2014 Rugby League Four Nations
| 2014 Four Nations | |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Host countries |
 New Zealand Australia |
| Winner |
New Zealand (2nd title) |
|
| |
| Matches played | 7 |
| Attendance | 144,722 (20,675 per match) |
| Points scored | 286 (40.86 per match) |
| Tries scored | 52 (7.43 per match) |
| Top scorer |
Shaun Johnson (30) |
| Top try scorer |
Jason Nightingale (5) |
The 2014 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was the fourth staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament played in Australia and New Zealand over three weeks from Saturday, 25 October to Saturday, 15 November 2014. The series was contested by regular participants Australia, England and New Zealand, joined by Samoa, having won their Pacific qualifier against Fiji. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating Australia in the final at Wellington's Westpac Stadium on Saturday 15 November.[1]
History
The 2014 tournament is the first Four Nations series to be scheduled following the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, with the venues rotating between Europe and the South Pacific.
In addition to automatic inclusions Australia, England and New Zealand, Pacific nations Fiji and Samoa met in a mid-season test match at the Penrith Stadium in western Sydney to determine the fourth entrant in the tournament. Samoa won an entertaining match 32-16 in front of 9,063 fans.
The 34,500 capacity Westpac Stadium in Wellington will play host to the first Four Nations Final played in New Zealand. The last time the final of the tournament was held in New Zealand was at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland when the tournament was known as the Tri-Nations in its inaugural year, 1999.
Referees
- Henry Perenara (Referee and Video Referee - New Zealand)[2]
- Phil Bentham (Referee - England)[3]
- Gerard Sutton (Referee - Australia)[3]
- Ben Cummins (Replacement Referee - Australia)[3]
Touch judges/video referees
- Anthony Eliott (Touch Judge - New Zealand)[2]
- Grant Atkins (Touch Judge - Australia)[3]
- Jason Walsh (Touch Judge - Australia)[3]
- Robert Hicks (Touch Judge - England)[3]
- Ian Smith (Video Referee - England)[3]
- Bernard Sutton (Video Referee - Australia)[3]
Participating nations
| Team | Coach | Captain | RLIF Rank | Continent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia |
Tim Sheens | Cameron Smith | 1st | Asia |
 England |
Steve McNamara | Sean O'Loughlin | 3rd | Europe |
| New Zealand |
Stephen Kearney | Simon Mannering | 2nd | Oceania |
 Samoa |
Matt Parish | David Fa'alogo | 7th | Oceania |
Squads
Australia 
Head Coach: Tim Sheens
- On 12 October, Tim Sheens named the following players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[4]
- On 15 October, Matt Moylan was added to the squad, following the withdrawal of Jarryd Hayne.[5]
England 
Head Coach: Steve McNamara
- On the 5th of October, Steve McNamara named the following 24 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[6]
New Zealand 
Head Coach: Stephen Kearney
- On 6 October, Stephen Kearney named 24 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[7]
- On 17 October Sam Moa withdrew due to family reasons and was replaced by Bodene Thompson.
- On 22 October Dallin Watene-Zelezniak withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Josh Hoffman.
| Player | Games | Points | Position | 2014 Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Mannering (C) | 4 | 0 | SR | New Zealand Warriors |
| Josh Hoffman | 0 | 0 | FB | Brisbane Broncos |
| Peta Hiku | 4 | 0 | FB | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Sosaia Feki | 0 | 0 | WG | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Jason Nightingale | 4 | 20 | WG | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Manu Vatuvei | 3 | 12 | WG | New Zealand Warriors |
| Gerard Beale | 1 | 0 | CE | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Shaun Kenny-Dowall | 4 | 4 | CE | Sydney Roosters |
| Dean Whare | 4 | 4 | CE | Penrith Panthers |
| Kieran Foran (vc) | 4 | 4 | SO | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Shaun Johnson | 4 | 30 | SH | New Zealand Warriors |
| Jesse Bromwich | 4 | 0 | PR | Melbourne Storm |
| Suaia Matagi | 1 | 0 | PR | New Zealand Warriors |
| Martin Taupau | 4 | 0 | PR | Wests Tigers |
| Siliva Havili | 0 | 0 | HK | New Zealand Warriors |
| Thomas Leuluai | 2 | 0 | HK | New Zealand Warriors |
| Issac Luke | 3 | 0 | HK | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Lewis Brown | 3 | 4 | SR | Penrith Panthers |
| Greg Eastwood | 3 | 0 | SR | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Kevin Proctor | 4 | 4 | SR | Melbourne Storm |
| Bodene Thompson | 0 | 0 | SR | Wests Tigers |
| Adam Blair | 4 | 0 | SR | Wests Tigers |
| Tohu Harris | 4 | 0 | LF | Melbourne Storm |
| Jason Taumalolo | 4 | 0 | LF | North Queensland Cowboys |
Samoa 
Head Coach: Matt Parish
- On the 7th of October, Matt Parish named 23 players as part of his squad in preparation for the tournament.[8]
- On the 11th of October, Jesse Sene-Lefao was added to the squad as a replacement for Suaia Matagi, who had also been named in the New Zealand squad and opted to play for New Zealand.
