lost another scoring opportunity a few minutes later when prop Mohi Kendrick made an unforced error near the line early in the tackle count.
England sealed the game with a further two tries to claim revenge on their 2005 semi-final loss to New Zealand before their opponents had the final scoring say when a long range Leoni kick allowed fullback Scott Hurrell to run through and go over unmarked for a try with three minutes remaining.
Hurrell subsequently converted his own try, but despite his side showing desperate innovative measures in the final few minutes, England effectively slowed the clock down to eventually grind their opposition down to seal New Zealand’s fate appropriately enough in a rain shower at fulltime.
Right centre Ben Hurrell and his older brother Scott led the New Zealand backs, while loose forward Daniel McGregor, second-row Kererua Savage and prop Troy McKenzie toiled hard in the forwards.
New Zealand captain McGregor felt it was a game that New Zealand won rather than England won as too many mistakes cost his side.
New Zealand will now face Wales in the bronze medal match at Langlands Park this Saturday at 1.30pm, while England will play hosts Australia in the 3.30pm final in their bid to take out the Universities World Cup for the first time.
England 30 (Tom Lever, Neil Cherryholme, Nick Walker, Chris Clarke, Mike Johnson tries; Mike McKinley 4 goals, penalty goal), New Zealand 22 (Emmanuel Toka 2, Danny Maera, Scott Hurrell tries; Hurrell 3 goals).
For further information please contact the New Zealand Universities and Tertiary Students media liaison officer Carey Clements on 0061 4 1586 4270
