Four Nations final: New Zealand v Australia – as it happened

Well, that’s that. New Zealand are Four Nations champions and the crown fits them well. Thank you for your eyes and your emails. I’m off to watch Tequila Sunrise and lament my long lost youth. Cheerio!

So New Zealand win their second Four Nations crown, drawing level with Australia on the tally board. You can’t argue with their victory; they were undefeated in the tournament and tonight held the upper hand, thanks to the genius of Johnson, the strength of their forwards and some excellent finishing by Nightingale and Vatuvei. Australia will be hurting but they got so close with a young side and the experience will do them good in the years to come.

79 min: Wow! Australia keep it alive probing for an opening, then Jennings runs right, drawing in the defence. It goes through the hands and ends up with Mata’utia who dives for the corner. He jumps for joy but surely he was pushed into touch… but it doesn’t matter! The ref says the ball went forward somewhere in that frenetic passage and it’s a New Zealand ball!

78 min: Inglis softens up New Zealand with a big run and after five sets Australia have made 70-odd metres. A bomb is caught by New Zealand but there’s an offside penalty to Australia who are just 10m out!

75 min: Not sure why Inglis is left to kick the ball but he does so as brutally as he did earlier. This time it floats a long way out on the full. Not the right play with so little time left. New Zealand are ‘this’ close.

74 min: It’s wave after wave of black shirts as the Kiwis look to deliver the killer blow. But the Kangaroos bravely put their bodies in harm’s way. Finally they have the ball in hand and out of the danger zone. But they’ll be knackered after all that defence.

73 min: Taumalolo charges like a ticket tout and bends the line and the Kiwis are only a metre out! But in passing from dummy half Luke’s arm is knocked and the Aussies pick up the ball.

72 min: Australia hold New Zealand at bay but again the Kiwis force a drop out, Johnson’s grubber bunted dead by Inglis.

70 min: More pressure from New Zealand as Nightingale directs a gentle kick into the in-goal. His intention was to force a drop out, and that’s exactly what he achieved.

68 min: Jennings looks to benefit from a Cronk break but he lobs the ball inside as the touchline looms. Luke claims it and is crunched by Inglis. That would have snapped me in half but Luke gets up after a pat on the head from his Souths teammate.

64 min: Johnson hits the post again, this time from wide left, but it may not matter if New Zealand keep this up.

60 min: Johnson should have kicked that but it hit the upright. Heart beating too fast?

56 min: The end-to-end stuff continues and now it’s Hiku catching an ice-bearing bomb to defuse a dangerous situation. Both teams are fighting to assert themselves here.

53 min: Johnson jinks and swings right; spying a gap he accelerates through a hole and he looks a chance of running around the outside of Australia but Jennings pulls him down and drives him into touch.

51 min: An Inglis kick drops a couple of metres short of a 40/20. It was an agricultural hoof, really, but it nearly paid dividends. Moments later, Cronk knocks on from dummy half seconds after Mata’utia cannons into the posts when catching a kick. Great opportunity for New Zealand.

49 min: And it almost looked dumber as New Zealand attempted a couple of dangerous offloads when trying to get out of their in-goal. But a strip is called on Bird and New Zealand survive their own dalliance with dumb.

48 min: Cheap metres to Australia after a second effort tackle sees New Zealand penalised. Dumb play.

46 min: Play resumes and Australia end a strong set with a Cronk bomb that Vatuvei leaps high to claim. He can have hands like feet but so far so good.

45 min: They’ve shown that Aussie try again and it doesn’t appear Foran was impeded in any way by the decoy runner. If an error has been made it’s hardly an egregious one.

Taupau is now being placed on a stretcher and carried off. Let’s hope he’s okay. He gives the thumbs up, so hopefully that’s a positive sign.

45 min: A slight injury break here as Martin Taupau (or T’pow! according to Ray Warren) is being treated after an innocuous tackle. Could be a knee injury, there was no foul play that I could see. Actually, now the trainers are steadying his neck, which is never good to see.

41 min: Plenty it seems! From midfield Smith shifts to Cronk who puts Cherry-Evans through a hole created by a decoy runner. Cherry-Evans runs to his winger and puts Mata’utia in. Slick! But it’s gone upstairs as the Nine crew agree there was an obstruction. I’m not so sure...

