KEY POINTS:
Kiwis 34 New Zealand Residents 4
GREYMOUTH - After being docked Tri-Nations points and sacrificing its chairman through the Nathan Fien eligibility saga, the New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) was spared further embarrassment when the Kiwis beat a stubborn New Zealand Residents 13 34-4 in Greymouth today.
Selwyn Bennett's resignation from the NZRL last night overshadowed the national side's return to the West Coast league heartland after a 52-year hiatus, but the stuttering Kiwis finally put the focus back on football with a more composed second-half performance en route to a hard fought victory.
Residents coach David Lomax predicted his Bartercard Cup amateurs were not there to make up the numbers at Wingham Park and his players backed him up with a nuggety first half display before the Kiwis' superior conditioning saw them pull clear.
The match amounted to a dress rehearsal for the Kiwis' Tri-Nations rematch against Great Britain in Wellington next Saturday.
The Kiwis had to defend three sets close to their line before the inevitable happened and they swept 80m upfield with their first possession.
The Residents regrouped to hold out the initial surge but when referee Glen Black let a borderline pass from Adam Blair go, five-eighth Jerome Ropati skirted 20m to score.
Far from opening the floodgates in picture perfect conditions, the Residents muscled up in defence while a catalogue of handling errors frustrated the Kiwis until the half hour mark when prop Roy Asotasi strolled through a gaping hole.
Lance Hohaia, Fien's replacement in the Kiwis squad, added the extras to give the Kiwis a 10-0 lead at halftime.
The Kiwis' class showed through after the break as Motu Tony, Hohaia and Awen Guttenbeil scored in a seven-minute burst to inflate the margin to 28-0 before Canterbury Bulls second rower Johnny Limmer scored a popular consolation try for the underdogs.
Limmer's try was just reward for the Residents, who were twice denied when wing Cooper Vuna struck the corner post after strong runs.
Second rower Hayden Davis also lost the ball over the chalk in the 57th minute.
Kiwis skipper Ruben Wiki, who made a cameo appearance off the bench as 18th man, had the final say eight minutes from fulltime.
Meanwhile, Bennett, a prime mover for the first Kiwis visit to Greymouth since the second test against Great Britain in 1954, was not at the match, having made it as far as Christchurch before returning to Auckland.
West Coast Rugby League chairman Peter Kerridge was disappointed Bennett was lost to the code, given his unstinting support of grass roots rugby league.
"Sel was very much alive to the needs of the smaller provinces. I'm sad to see his demise, he was a friend to West Coast rugby league," Kerridge said.
Bennett and Kiwis coach Brian McClennan visited the West Coast in January, and originally planned to bring the Tri-Nations squad here to rest up and train between tests against Great Britain.
The visit was then upgraded to include a practise game.
Bennett was to co-host an aftermatch function with Kerridge but his only involvement on a significant day for the code in the province was a message in the programme which in cluded the ironic passage: "My links to the West Coast may not include my grandparents, but I was a regular visitor here years ago on coastal ships calling at Port Greymouth."
The selection of Australian-born Fien cost the Kiwis the two points they registered by beating Great Britain 18-14 last weekend because he did not qualify under the grandparent rule.
He used a great-grandmother's birth certificate as proof of eligibility, which was turned down this week by the Rugby League International Federation.
In the curtainraiser, West Coast Juniors beat Canterbury 17s 38-8.
Kiwis 34 (Jerome Ropati, Roy Asotasi, Motu Tony, Lance Hohaia, Awen Guttenbeil, Ruben Wiki tries; Motu Tony 4 goals, Lance Hohaia goal)
New Zealand Residents 4 (Johnny Limmer try).
Halftime: 10-0.
- NZPA
