New Zealand v England

Saturday, 23 October	New Zealand	24 – 10	England	Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand Attendance: 20,681[6]
	Try: Sa'u 4' m Hohaia 34' c Kenny-Dowall 44' c Marshall 66' c Goal: Marshall (4)		Try: Roby 56' c Widdop 58' m Goal: Widdop

• The Junior Kiwis lost to the Junior Kangaroos 16-24 in the curtain raiser to this match.

New Zealand lost strike weapon Manu Vatuvei for the tournament but sealed a likely Four Nations final berth with a comprehensive 24-10 victory over England at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

The four-tries-to-two win was the perfect tonic for the 20,000-strong crowd, who toasted the 100th anniversary of the Kiwis' first Test on home soil. It also avenged their Wellington demons having been thumped 58-0 by Australia in 2007.

Vatuvei trudged off after two minutes, suffering a fractured right forearm in his first tackle with English centre Michael Shenton. It was a massive blow for the Kiwis who had fancied their title chances, though, Roosters winger Sam Perrett is an able replacement.

Kiwi captain Benji Marshall led from the front, scoring a try, adding a penalty and three conversions for a 12 point haul on the back of a dominate and aggressive forwards display.

New Zealand, who could have scored at least four further tries, looked to be cruising early in the second half at 18-0 but they went to sleep. England hit back with two tries in three minutes to close within eight points but they could not hold it together for sustained periods.

The Beast was a sad sight. His departure caused a left-side reshuffle with Simon Mannering moved from the back-row to centre and Junior Sa'u out one to the wing, where he had immediate success.

Thomas Leuluai jumped out of dummy-half and his skip ball found Sa'u for a simple opening try five minutes in. Benji Marshall missed the extras but nailed an easy penalty for a 6-0 lead, which could have been more if the Kiwis converted their chances.

It took four players to hold charging centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall up, Sa'u was denied a double by Mannering's forward pass and second-rower Bronson Harrison threw a poor ball after busting through with Jason Nightingale on his shoulder.

But six minutes before the break the Kiwis produced a beauty. Prop Frank-Paul Nuuausala's flick ball allowed Marshall to dance, the captain put Nightingale threw a hole and the Dragons winger gave Lance Hohaia a straight run to the line. Marshall made no mistake to take a 12-0 half time advantage.

England barley threatened and mistakes were killing their attack. Down 4-1 in the line breaks, having made 40 more tackles and 300 less running metres – something had to change to prevent a blowout in the second forty.

When Kenny-Dowall bushed off Gareth Ellis and three other weak English defenders to score his third try in two matches in black, that blowout seemed inevitable. Marshall's conversion made it 18-0.

England hooker James Roby gave his side a sniff of a comeback with a dab-kick and regather off the post for the Poms first try. Fullback Gareth Widdop converted.

The visitor's halfback Sam Tompkins inspired a breakout, linking with speedy Shenton who put Widdop under the bar. But Widdop could not secure the crucial two points, meaning his side trailed 18-10 with 20 minutes to play.

English standoff Kevin Brown failed to ground the ball from a Tomkins chip, but the Kiwis were awarded a penalty for a push in the in-goal.

Then, with a hop, skip, dummy and a Nightingale offload – Marshall was in at the corner. His sideline conversion put the Kiwis beyond reach.

New Zealand:
Tries: Sa'u, Hohaia, Kenny-Dowall, Marshall
Con: Marshall 3
Pen: Marshall

England:
Tries: Roby, Widdop
Con: Widdop
HT: 12-0

Australia vs Papua New Guinea

• In the curtain raiser match Samoa defeated Tonga 22–6.^[7]

Sunday, 24 October 4:00pm	Australia	42 – 0	Papua New Guinea	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia Attendance: 11,308 Referee/s: Jason Weinstein Man of the Match: Cameron Smith
	Tries Tonga (21' & 76') 2 Slater (5') 1 Tate (14') 1 Cronk (17') 1 Morris (25') 1 Smith (55') 1 Lockyer (59') 1 Goals Smith 5/8