Kangaroos score historic victory over New Zealand in Perth

AUSTRALIA has won the first rugby league Test match played in Perth, proving too class for New Zealand in a 26-6 dismantling at nib Stadium.

Valentine Holmes scored on debut.

AUSTRALIA have taken the honours in the first Test match played in Perth, emerging with a 26-6 win over New Zealand.

The sell-out crowd of 20,283, a record for nib Stadium in its current configuration, proves that there is a hunger for rugby league in the west and they were treated to a pulsating and physical battle.

Greg Inglis scored a double to take his career tally to 30 tries in 36 Tests, taking him past Reg Gasnier as the third most prolific try-scorer in Australian history.

He utterly dominate his opposite number Shaun Kenny-Dowall who had a nightmare performance, letting in two tries with poor defensive reads and dropping a number of easy balls.

One error early in the second half proved particularly costly with Australian debutant Valentine Holmes scoring directly from a Kenny-Dowall mistake.

Valentine Holmes crossed the white line on debut.

Holmes was the pick of Australia’s three debutants, carrying the ball well and showing great speed to score his maiden Test try.

Mal Meninga praised Holmes’ performance after the match and was impressed with the 21-year olds composure and class.

“They had a plan around targeting him and he handled everything that came his way.

“He was very nervous before the game which understandable but his ability to put those nerves aside, he can only get better. We’re very lucky to have him playing for Australia.”

Fellow rookies Tyson Frizell and Shannon Boyd also enjoyed promising debuts with Frizell in particular wasting no time in giving the Kangaroos some real menace in both attack and defence.

New Zealand’s powerful forward pack did not assert their dominance as expected with star duo Jason Taumalolo and Jesse Bromwich failing to produce the form they had showcased for their clubs.

Solomone Kata monsters Josh Dugan.

Taumalolo was left on the bench for long swathes of the match, a puzzling development given his stellar form all season.

Rookie New Zealand coach David Kidwell took personal responsibility, saying that he did not handle the interchange rotation as well as he would have liked.

“That was a harsh lesson for myself. First time in the job, I’ve got to look at that. I didn’t purposefully leave him on the bench but again, that’s something I’ve learnt in the job and I take responsibility for that”

Kidwell was pleased with his team’s resilience after a flat start but admitted there was a huge scope for improvement.

“At halftime, Jordan (Rapana) said he was spent but he just kept going. This is Test football, this is what its about. It tests you.

Inglis ran rings around opposite number Shaun Kenny-Dowall.

“Its not NRL, its not another game, its Test football.”

After three years out of international football, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves made his presence felt with a vicious high tackle on Johnathan Thurston in what was one of a number of ill-disciplined early efforts by New Zealand.

They were made to pay for their sins when Thurston stretched the defence with a long ball that allowed Darius Boyd to glide over untouched out wide.

Inglis grabbed his first soon thereafter but New Zealand struck back in the 20th minute when Shaun Johnson put Kevin Proctor over and despite being under pressure for much of the opening quarter the Kiwis trailed by just 8-6 at the break.