League: Nightingale put try error behind him

Jason Nightingale of New Zealand has this try disallowed. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwis winger Jason Nightingale admits he was "fighting some demons" for the first half of Saturday's test, struggling to put what could have been a grave mistake out of his mind.

His fate briefly brought back memories Jeff Wilson's infamous no try at the MCG, which has never been forgotten - or forgiven - by some All Black fans.

Twenty years ago `Goldie' looked certain to score as he dived for the try line, before George Gregan produced a miraculous tackle to knock the ball from his grasp and secure a memorable Wallabies win.

For a period of the first half on Saturday night, it looked like Nightingale might endure a similar legacy. Indeed his early effort was arguably worse, as he dropped the ball under no pressure diving for the corner.

"Hopefully I never go through that again," said Nightingale. "It wasn't really easy coming back from it [and] I was definitely fighting some demons for the first half."

Watching live at the time - and even the countless replays - it was hard to understand how it occurred, as the Dragons winger seemed to have a free passage to the line from Kieran Foran's precise pass.

"I'm not sure what happened," said Nightingale. "I was probably a bit excited and rushing it I suppose - thinking I had less time than I actually had. Greg Inglis was close, but he wasn't that close."

"I was trying to gather my step when I caught it and trying to accelerate as quickly as I could once I caught it. I had to jump a bit to catch it and tried to make that first step count so I could make it as easy as I could - but I made it look difficult in the end."

As his team mates celebrated what looked like a vital reply to Beau Scott's early try, Nightingale had some nagging doubts.

"I knew I had some sort of fumble," said Nightingale. "I wasn't sure if I had grounded the ball and then fumbled it after that. I felt it was 50-50."

It could have been a pivotal moment. Before this year's Anzac test, the Kiwis hadn't scored more than two tries in a match against Australia since 2010. Facing the ruthless Kangaroos, chances usually need to be taken, as they don't come again. Nightingale was aware of the ramifications as he replayed the moment in his mind during the first half.

Thankfully the Kiwis kicked away in the second spell and the 28-year-old sealed the result with a try in the 69th minute.

"I made sure of it the next time round by tucking it in," said Nightingale. "It was awesome to create that buffer, to know that we had got three tries up and kick away to pretty much seal it. It's not often in a [test match] you can enjoy the last ten minutes of a game knowing you have got a win."

"There wasn't much work to do on either on my attempts but it was good to get the monkey off the back and hopefully I never bomb a try like that again."