- On the 15th of October, Josh McGuire was added to the Samoan squad, taking their squad number to 24.
Qualifier
Samoa v. Fiji
3 May 2014 |
| Samoa |
32–16 |  Fiji |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Manumalealii (3) 13' c, 38' c, 44' c Tuimavave 54'c Vidot 64'c Tagataese 78'  Goal: Inu (6/6) 13', 38', 44', 50', 54', 64' |
Video | Try: Naiqama 16' c Storer 27' c Tuqiri 30' m Goal: Tuqiri (2/3) 17', 28' |
Penrith Stadium, Penrith Attendance: 9,063 Referee/s: Ashley KleinMan of the Match: Penani Manumalealii |
- Samoa qualified for main tournament
Venues
The games will be played at the following venues in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament final will be played in Wellington.
| Brisbane | Whangarei | Melbourne | Dunedin | Wollongong | Wellington |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suncorp Stadium | Toll Stadium | AAMI Park | Forsyth Barr Stadium | WIN Stadium | Westpac Stadium |
| Capacity: 52,500 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 30,050 | Capacity: 30,748 | Capacity: 23,750 | Capacity: 34,500 |
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Fixtures
Week 1
England v. Samoa
Saturday, 25 October 2014 5:00pm (AEDT) |
| England |
32 – 26 | Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Shenton 21' c Watkins 34' c Farrell 46' c Joel Tomkins 65' c Sam Tomkins 68' c Goal: Widdop (6/6) 22', 34', 40', 46', 65', 68' |
Report Video | Try: Liu 26' c Vidot 30' m Godinet (2) 55' c, 61' c Winterstein 72' m Goal: Stanley (3/5) 26', 55', 61' |
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia[9] Attendance: 47,813 Referee/s: Gerard SuttonMan of the Match: Sam Tomkins |
- Ben Roberts made his 10th appearance for Samoa, the first player to hit double-digit appearances for his country.
ENGLAND
1. Sam Tomkins · 2. Josh Charnley · 3. Kallum Watkins · 4. Michael Shenton · 5. Ryan Hall · 6. Gareth Widdop · 7. Matty Smith · 8. George Burgess · 9. Josh Hodgson · 10. James Graham (c) · 11. Liam Farrell · 12. Joel Tomkins · 13. Joe Westerman
14. Daryl Clark · 15. Brett Ferres · 16. Tom Burgess · 17. Chris Hill
Coach: Steve McNamara
SAMOA
1. Tim Simona · 2. Antonio Winterstein · 3. Ricky Leutele · 4. Joey Leilua · 5. Daniel Vidot · 6. Ben Roberts · 7. Kyle Stanley · 8. Sam Tagataese · 9. Michael Sio · 10. David Fa'alogo (c) · 11. Frank Pritchard · 12. Leeson Ah Mau · 13. Josh McGuire
14. Pita Godinet · 15. Jesse Sene-Lefao · 16. Isaac Liu · 17. Mose Masoe
Coach: Matt Parish
Australia v. New Zealand
Saturday, 25 October 2014 7:30pm (AEDT) |
| Australia |
12 – 30 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Scott 3' c Inglis 21' c Goal: Smith (2/2) 3', 21' |
Report Video | Try: Proctor 17' c Brown 29' c Johnson 47' c Whare 51' c Nightingale 68' c Goal: Johnson (5/5) 17', 29', 47', 51', 68' |
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia[9] Attendance: Attendance combined with England v Samoa Referee/s: Phil BenthamMan of the Match: Shaun Johnson |
- Dallin Watene-Zelezniak could have made his international test debut in the starting XIII for New Zealand on the right-wing, but was ruled out for the game and for the rest of the tournament with an ankle injury and Gerard Beale replaced him.
