14 Nov 2010

Marshall magic gets Kiwis home

7:09 am on 14 November 2010

The New Zealand rugby league team has beaten Australia 16-12 in the Four Nations final in Brisbane.

Kiwis captain Benji Marshall sparked two tries in the final nine minutes, to add the 2010 Four Nations trophy to the World Cup won at the same stadium two years ago.

Trailing 12-6 after Kangaroos fullback Billy Slater crossed with just over 20 minutes to play, Marshall got to work, first putting winger Jason Nightingale in with a kick on the last tackle.

Then in one of the final plays of the game Nightingale burst down the sideline, lobbed a possibly forward pass to Marshall who then threw a miraculous overhead pass as he was tackled for halfback Nathan Fien to regather and score the winning try.

The Kangaroos thrashed the Kiwis 34-20 last week in Auckland but could not hold onto the lead in the final after losing Luke Lewis and Brent Tate to injury in the first half.

In what's likely to be Australian captain Darren Lockyer's final Test on home soil, former Warrior Tate was left to contemplate the daunting prospect of yet another NRL season on the sidelines with a possible knee reconstruction - his third in four years.

The scores were locked up at half-time at 6-6, after tries to Tate and Shaun Kenny-Dowall.