It has been two years now since New Zealand last beat Australia in a Test match, but it’s worth remembering that was also the last time Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson were together in the halves for the Kiwis.
They’ll be reunited for the mid-season Test against Australia in Canberra on Friday night and that makes New Zealand hugely dangerous, particularly when you consider their spine is completed by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck at fullback and Issac Luke at hooker.
Tuivasa-Sheck hasn’t played for the Kiwis since
that Test two years ago.
The Test hasn’t had the publicity it deserves, but that is understandable because of the outcry over player unavailability for the final City-Country match in Mudgee on Sunday.
But that will change in these last few days ahead of the game.
New Zealand have lost four games in a row to Australia – all last year. It was 16-0 in the mid-season Test in Newcastle, then 26-6 in Perth ahead of the Four Nations tournament, 14-8 in a round-robin game in Coventry and 34-8 in the final in Liverpool.
Jordan Kahu was the fullback for the Kiwis in all four of those games. Kodi Nikorama was five-eighth in the first game, Thomas Leuluai in the second and third games and Tohu Harris in the last match.
New Zealand won the 2015 mid-season Test 26-12 in Brisbane. The result caused a rethink about the advancing age of the Australian side overall and Greg Bird, Luke Lewis, Nate Myles and James Tamou haven’t played for their country since.
It was also the last match in charge for coach Tim Sheens, who resigned at the end of the year and was succeeded by Mal Meninga.
More:
http://feeds.theroar.com.au/~r/theroar/rugby-league/~3/WfOQDsYBghA/
Topic: Foran’s return a big threat to Aussie Test dominance