- Jason Taumalolo made his international test debut for New Zealand.
- Daniel Tupou, Josh Mansour, Dylan Walker, Aaron Woods and Aidan Guerra made their international test debut for Australia
- With the victory, this was New Zealand's first Test win over Australia since the 2010 Four Nations Final.
Australia
1. Greg Inglis · 2. Josh Mansour · 3. Michael Jennings · 4. Dylan Walker · 5. Daniel Tupou · 6. Daly Cherry-Evans · 7. Cooper Cronk · 8. Aaron Woods · 9. Cameron Smith (c) · 10. Sam Thaiday · 11. Beau Scott · 12. Ryan Hoffman · 13. Greg Bird
14. Robbie Farah · 15. Aidan Guerra · 16. Josh Papalii · 17. Corey Parker
Coach: Tim Sheens
New Zealand
1. Peta Hiku · 2. Jason Nightingale · 3. Shaun Kenny-Dowall · 4. Dean Whare · 19. Gerard Beale · 6. Kieran Foran · 7. Shaun Johnson · 8. Jesse Bromwich · 9. Thomas Leuluai · 10. Adam Blair · 11. Simon Mannering (c) · 12. Kevin Proctor · 13. Jason Taumalolo
14. Lewis Brown · 15. Greg Eastwood · 16. Martin Taupau · 17. Tohu Harris
Coach: Stephen Kearney
Week 2
New Zealand v. Samoa
Saturday, 1 November 2014 4:00pm (NZT) |
| New Zealand |
14 - 12 | Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Foran 10' c Nightingale 64' Kenny-Dowall 76' Goal: Johnson (1/3) 11' |
Report Video | Try: Moga 6' Vidot 18' Leilua 44' Goal: Lafai (0/3) |
Toll Stadium, Whangarei, New Zealand[9] Attendance: 16,912 Referee/s: Henry PerenaraMan of the Match: Kieran Foran |
- Suaia Matagi made his international test debut for New Zealand
- Tautau Moga and Dominique Peyroux made their international test debut for Samoa
- With the victory, New Zealand retained the Peter Leitch QSM Challenge Trophy.
New Zealand
1. Peta Hiku · 2. Jason Nightingale · 3. Shaun Kenny-Dowall · 4. Dean Whare · 5. Manu Vatuvei · 6. Kieran Foran · 7. Shaun Johnson · 8. Jesse Bromwich · 9. Issac Luke · 10. Adam Blair · 11. Simon Mannering (c) · 12. Kevin Proctor · 13. Jason Taumalolo
14. Lewis Brown · 15. Suaia Matagi · 16. Martin Taupau · 17. Tohu Harris
Coach: Stephen Kearney
SAMOA
1. Tim Simona · 20. Tautau Moga · 3. Tim Lafai · 4. Joey Leilua · 5. Daniel Vidot · 6. Ben Roberts · 7. Kyle Stanley · 8. Isaac Liu · 16. Sauaso Sue · 10. David Fa'alogo (c) · 11. Frank Pritchard · 12. Leeson Ah Mau · 13. Josh McGuire
9. Pita Godinet · 14. Dunamis Lui · 17. Mose Masoe · 18. Dominique Peyroux
Coach: Matt Parish
Australia v. England
Sunday, 2 November 2014 4:00pm (AEST) |
| Australia |
16 - 12 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Jennings 16' Hunt 56' c Inglis 62' c Goal: Smith (2/3) 57', 64' |
Report Video | Try: Watkins 28' c Hall 33' c Goal: Widdop (2/2) 29', 35' |
AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia[9] Attendance: 20,585 Referee/s: Gerard SuttonMan of the Match: Cameron Smith |
- Perth born Dan Sarginson made his international test début for England.
- Ben Hunt and David Klemmer made their international test debuts for Australia.
- Sione Mata'utia also made his international test début for Australia and becoming the youngest ever player to play for Australia at aged 18 years and 129 days, eclipsing Israel Folau's seven-year-old record by 65 days.
