KIWIS 14 AUSTRALIA 16
FULLTIME
80min - Kiwis with one last chance you'd think. They're 20 metres out, Hughes kicks crossfield and Mitchell gets up to beat Nikora to the ball and take the ball cleanly. Just 20 seconds left...Mitchell rides the last tackle and that's the game! Australia win! What a game.
78min - NZ find space with a kick in between the Australian defence lines, and Hiku puts a good shot on but Australia control it and look to keep it tight with only a couple minutes left.
76min - Brown does well to find Hughes with an Australian player draped on him, before he kicks but it's far too deep for his chasers. Cleary puts his down for the tryline on the last but he's held up just short.
74min - Rapana puts Nicoll-Klockstad down the wing and he's away! He bumps off Tedesco before he's finally dragged down. Kiwis shift right, they have numbers, Hughes puts the grubber through for Hiku, Addo-Carr misses the ball, but the NZ centre is denied because he jumped from outside the field of play. So close!
72min - NZ look like they're tiring, but they are still only two points behind. Kiwis find space down the left wing with some quick passes, before Mitchell shuts down a NZ overlap to the right.
70min - Hiku does well to take the kick with Mitchell breathing on him, before Hughes finds space with a nudge behind the Australian defence, but Tedesco cleans up.
68min - Australia piling the pressure on the Kiwis tryline, before Rapana does extremely well to gather the chip kick and ride the tackle out of his own in-goal area. Some heavy shots coming in.
66min - Crichton puts the grubber kick through for Australia to chase, but Mulitalo does well to fall on a ropey ball and claim it. Both he and Nicoll-Klokstad receiving treatment now.
64min - Manu runs right at Grant and rides the tackle to give NZ good starting position just inside their own half, but Rapana now loses the ball in contact. Fatigue clearly setting in for NZ.
62min - Fisher-Harris nailed by Martin! But the Kiwi does well to get the ball away. Nikora runs onto a Hughes pop, before Hughes kicks and Tedesco takes it well under pressure.
60min - Australia just five metres from the tryline, as Grant has a crack from dummy half. Australia kick crossfield, Leota coughs it up for a fresh set of six, but Crichton is penalised for running in behind his teammates. Relief for NZ.
58min - Another error now, as Asofa-Solomona drops the ball with Martin laying a shoulder into him. Fisher-Harris getting into Martin for the tackle now, no love lost, even for the Penrith Panthers teammates.
56min - Manu runs the Australian kick back hard and rides three tackles, as Smith makes his way from the field - he looks absolutely spent. He was involved in almost every play in the lead up to Murray's try.
54min - AUSTRALIA TRY MURRAY
Cleary shows good feet, before finding Yeo on the inside and Smith does JUST enough to grab him around his ankles and deny the forward a try. Kiwis are penalised at the play of the ball, Australia tap, Murray receives, puts the head down and crashes over for the try! NZ won't be happy with how easy that was, Australia 16-14
52min - Hughes kicks long for Tedesco and he slides into a three-man tackle, before Hiku is penalised and Cleary finds touch near the Kiwis 30m for an attacking set.
50min - Kiwis make their way into the Kangaroos half, before Hughes kicks and Addo-Carr is crunched! The winger does well to ride Hiku's tackle and take the ball cleanly, before Asofa-Solomona puts another big shot on.
48min - Cleary loses the ball on the ground, Murray takes exception to Papalii having a few words with a push, and all the players are in! Plenty of shirt grabbing, but no punches. Things heating up at Leeds.
47min - Hughes kicks long, Australia fail to gather it in, ball bounces free to Leota, who rides one tackle, before somehow offloading to Hiku around the corner and the centre is in for the try! We're checking with the bunker, and Rapana is ruled to have been offside in the lead up.
46min - Brown puts a big shot on and the ball bounces free for a fresh set of six for Australia, but Murray loses the ball with Leota poking it free for a Kiwis scrum. Errors mounting for the Kangaroos - that's six to NZ' only one.
44min - Kiwis only make 30 metres with their first set of the second half, as Hughes kicks for Tedesco to return and he's met solidly by big Asofa-Solomona.
42min - Brown gets us underway in the second half, as Carrigan takes the first hit up. Martin tries his luck and is crunched by Papalii. Cleary kicks on the last and Mulitalo gathers it in easily.
