Stephen Kearney thinks England can be Gillette Four Nations 2011 title holders
While talking to reporters on Sunday, November 13, after New Zealand had to face an embarrassing 28-6 defeat against England in the sudden death match of the Gillette Four Nations, at Hull KC Stadium, Kiwis coach, Stephen Kearney, appreciated the performance
of the English side and acknowledged that England has it what it takes to whitewash the series’ favourites, Australia.
Talking about, how well the opponents had performed in the semi-final of Four Nations, Kearney stated, "It was a real complete performance from them and they fully deserved the victory. They were very, very good. We went a bit away from the structure and
game plan, and discipline was a bit of an issue against a very disciplined English side. I think England can go into the [Australia] game with some real confidence. It's going to be a big ask but if they stick to what they did tonight, I'm sure they'll give
Australia a real run for their money."
New Zealand failed to exhibit their maximum potential as they had let go of all the lucrative on-field opportunities of gaining scores for their side during the first-half of the game, which finished with an 8-point lead for England. During the initial-half
of the game, England ran in a try from Tom Briscoe, meanwhile the Kiwis failed to contribute at all to the score board.
On the other side of the break, New Zealand picked up momentum, only to add a try to their otherwise vacant score card. This was soon filled in by Nightingale, who scored a try for his side, whereas Marshall booted a goal to at least register efforts from
the Kiwis.
Apart from this all, Kiwis’ displayed an overall poor performance against the English, who had already established an early lead and their entire energy was converging towards a win, which meant a great deal to them. Victory at this level was very important
because the winners would be the finalist of the Gillette Four Nations 2011, which will be fought at Leeds.
New Zealand was last year’s title holder but their disappointing performance this year failed to measure up to last year’s Four Nations.
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