- Cameron Smith becomes the 6th Kangaroo-Test player, to play 40-Test games for Australia.
Australia
1. Greg Inglis · 2. Josh Mansour · 3. Michael Jennings · 4. Dylan Walker · 5. Sione Mata'utia · 6. Daly Cherry-Evans · 7. Cooper Cronk · 8. Aaron Woods · 9. Cameron Smith (c) · 10. Sam Thaiday · 11. Beau Scott · 12. Greg Bird · 13. Corey Parker
14. Boyd Cordner · 15. Ben Hunt · 16. David Klemmer · 17. Josh Papalii
Coach: Tim Sheens
ENGLAND
1. Sam Tomkins · 2. Josh Charnley · 3. Kallum Watkins · 18. Dan Sarginson · 5. Ryan Hall · 6. Gareth Widdop · 7. Matty Smith · 8. George Burgess · 9. Josh Hodgson · 10. James Graham · 11. Liam Farrell · 12. Joel Tomkins · 19. Sean O'Loughlin (c)
14. Daryl Clark · 15. Brett Ferres · 16. Tom Burgess · 17. Chris Hill
Coach: Steve McNamara
Week 3
New Zealand v. England
Saturday, 8 November 2014 7:00pm (NZT) |
| New Zealand |
16 - 14 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Nightingale 2' c, 29' c Vatuvei 45' Goal: Johnson (2/3) 3', 31' |
Report Video | Try: Hall 7', 56' c Charnley 24' Goal: Widdop (1/3) 58' |
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand[9] Attendance: 15,863 Referee/s: Phil BenthamMan of the Match: Jason Taumalolo |
- With the victory, New Zealand secured a place in the final.
New Zealand
1. Peta Hiku · 2. Jason Nightingale · 3. Shaun Kenny-Dowall · 4. Dean Whare · 5. Manu Vatuvei · 6. Kieran Foran · 7. Shaun Johnson · 8. Jesse Bromwich · 14. Thomas Leuluai · 10. Adam Blair · 11. Simon Mannering (c) · 12. Kevin Proctor · 13. Jason Taumalolo
9. Issac Luke · 15. Greg Eastwood · 16. Martin Taupau · 17. Tohu Harris
Coach: Stephen Kearney
ENGLAND
1. Sam Tomkins · 2. Josh Charnley · 3. Kallum Watkins · 4. Dan Sarginson · 5. Ryan Hall · 6. Gareth Widdop · 7. Matty Smith · 8. George Burgess · 14. Daryl Clark · 10. James Graham · 11. Liam Farrell · 12. Joel Tomkins · 13. Sean O'Loughlin (c)
15. Brett Ferres · 16. Tom Burgess · 17. Chris Hill · 18. Elliott Whitehead
Coach: Steve McNamara
Australia v. Samoa
Sunday, 9 November 2014 4:00pm (AEST) |
| Australia |
44 - 18 | Samoa |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Cronk 2', 62' Inglis 11', 26' Cherry-Evans 30' Klemmer 34' Papalii 76' Mansour 79' Goal: Smith (4/6) Cherry-Evans (2/2) |
Report Video | Try: Simona 20' Roberts 47' Fa'alogo 69' Goal: Lafai (3/3) |
WIN Stadium, Wollongong, Australia[9] Attendance: 18,456 Referee/s: Gerard SuttonMan of the Match: Greg Inglis |
- Josh Jackson made his international test debut for Australia.
- With the victory, Australia secured a place in the final.
