A record four try haul to giant winger Manu Vatuvei inspired a storming Kiwis finish to beat England 36-24 in their rugby league World Cup pool match here tonight.
The Kiwis trailed 8-24 late in the first half before racing in five unanswered tries to gain the psychological edge for a likely semifinal rematch in Brisbane next Saturday.
Vatuvei was unstoppable out wide and England paid for giving him too much space as they tired badly and the Kiwis made up for an ordinary first half.
His four tries was a New Zealand World Cup record, beating Robbie Paul and Lesley Vainikolo’s three apiece at the 2000 tournament.
It was a tense finish as the sides were tied 24-24, before bench hooker Issac Luke milked an obstruction penalty from referee Tony Archer to give them the lead for the first time, then halfback-turned-hooker Nathan Fien pounced on loose ball to score and Vatuvei finished it in the final minute.
But there was injury drama for the Kiwis, with centre Steve Matai taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays on his neck after he was stretchered off in a brace in the 30th minute.
Play was held up for several minutes as Matai was attended to after he collided with teammate Greg Eastwood. He was conscious and able to move his hands and feet.
Both sides were reshuffled, with the Kiwis making five changes from their 48-6 win over Papua New Guinea while England rested frontliners Leon Pryce, James Roby, Danny Maguire and James Graham after a 4-52 hiding from Australia.
The last time the sides met, in England a year ago, the hosts whitewashed the troubled tourists 3-0 including a 44-0 win in the second test.
Tonight there was just three Kiwis survivors from the third test of that series — Jeremy Smith, Simon Mannering and Lance Hohaia — but the early signs were for more of the same.
England raced to a 12-0 lead after eight minutes against some threadbare Kiwis defence, hooker Mickey Higham nipping over from dummy half and halfback Rob Burrow finishing a stunning 80m movement started by centre Keith Senior.
Vatuvei and the ever-alert Hohaia struck back for the Kiwis to rebuild some confidence but England rattled up two more tries to race to 24-8 after half-an-hour.
It was too easy as England five-eighth Martin Gleeson strolled over from a midfield scrum, then Burrow grabbed his second when he stepped inside a rushing Adam Blair.
Momentum began to shift when Matai departed and Luke was injected for Thomas Leuluai who had been shifted from halfback to dummy half, and Fien moved to first receiver.
Bench forward Bronson Harrison made an impact in his second test and set up a crucial Kiwis try before halftime when he offloaded and wing Jason Nightingale dived over from a wide Luke pass.
They deserved a rev-up from coaches Stephen Kearney and Wayne Bennett and it worked, with the Kiwis much more intense after the break.
Vatuvei scored two tries in eight minutes to tie up the scores, both in near identical fashion.
The Kiwis played up-tempo football and got on a roll, and Vatuvei was put in plenty of space out wide from a wide Hohaia pass.
Luke’s sideline conversion of Vatuvei’s third try tied it up at 24-24 with 25 minutes left.
Scores:
New Zealand 36 (Manu Vatuvei 4, Lance Hohaia, Jason Nightingale, Nathan Fien tries; Issac Luke 3 goals, Benji Marshall goal) England 24 (Mickey Higham, Rob Burrow, Martin Gleeson, Rob Burrow tries; Rob Purdham 4 goals). Halftime: England 24-14.
NZPA
