This weekend saw an impressive New Zealand side beat a strong Australian team to win the final of the Rugby League World Cup for the very first time in their history. Australia were widely expected to beat the Kiwis in the match.

After all, they had held the World Cup trophy since the mid-1970s and had not been defeated throughout the entire tournament. Furthermore, the opposition they were set to face in the final, New Zealand, had been heavily crushed by the Australian side earlier in the tournament. Australia’s opening game saw the Kiwis defeated 30-6.

However, although Australia led at half time, impressive play from Lance Hohaia and Benji Marshall saw New Zealand quickly open up a 22-16 lead. Adam Blair confirmed the victory after Australia made a series of unforced, and extremely uncharacteristic, errors.

The strength and aggression which ran throughout the New Zealand side proved too much for the Australians, who seemed surprised by the Kiwis’ attitude. The Australian team should have taken advantage of the early lead but the side became complacent and allowed New Zealand to grow in confidence.

The captain of New Zealand, Nathan Cayless, believed that the victory was one of the finest moments of his career. He was ecstatic that the team had managed to take advantage of some sloppy play by Australia, since he has painful experiences of being in situations where the team has failed to build on leads and good play. He revealed that the team were looking forward to celebrating the win after working so hard to achieve success.