HALFTIME
40min - Asofa-Solomona rolls over another Australian player, he's been immense. Australia with just a couple of plays before halftime, Tedesco sets off but is well tackled and that's halftime! What a half from the Kiwis.
38min - KIWIS TRY BROWN
Asofa-Solomona bounces off several Australian players, before Mulitalo is freed up down the left wing! He's free with only the covering fullback in defence, he draws him in, finds Brown with a beautiful pass on the inside and he's over for the game-leading try! Kiwis 14-10
36min - Now NZ guilty of allowing the clearing kick to bounce, but luckily it bounces right to a Kiwis player, as he's met by the Australian chasers. Dangerous play.
34min - Hiku finds a bit of space down the right before, before Mitchell throws him to the ground. Hughes kicks crossfield, Australia allow it to bounce and Holmes rises to grab it over a NZ player's head.
32min - Australia playing with an extra spring in their step now, but Kiwis do well to keep them in their half once again before the clearing kick on the last. Rapana fends a couple before he's dragged down, NZ still showing their intent to offload in the tackle.
30min - AUSTRALIA TRY HOLMES
Australia put it through the hands and find some success down the right wing, as Martin is in a bit of space before Mulitalo drags him down. Australia come right again, Wighton steps one, before Manu falls off the tackle, allowing him to free his arms and find Holmes on the wing to score the try, Australia 10-8
28min - Kiwis showing plenty on defence too, keeping Australia inside their own half before they're forced to kick on the last. NZ looking much more organised at the moment.
26min - Tedesco kicks-off and Tapine is met by a strong Australian chase. Kiwis showing plenty of enterprise, finding space down the right wing before Brown kicks, and Holmes is smashed by a NZ calvary.
24min - KIWIS PENALTY GOAL RAPANA
Rapana's second hit on Addo-Carr does enough to dislodge the ball and NZ will have an attacking scrum. NZ just 5m from the line on the last, Hughes grubbers, Tedesco fumbles it and Munster gathers from an offside position for a Kiwis penalty. Rapana kicks the goal, Kiwis 8-6
22min - Kiwis keen to offload in the tackle, as Papalii finds a support runner with NZ just over halfway. Kiwis kick deep and Tedesco is there to take an easy grab and run it back.
20min - Manu does well to field a Australian bomb dying on him with the chase there to meet him. Fisher-Harris is crunched in a two-man tackle, before the Kiwis clear down field.
18min - AUSTRALIA TRY ADDO-CARR
Hunt, almost from a standing start, puts a huge crossfield kick - travelling almost 40 metres, and Addo-Carr tracks it the entire way, as the ball goes over Rapana's head, and the Australia winger takes the catch and dives over in the corner for the try. What a kick from Hunt. Kiwis 6-6
16min - Nicoll-Klokstad proving a handful for the Aussie defence, before NZ kick on the last for the Kangaroos to field. Addo-Carr looks to charge and Rapana absolutely cuts him in half!
14min - Bromwich almost has the ball striped by Mitchell from the kick-off, but he's penalised and the Kiwis get good field position to back up their first try. All going NZ's way to start this semi-final.
12min - KIWIS TRY HUGHES
Asofa-Solomona charges towards the Aussie defefence - losing his shorts in the process. Brown puts the crossfield kick up, Manu gets two hands to it, offloads to Hughes, who falls over the tryline to open the scoring! What a start for the Kiwis! Kiwis 6-0
10min - Tapine does well to find Smith with the offload, before the hooker puts a little grubber through but Tedesco puts his body on the line to take a big shot and field the ball right in front of his own tryline.
8min - Kiwis keeping it very tight this set, as Papalii rumbles his way over halfway, before Brown puts up the bomb and Tedesco takes it easily as he's met by the NZ chase.
6min - Tedesco stepping his way close to the tryline, before Cleary tries to find Mitchell with the crossfield kick, but Rapana does well to get up and claim it for the Kiwis. Mulitalo is away down the left wing but is just pulled down over halfway!
4min - Kiwis lucky to get away with a potential knock on after failing to take a high ball cleanly. But just one tackle later, Hiku coughs it up with Munster stripping to force the first scrum.
