League: Four Nations double header far from dead rubber

Sam Perrett has stepped nimbly into Manu Vatuvei's shoes. Photo / Getty Images

There will be no trophy on offer - both the winner and loser will meet again a week later in Brisbane to decide who gets the Four Nations silverware - but Saturday's Eden Park test between New Zealand and Australia will be far from a dead rubber.

All matches against the Kangaroos stand alone as important contests, Kiwis coach Steve Kearney said after his side thrashed the Kumuls in Rotorua on Saturday.

"It is a big occasion every time we play Australia regardless of where it puts us or whether we have got to play them the following week."

Australia guaranteed exactly that would happen by defeating England in Melbourne last night. That result leaves England and a Kumuls side smarting from a Saturday night's record defeat to play for pride in Saturday's Eden Parl curtain-raiser.

Already assured of their places in the final, the Kiwis and Kangaroos will be tuning up ahead of the Four Nations final in Brisbane the following week.

Having won the Tri-Nations in 2005 and the World Cup in 2008, the Kiwis are chasing an unprecedented third major trophy in six years.

Such a result would confirm Australia's pre-eminence in the sport has been well and truly eroded.

While Kearney insists a win in Auckland is of equal importance, it is the Brisbane match both camps with be targeting.

Saturday's 14-try romp in Rotorua against a badly weakened Kumuls side was far from ideal preparation for back-to-back contests with Australia, Kearney admitted.

"We still needed to go out there and execute and, the improvement areas we were looking at, I thought we did okay," Kearney said. "But it is a little bit difficult.

"The second half especially there were a couple of things that guys will need to be aware of. There were a couple of errors there, defensive errors, that [against Australia] we are not going to get away with."

Kiwis left-edge players Junior Sa'u and Sam Perrett ripped the Kumuls apart, both notching hat-tricks. Perrett stepped nimbly into the departed Manu Vatuvei's shoes, however Kearney wasn't getting carried away with the new combination's success.

"You've got to take into account the defence but the boys out there did play well," he said.

The chance to play at the redeveloped Eden Park on Saturday was a bonus but Kiwis captain Benji Marshall is more excited about a chance to take on the Kangaroos on home soil.

"It is a big deal just to play at home," he said. "We haven't had this opportunity that many times. So to get home in front of a home a crowd and then add in the fact it will be at such an historic place as Eden Park, I think it is great for the game."

With the Kumuls having turned in a solid effort against Australia a week earlier, that they accepted their slaughter in such meek fashion was a surprise. Barring a couple of big hits on debut prop Sam McKendry and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, and two nice second half tries, the Kumuls hardly contributed to a match that could hardly be labelled a contest.

That would all be forgotten if they could pull of a win against England on Saturday, Kumuls coach Stanley Gene said. "If we get a positive result out of that then [Saturday's] game will go out the window," he said.

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