Aussies to Pacific Cup final after revenge against Kiwis

Australia got revenge on New Zealand for last year’s heartbreaking Pacific Cup final with a 22-10 victory that propelled the Kangaroos into the decider of this year’s tournament.

Nearly a year after the Kiwis handed Australia their biggest defeat, a try-scoring double from Zac Lomax on Sunday reduced the chances of another defeat in front of a hostile Christchurch crowd.

The Kangaroos still looked below their best, with Angus Crichton notably bombing an early try and new halfback Mitch Moses spraying a kick and then hitting a full-height line clearance.

Be that as it may, the win over an admittedly under-par New Zealand goes some way to justifying a slew of changes made to the Australian team following last year’s 30-0 debacle in Hamilton.

Australia will meet the winner of New Zealand’s match against Tonga in the Pacific Cup final at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium on November 10.

The Kiwis were thrilled when players like Jahrome Hughes, Moses Leota, Dylan Brown and Ronaldo Mulitalo were forced out of Stacey Jones’ first game as head coach due to injuries.

But the Kangaroos found success attacking their left side, where defensively weaker players Matt Timoko and Will Warbrick lined up alongside the makeshift five-eighth Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

Lomax owed both his tries to attacks along that edge, first clearing Tom Trbojevic’s line break and then passing a Harry Grant pass midway through the second half.

The Kiwis threatened to make a game of it when Warbrick put one back to Lomax to reduce the deficit to six points as the final 15 minutes approached.

But on the same right, full-back Dylan Edwards showed no sign of his troublesome knee injury as he wandered through the line and passed to a flying Moses, who sealed the result.

Despite a career-best season, Crichton produced one of the most stunning bombed tries in recent memory when he strolled over in the opening minutes.

Crichton had juggled Tom Dearden’s flat pass before laying the ball down to silence the Kiwi crowd after just four minutes.

But replays showed the second rower had dropped the ball just inches above the grass without a defender on him.

Lindsay Collins helped his Sydney Roosters teammate save face by scoring the first points.

The big prop spotted Keano Kini defending in the front line and charged through both the full-back and Phoenix Crossland on a 40-yard gallop to the line.

In his fairytale return from rugby league retirement, Kiwi fan favorite Shaun Johnson kicked superbly all afternoon while rival halfback Moses endured a mixed game with the boot.

Johnson forced back-to-back line clearances with his short kicking game to signal a period of Kiwi dominance early in the second half, having had a hand in the hosts’ opener.

The halfback steered play to the right, where Isaiah Papali’i and Kini each came up with quick passes to assist Jamayne Isaako.