Graham Lowe: Kiwis give England the road map

Lance Hohaia shrugs off the challenge of Billy Slater to score a try during the New Zealand-Australia draw last Sunday. Photo / Getty Images

The Kiwis laid down a physical challenge last Sunday morning that caught the Kangaroos totally ill-prepared.

While Australia has set the benchmark of international league over many years and should never be underestimated, their forward pack against the Kiwis looked to lack skill, commitment and a taste for the tough stuff.

On the other hand the Kiwi forwards played with an intensity I haven't seen for a while from any team, including those in State of Origin.

Coach Stephen Kearney and his management team certainly had the underrated Kiwis ready to go and Australia didn't know what hit them.

The Kiwis got away to a good solid start and stunned Australia because they never let up.

And when big, young Jared Waerea-Hargreaves came off the bench and into the fray he brought with him a venom that the Aussies had no antidote for. In fact they were keeping out of his way in case they copped something.

He is a forward straight out of the old school and ticks all the right boxes if you want a fearsome frontrower.

I haven't seen this from a Kiwi forward since Kevin Tamati took on the whole Australian pack in the eighties. It was beautiful.

But it is unfair to single out just one of the Kiwi forwards because they were all sensational.

The Australian backline is one of their best ever, but they were kept in check and in fact outplayed by the Kiwi backs.

The Kiwi camp must be brimming with confidence while the Australian coach Tim Sheens must be wondering what he can possibly do. He will know they walked into a Kiwi ambush and now an English one lies in wait.

National pride is on the line here and while Australia are in a tougher game tomorrow at Wigan against the Poms, the Kiwis must do a good job on France in Toulouse.

France will be a tricky assignment and the Kiwis need to throw everything but the kitchen sink at them. Not only must they win but they also need to rack up as many points as possible.

The French look like they are a 60-minute side that are quite capable of disrupting the best-laid plans. It is critical the Kiwis make their intentions felt early in this encounter and win with a big margin if they can.

As great as the Kiwi performance was on Sunday morning they still only got one point out of it. They must win their next two games to make sure they are in the final.

And these games could well be very fiery encounters.

The Kiwis have now shown England the best way to get Australia is through their forwards.

And because of this, tomorrow could be a return to the toe-to-toe brutal encounters that used to be the norm between the two nations in the seventies and before.

The Kangaroos coach is already whinging about the standard of refereeing and maybe he has a point. Certainly the touch judges need improvement.

However Kiwi referee Leon Williamson did a great job handling the England-France game last Saturday and certainly showed he is up to the standard required at test level.

But, after watching the NRL all year with two referees, it is easy to see in this tournament the referees are under pressure.

I'm sure Australia will argue that test matches should follow the NRL's initiative and have two referees, but I disagree.

Stephen Kearney's men delivered an intensity that may have been dulled by adding another referee.

The exciting prospect is that this young Kiwi forward pack will be around for quite a few years to come.

Australia, on the other hand, don't appear to have successors to take over from Steve Price and Petero Civoniceva, who have proven to be the cornerstones of the Australian test teams for a number of years.

I mentioned last week in this column I thought the Kiwis had a better chance with this so-called inexperienced squad and after their first game I'm convinced of it. Kearney needs to grow as a coach, and the best way for this to happen is to have a team that grows with you. Brian McLennan did it during his reign as Kiwi coach and the bond he developed with his players drew great results.

I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but the manner in which the Kiwis took to Australia suggests to me Kearney is on the right track.

He certainly managed to dial up the venom that seems to disappear or become coached out of some NRL players.

English coach Tony Smith knows they have a lot to prove on the world stage because they are the underachievers of international league at the moment. But he has a forward pack that has plenty of aggression in them and also skill, so I'm sure he has spent all week demanding his own set of answers from his players.

They've had more than 100 years of professional competitions to groom their test teams but in recent years they have looked like a mob of overpaid prima donnas.

Smith has to correct this and, as tough as it may be, he needs to correct it by tomorrow against the Aussies.

If England fail this year it will make their Super League look like a second-rate competition.

Now's your chance, England.

LOWIE'S CRYSTAL BALL

Bobbie Goulding - a coach out of the Alex Murphy mould - to have his French accepting the Kiwi challenge with old-fashioned forward play.

WWW.LOWIE.CO.NZ