2min - Tedesco gets us underway with the kick-off and Hughes is immediately met as he gathers it in. Manu takes it over halfway before Hughes decides to run on the last, links up with Nikora, who kicks to Holmes to run it back.
8:45pm - The Kiwis get as close as they can to their opponents during the haka, goosebumps indeed! Nothing but respect between the two rugby league giants. Now time for kick-off.
8:43pm - Anthems all done and dusted! Now for the NZ haka, before kick-off for what should be a cracker of a test match. Conditions look great, so hopefully plenty of exciting play.
8:40pm - After a minute's silence to pay respects for Remembrance Day, the teams will now sing their national anthems, with NZ up first.
8:35pm - Thank you for joining us! We're just 10 minutes away from kick-off for this semi-final between NZ and Australia. The players have made their way onto the field for the anthems.
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Kia ora, good morning and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the Rugby League World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and Australia at Leeds' Elland Road.
This clash between the current world No.1 and the defending champions probably should have been the tournament final, but obviously organisers are keen to have home team England there to keep local interest alive until the very end.
Instead, the trans-Tasman blockbuster comes a week early, with the Kangaroos looking impressive through poolplay and quarter-finals, and the Kiwis still scratching to live upto their all-star billing.
New Zealand were fortunate to survive their knockout contest against Fiji last week and will need to lift their game another level to compete with the Aussies, who won their last meeting in 2019 at Wollongong.
Coach Michael Maguire has named a similar side to that which ran out against the Bati, bringing back Penrith Panthers prop Moses Leota from injury. Just who eventually lines up at kickoff is anyone's guess, given the alphabetical order or the team naming and the nonsensical player numbering for the tournament.
Join us at 8:45am Saturday for kickoff.
TAB Odds: Australia $1.20, NZ $4.33
New Zealand: Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Jesse Bromwich, Kenny Bromwich, Dylan Brown, James Fisher-Harris, Kieran Foran, Peta Hiku, Jahrome Hughes, Moses Leota, Isaac Liu, Joseph Manu, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Briton Nikora, Isaiah Papali'i, Jordan Rapana, Brandon Smith, Joseph Tapine, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
Australia: Josh Addo-Carr, Reuben Cotter, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Patrick Carrigan, Daly Cherry-Evans, Nathan Cleary, Angus Crichton, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, Harry Grant, Valentine Holmes, Ben Hunt, Liam Martin, Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Munster, Cameron Murray, James Tedesco, Jake Trobojevic, Jack Wighton, Isaah Yeo
Kiwis seethe over 'disrespectful' flight bookings before World Cup semi-final
By James Regan
As if the Kiwis needed any extra motivation heading into this weekend's Rugby League World Cup semi final against Australia, tournament organisers have provided all the inspiration they need.
They've reportedly already booked the NZ team on a flight home after the match, while the Aussies have a reservation at a Manchester hotel for a final they're not in yet.
Suffice to say, the Kiwis are NOT happy.
If they have a hangover from their shaky quarter-final performance, they certainly didn't show it at training - laser focused on a do-or-die semi and trying to ignore news their trip home to New Zealand is already booked.
Veteran winger Jordan Rapana can see the funny side.
"They'll probably lose some money, when they find out they have to reschedule it on Saturday," he laughed.
Captain Jesse Bromwich isn't quite as amused.
"It was pretty disrespectful," he said. "For it to be published like that, it's not on I reckon.
"We spoke about it as a group."
Bromwich is adamant it won’t provide any extra motivation. The prospect of facing their fiercest rivals for a spot in the World Cup final does more than enough to stoke the fire.
"For us, as proud Kiwis, I think that's the main thing," he said. "Making our families and our fans back home really proud."
Said Rapana: "We have a belief that we can go out and win this thing."
They'll need a serious lift in performance. Bromwich reveals the stumbling display against Fiji prompted one of the biggest verbal sprays he's ever seen delivered by coach Michael Maguire.
"He's a real passionate sort of coach, he was pretty fired up and it was good to see, because as a team, we felt it was pretty unacceptable, the way we started the game," said Bromwich.
Said Rapana: "If we want to be genuine contenders for this World Cup title, we can't play the way we did against Fiji against Australia."
As always, when they face their old rivals, the standard is higher, as are the stakes.
Catch the Rugby League World Cup live on Spark Sport and free-to-air on Three