And they are back on the pitch with Australia down by just 8 but it seems like more...

As I grab a moment here’s something different in this day and age. Here’s CW Stoneking, from Katherine in the Northern Territory. I used to see him getting about in the People’s Republic of Brunswick dressed like a cricketer from the 1930s. As dapper as can be. This is from a new album:

39 min: Some more electric footy by the Kiwis, sparked by a lovely Johnson chip and chase. The ball then went inside and outside as the Kiwis backed up but the final pass was made to an Australian with the line looming. That could have been a killer blow in the shadows of the half-time break.

32 min: Inglis bats a Foran kick dead while Phil Withall returns with a brilliant Christmas idea. He’s got the patent, by the way. It’s a new fragrance: “Mansour by Nightingale” (17th minute) has the ring of a splendid perfume,” he writes. “Can I ask you to use your considerable clout to make this wonderful thing happen.” I don’t even have clout in my own house, Phil. It’s yours my friend!

30 min: The Kiwis are on top now and have all the momentum. Johnson puts up another huge bomb but Mansour does well to catch this one. From the possession Cronk kicks out on the full. That Wellington wind is playing havoc.

27 min: Almost another try to New Zealand! Mansour stands under a Foran bomb that swirls and dips, and he’s left leaning forward like a child wanting to jump in a pool but too scared to follow through. The ball bounces in front of him and then behind him but he recovers to knock it dead as the Kiwis charge.

A penalty here to New Zealand and although they have the Aussies on the back foot they are opting for a shot at goal from right in front.

23 min: Australia, defending, hammer NZ through Klemmer and Thaiday but on tackle three Kenny-Dowall runs 40m after palming off Cronk. He’s scythed down but from the resulting play some catch and pass footy finds Nightingale on the right wing...

22 min: The Kiwis go right then left then right again but the Australia defence is far from stretched and the Kiwis are forced to grubber on the last, but Inglis cleans up with ease. Some excellent defence there.

20 min: Cherry-Evans holds Luke down and it’s a Kiwi penalty. Luke shoves Cherry-Evans and a brouhaha develops, Bird coming to the aid of the manly man. Sorry, the Manly man. The Kiwis just 10m out with a full set up their sleeve tatts!

19 min: The Kiwis put it through the hands and they appear to have the numbers but Jennings bats the ball down. Six again.

17 min: Australia threaten down the left flank and but for a judicious (brilliant) ankle tap on Mansour by Nightingale the Penrith man would have been in. And now the Kiwis earn a penalty, their first, and they are on the attack.

16 min: Vatuvei makes a charge! He’s like an armoured vehicle with windows made from cling film. Dangerous but flawed.

14 min: Johnson puts up a towering bomb that’s taken nicely by Inglis. Johnson is tackled is the air by Papalii but the ref missed it. Should have been a Kiwi penalty 20m out from the Australia line.

12 min: A curious game to date as both teams are making a lot of metres on their sets. If I can stop thinking about Michelle Pfeiffer I’ll look to see if the ref is playing a generous 10 metres.

Now the Aussies find touch 10m out from the Kiwi line after another strong set.

10 min: Possible try to Jennings from a Cronk crossfield kick that was spilled by Whare and into Jennings who dived over. It looks good...

7 min: As Cronk boots the ball down Hiku’s throat James Galloway asks a good question. “When were you first haunted by Michelle Pfeiffer? It was when she first turned up in Scarface, for me. Not that I watched it when I was a child or anything.” Tequila Sunrise, James. Boy oh boy.

As my mind wanders I look up to see Dylan Walker let a bomb go through his fingers leading to an Australia drop out. Actually, a replay has seen the ref change his mind. Walker missed it completely, so it’s an Aussie 20m tap.

6 min: Easy metres for Australia now and they go oh so close! Corey Parker charges onto a Smith pass and he’s over the line but Luke and Proctor hold him up. And that’s the last tackle so the Kiwis will get the ball. Great effort.

4 min: The Kiwis do well to roll down the other end and Australia do well to scrabble out of their in-goal after a Kiwi grubber when it looked like a drop-out was looming. Moments later Dylan Walker seems to have dropped the ball but a strip is called.