Australia
1. Greg Inglis · 2. Josh Mansour · 3. Michael Jennings · 4. Dylan Walker · 5. Sione Mata'utia · 6. Daly Cherry-Evans · 7. Cooper Cronk · 8. Aaron Woods · 9. Cameron Smith (c) · 10. Josh Papalii · 11. Sam Thaiday · 12. Greg Bird · 13. Corey Parker
14. Boyd Cordner · 15. Ben Hunt · 19. David Klemmer · 21. Josh Jackson
Coach: Tim Sheens
SAMOA
1. Tim Simona · 2. Antonio Winterstein · 3. Tim Lafai · 4. Joey Leilua · 5. Daniel Vidot · 6. Ben Roberts · 7. Kyle Stanley · 8. Isaac Liu · 13. Josh McGuire · 10. David Fa'alogo (c) · 11. Frank Pritchard · 12. Leeson Ah Mau · 17. Mose Masoe
9. Pita Godinet · 14. Dunamis Lui · 15. Reni Maitua · 16. Sauaso Sue
Coach: Matt Parish
Standings
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 38 | +22 | 6 |
| 2 | Australia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 72 | 60 | +12 | 4 |
| 3 | England |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Samoa |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 56 | 90 | –34 | 0 |
Final
Saturday, 15 November 8:30pm (NZT) |
| New Zealand |
22 – 18 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries Vatuvei (35', 63') 2 Nightingale (23') 1 Johnson (58') 1 Goals Johnson 3/5 (25', 29' pen, 36') |
Report Video | Tries 1 (11') Jennings 1 (42') Mata'utia 1 (76') Hunt Goals 3/3 Smith (12', 43', 77') |
Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand[9] Attendance: 25,093 Referee/s: Phil BenthamMan of the Match: Shaun Johnson[10] |
| New Zealand |
Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| Peta Hiku | FB | Greg Inglis |
| Jason Nightingale | WG | Josh Mansour |
| Dean Whare | CE | Michael Jennings |
| Shaun Kenny-Dowall | CE | Dylan Walker |
| Manu Vatuvei | WG | Sione Mata'utia |
| Kieran Foran | FE | Daly Cherry-Evans |
| Shaun Johnson | HB | Cooper Cronk |
| Jesse Bromwich | PR | Aaron Woods |
| Isaac Luke | HK | Cameron Smith (c) |
| Adam Blair | PR | Josh Papalii |
| Simon Mannering (c) | SR | Sam Thaiday |
| Kevin Proctor | SR | Greg Bird |
| Jason Taumalolo | LK | Corey Parker |
| Lewis Brown | Int | Boyd Cordner |
| Greg Eastwood | Int | Ben Hunt |
| Martin Taupau | Int | Josh Jackson |
| Tohu Harris | Int | David Klemmer |
Score Progression:
11th: Australia 6 - 0 (Jennings Try, Smith Goal) 23rd: Even 6 - 6 (Nightingale Try, Johnson Goal) 29th: New Zealand 8 - 6 (Johnson Penalty Goal) 35th: New Zealand 14 - 6 (Vatuvei Try, Johnson Goal) 42nd: New Zealand 14 - 12 (Mata'utia Try, Smith Goal) 58th: New Zealand 18 - 12 (Johnson Try) 63rd: New Zealand 22 - 12 (Vatuvei Try) 76th: New Zealand 22 - 18 (Hunt Try, Smith Goal)
Match records:
- This was Australia's first game at Wellington's Westpac Stadium since 2007, when they beat New Zealand 58-0.
- This was New Zealand's first home game at Wellington's Westpac Stadium since the 2010 Four Nations Round 1 clash with England, when they won 24-10.
- With the victory, New Zealand won this year's Four Nations Title, as well as their second Tournament Title.
- New Zealand became the second team since Australia (in the 2011 Four Nations series), to go through the tournament undefeated.
- New Zealand won 2 consecutive matches against Australia, for the first time since 1998.[11]
- New Zealand earned their first victory over Australia at a home venue since 2003, when they won 30-16 over Australia at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium.
- Manu Vatuvei becomes New Zealand's all-time leading try-scorer, passing Nigel Vagana's record (of 19 tries) after scoring his second try in the game for a total of 20 test tries.
- Simon Mannering became the fifth Kiwi-Test player to play 40 tests for New Zealand.
Player statistics
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References
- ↑ Brisbane double-header launches Four Nations
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Officials named for key fixtures nzrl.co.nz, 14 October 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Four Nations referees announced nrl.com, 17 October 2014
- ↑ Australia Four Nations Squad
- ↑ Moylan called into Kangaroos squad nrl.com, 15 October 2014
- ↑ England Four Nations Squad
- ↑ New Zealand Four Nations Squad
- ↑ Samoa Four Nations Squad
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 "2014 Four Nations Schedule". NRL.com. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ↑ http://www.nrl.com/kiwis-claim-second-four-nations-title/tabid/10874/newsid/83042/default.aspx?cid=NRL_HP_Hero
- ↑ Putting the record straight warriors.co.nz, 18 November 2014
External links
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