Image via WikipediaThe NZ Kiwis might have won the opening battle of the Four Nations against England but they suffered a major blow to their campaign after wing Manu Vatuvei left the field with a fracture to the right arm.
Vatuvei, the Warriors marquee signing, looks to be ruled out for the rest of the campaign.
His arm was hit making a tackle in the third minute and he left the field immediately.
He went straight to the hospital for X-rays and it was confirmed later in the match he had fractured his radius bone.
The blokes holding up the "time for the beast to feast" banner got short-changed but it didn't stop Junior Sau from feasting as he moved to the left wing and Simon Mannering moved into the centres from the second row.
Coach Stephen Kearney said an injury to Vatuvei was something he was dreading, given they didn't take an extra winger into the game, preferring to leave Sam Perrett out of the 17.
"No doubt it had an effect on the balance of the side. But that was only initially before we became accustomed to it. I thought Junior did a pretty good job filling in.
Sau's try came came a minute after Vatuvei exited with a broken forearm. The Newcastle centre said it was intimidating because he hadn't played out wide for a while.
"It left a massive gap with the Beast gone early in the game but I had a job to do. Last time I played wing was four or five years ago in the under-20s, but it felt good out there. Mind you, I still needed the help of Fieny [Nathan Fien] and [Frank] Pritchard to feed off. They gave me a hand.
"If Manu was there that would have been his try. I got a good ball from Thomas [Leuluai] and fortunately the English winger [Tom Briscoe] was turned in."
Vatuvei's absence means Perrett is likely to return to the side for next week's test against Papua New Guinea in Rotorua.
Post-match, Perrett was hauling the team gear piece by piece to the bus. He's likely to have another job next week.
"I am always ready to play," Perrett says. "As soon as the call comes, I'll be ready and willing to get there. It's unfortunate for Manu - he really adds something to the team."
But Perrett said reforming the Roosters centre-wing combination with Shaun Kenny-Dowall is something to anticipate in Vatuvei's absence. The pair helped take the Roosters from 2009 wooden-spooners to grand finalists this year.
"We've had a whole season there and that'll be an advantage in its own way."
New Zealand was able to dominate with a wealth of possession, helped by a significantly better completion rate (86 per cent v 67 per cent), midway through the first half. That steadily declined as weariness set in but the damage was done in those first 20 minutes.
Consequently England were run ragged and sapped of energy through tackling which left them little to offer by way of attack.
It resulted in some ineffectual runs and dropped balls, the most notable coming from second-rower Sam Burgess who had an unforced spill in the 22nd minute which further lowered morale after they had set themselves up for a decent set of six midfield.
Fullback Gareth Widdop also dropped a crucial Marshall bomb four minutes into the second half as he wilted under Mannering's pressure. The resulting set of six saw Shaun Kenny-Dowall score after evading no less than five weak attempted tackles.
He managed to gallop his way across, continuing what has been a rich run of try-scoring form. The New Zealand player of the year picked up 21 tries with the Roosters in the NRL season.
The Kiwis capitalised on such English errors throughout. To their credit, there was also some slick movement through the hands. Both tries in the first half were set up in that fashion.
The first came with Thomas Leuluai flicking on a pass to Sau out on the left and he bustled over to set the tone.
The second came courtesy of some vintage Marshall jinking in midfield. He double-dummied to inside runners and worked his way to the right - then flicked a pass back to put Jason Nightingale in space.
He combined with Lance Hohaia backing up in the midfield to score by the posts. It sent the Kiwis out to a 12-0 lead at the break.
The English fought back strongly midway through the second half.
Coach Stephen Kearney would have been happy with the Kiwis' defensive line with just a solitary line break until hooker James Roby was able to weave his way inside and press the ball down off a grubber to the left of the posts.
That was followed by a dynamic counter-attack move to the right which went through the hands of centre Michael Shenton, five-eighth Kevin Brown and finally rested in the hands of Widdop.
It was a beautiful try but Widdop let himself down with a sloppy conversion just to the left of the upright which, if it had gone over, would have narrowed the gap to six points with 22 minutes to go.
The England resurgence was not over. Sam Tomkins banana-kicked for the corner and the New Zealand defence got sloppier as only prop Greg Eastwood was left to track back. Brown almost got the ball down in the follow through.
The only lapse in the first half came when lock Sean O'Loughlin busted through the line. He was tracked down and Junior Sau - one of the Kiwis' most impressive players of the night - hammered the receiver of his pass, Luke Robinson.
The game was only placed beyond doubt when Marshall literally stepped up to the task with 13 minutes to go.
It was another double-dummy move, complete with Marshall feints and goose steps on the 30 metre line. He worked his way right - and the English failed to put a finger on him for 10 metres.
Marshall found Nightingale again on an inside cut - and he continued his NRL grand final-winning form in support. He was half-tackled but flicked it back to the skipper whose dive breezed inside the corner flag with millimetres to spare.
It was a fine try and a good, but not entirely convincing, win. The Kiwis have the Kumuls next and will need to do better to beat Australia.
New Zealand 24 (J Sau, L Hohaia, S Kenny-Dowall, B Marshall tries, Marshall 4 goals) England 10 (J Roby, G Widdop tries; G Widdop goal) Halftime: NZ 12-0.
Acknowledgements: NZ Herald/Andrew Alderson
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