3 min: Mansour comes close to scoring inside the left post but Smith’s grubber bobbles over the in-goal touchline just before he grabbed it.

1 min: The pitch looks a picture as NZ get through their first set with Johnson ending it with a rather weak midfield bomb. The error is compounded by a holding down penalty and the Aussies are on the attack early on.

Nearly there, folks. But first the haka, led by Adam Blair, with Issac Luke at the tip.

I know I’ve mentioned this before my I am haunted by Issac Luke’s eyes, and I don’t mean in the way I was haunted, as a younger man, by Michelle Pfeiffer. I mean genuinely haunted. Those eyes could curdle milk. Combine it with a throat sitting gesture, well, it’s like clown time in Poltergeist.

As the national anthems play out Phil Withall from Queensland writes to say the lack of HD is the least of his problems. “The fair citizens of Queensland are just pleased they get to watch the game live. A rarity during daylight savings. For a ‘rugby league heartland’ we do get treated poorly up here.”

Both teams are preparing to leave the sheds, the sticky spray being applied to their hands. I’d think some players would need more than others but there doesn’t seem to be any portion control going on. Maybe if/when budget cuts hit they’ll sort that out.

And here come the Kangaroos, led out by Cameron Smith. Or just Cameron, if you’re Ray Warren. Now it’s Simon Mannering leading out the Kiwis.

Weather report. Sort of:

“It’s really windy here in Wellington,” Andrew Johns tells viewers. Windy, in Wellington?! As such, Johns, an immortal (but not a patch on Connor MacLeod from the Clan Macleod), expects a few bombs and for the fullbacks to get a workout.

So, Gerard Beale and Bodene Thompson miss out for the hosts while, as happened against Samoa, Robbie Farah, Aidan Guerra and Ryan Hoffman are left out of the Aussie team. So expect Ben Hunt’s versatility to be called on tonight.

In broadcasting news, Kelly’s Heroes (1970) has just finished on Nine’s HD channel, Gem, and the footy is finally on (in Victoria). Of course in NSW and Queensland where the game is loved fans will be watching on Nine’s main channel. In standard definition. Madness.

In crowd news, let’s keep an eye on the attendance. If more than 17,903 turn up tonight the 2014 tournament will become the best attended Four Nations tournament ever. Sure, this is only the fourth time the 4Nations has been played but let’s not quibble...

To whet your appetites, do you remember what happened the last time these teams met in the Four Nations final? It was way back in, um, 2010. Here are the final few minutes with New Zealand trailing 12-10.

How about that Nightingale pass? It was about 7m forward. But then let’s not forget the Australian try scored by Brent Tate; in the lead up, Brett Morris clearly had a boot on the touchline. How wonderful it would be if there are no such refereeing oversights (undersights?) tonight.

This will be the fourth Four Nations final, with Australia having won two to New Zealand’s one. The bookmakers disagree but I’d have New Zealand as favourites. They are bigger, more experienced, nicely balanced and are at home. They also have Shaun Johnson. Australia have definitely improved through the tournament, and they have Greg Inglis in the hanger ready to go all Ride of the Valkyries, but I just wonder if their fleet of rookies might struggle with the pace and the occasion. Of course, much will depend on how the Kangaroos forwards handle their Kiwi counterparts. Encouragingly for Australia, the forwards put in a winning shift against Samoa last week and Dave Klemmer, Aaron Woods and Josh Papalii should have gained some confidence from the endeavour. If they can hold their own tonight —and stop the Kiwis offloading— then Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Daly Cherry-Evans and Inglis could engineer a brilliant tournament win for what is really an Australian B team.

But how healthy are the Australians? The Kangaroos camp was troubled by a virus this week and the affected were quarantined to limit the damage. I don’t know if it got so bad that Cooper Cronk was lying with his head in Cameron Smith’s lap as Smith begged him not to go into the light, but it was hardly ideal on the eve of a big game.

Paul will be along shortly but before he gets here, why not have a read of what Kangaroos’ coach Tim Sheens thinks of tonight’s decider. He wants to “maintain the rage”, which sounds rather ominous…

Read the full preview here.