2014 Rugby League Four Nations

2014 (2014) Four Nations  ()
Number of teams	4
Host countries	New Zealand   Australia
Winner	New Zealand (2nd title)
Matches played	7
Attendance	144,722 (20,675 per match)
Points scored	286 (40.86 per match)
Tries scored	52 (7.43 per match)
Top scorer	Shaun Johnson (30)
Top try scorer	Jason Nightingale (5)
Tournaments  < 2011 2016 >

The 2014 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was the fourth staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament played in Australia and New Zealand over three weeks from Saturday, 25 October to Saturday, 15 November 2014. The series was contested by regular participants Australia, England and New Zealand, joined by Samoa, having won their Pacific qualifier against Fiji. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating Australia in the final at Wellington's Westpac Stadium on Saturday 15 November. ^[1]

Background

The 2014 tournament is the first Four Nations series to be scheduled following the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, with the venues rotating between Europe and the South Pacific.

In addition to automatic inclusions Australia, England and New Zealand, Pacific nations Fiji and Samoa met in a mid-season test match at the Penrith Stadium in western Sydney to determine the fourth entrant in the tournament. Samoa won an entertaining match 32-16 in front of 9,063 fans.

The 34,500 capacity Westpac Stadium in Wellington will play host to the first Four Nations Final played in New Zealand. The last time the final of the tournament was held in New Zealand was at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland when the tournament was known as the Tri-Nations in its inaugural year, 1999.

Teams

Team	Coach	Captain	RLIF Rank	Continent
Australia	Tim Sheens	Cameron Smith	1st	Oceania
England	Steve McNamara	Sean O'Loughlin	3rd	Europe
New Zealand	Stephen Kearney	Simon Mannering	2nd	Oceania
Samoa	Matt Parish	David Fa'alogo	7th	Oceania

Squads

Main article: 2014 Rugby League Four Nations Squads

Venues

The games were played at the following venues in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament final was played in Wellington.

Wellington	Brisbane	Whangārei
Westpac Stadium	Suncorp Stadium	Toll Stadium
Capacity: 34,500	Capacity: 52,500	Capacity: 30,000
Melbourne	Dunedin	Wollongong
AAMI Park	Forsyth Barr Stadium	WIN Stadium
Capacity: 30,050	Capacity: 30,748	Capacity: 23,750

Referees

• Henry Perenara (Referee and Video Referee - New Zealand) ^[2]
• Phil Bentham (Referee - England) ^[3]
• Gerard Sutton (Referee - Australia) ^[3]
• Ben Cummins (Replacement Referee - Australia) ^[3]

Touch judges/video referees

• Anthony Eliott (Touch Judge - New Zealand) ^[2]
• Grant Atkins (Touch Judge - Australia) ^[3]
• Jason Walsh (Touch Judge - Australia) ^[3]
• Robert Hicks (Touch Judge - England) ^[3]
• Ian Smith (Video Referee - England) ^[3]
• Bernard Sutton (Video Referee - Australia) ^[3]

Qualifier

Samoa v. Fiji

3 May 2014

Samoa	32 – 16	Fiji
Tries: Penani Manumalealii (3) 13' c, 38' c, 44' c Carlos Tuimavave 54'c Daniel Vidot 64'c Sam Tagataese 78' Goals: Krisnan Inu (6/6) 13', 38', 44', 50', 54', 64'	Video	Tries: Kevin Naiqama 16' c James Storer 27' c Lote Tuqiri 30' m Goals: Lote Tuqiri (2/3) 17', 28'

Penrith Stadium, Sydney, Australia Attendance: 9,063 Referee: Ashley Klein Player of the Match: Penani Manumalealii

Samoa won the test match by 32–16 after being behind 16–12 at half-time. Samoa's Penani Manumalealii won the man of the match award, scoring 3 tries in the match.

Samoa picked 7 debutantes for the test match, while Fiji featured three. All of the Samoan team were National Rugby League based players, while the Fijian side had 10 players from the NRL. Samoa's most capped player was Daniel Vidot who made his 6th appearance for his country, while Fiji's most experienced players were Alipate Noilea, Aaron Groom, and captain Ashton Sims who all made their 10th appearance for their nation.

Results

Round 1

Saturday, 25 October 2014 5:00pm (AEDT)

England	32 – 26	Samoa
Tries: Michael Shenton 21' c Kallum Watkins 34' c Liam Farrell 46' c Joel Tomkins 65' c Sam Tomkins 68' c Goals: Gareth Widdop (6/6) 22', 34', 40', 46', 65', 68'	Report	Tries: Isaac Liu 26' c Daniel Vidot 30' m Pita Godinet (2) 55' c, 61' c Antonio Winterstein 72' c Goals: Kyle Stanley (3/4) 26', 55', 61' Ben Roberts (1/1) 72'

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia [4] Attendance: 47,813 Referee: Gerard Sutton Player of the Match: Sam Tomkins

• Ben Roberts made his 10th appearance for Samoa, only the second player to hit double-digit appearances for his country with George Carmont being the first.

FB 1 Sam Tomkins RW 2 Josh Charnley RC 3 Kallum Watkins LC 4 Michael Shenton LW 5 Ryan Hall SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Matty Smith PR 8 George Burgess HK 9 Josh Hodgson PR 10 James Graham (c) SR 11 Liam Farrell SR 12 Joel Tomkins LF 13 Joe Westerman Substitutions: BE 14 Daryl Clark BE 15 Brett Ferres BE 16 Tom Burgess BE 17 Chris Hill Coach: Steve McNamara

FB 1 Tim Simona RW 2 Antonio Winterstein RC 3 Ricky Leutele LC 4 Joey Leilua LW 5 Daniel Vidot FE 6 Ben Roberts HB 7 Kyle Stanley PR 8 Sam Tagataese HK 9 Michael Sio PR 10 David Fa'alogo (c) SR 11 Frank Pritchard SR 12 Leeson Ah Mau LK 13 Josh McGuire Substitutions: BE 14 Pita Godinet BE 15 Jesse Sene-Lefao BE 16 Isaac Liu BE 17 Mose Masoe Coach: Matt Parish

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Saturday, 25 October 2014 7:30pm (AEDT)

Australia	12 – 30	New Zealand
Tries: Beau Scott 3' c Greg Inglis 21' c Goal: Cameron Smith (2/2) 3', 21'	Report	Tries: Proctor 17' c Lewis Brown 29' c Shaun Johnson 47' c Dean Whare 51' c Jason Nightingale 68' c Goals: Shaun Johnson (5/5) 17', 29', 47', 51', 68'

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia [4] Attendance: 47,813 Referee: Phil Bentham Player of the Match: Shaun Johnson

• Dallin Watene-Zelezniak could have made his international test debut in the starting XIII for New Zealand on the right-wing, but was ruled out for the game and for the rest of the tournament with an ankle injury and Gerard Beale replaced him.
• Jason Taumalolo made his international test debut for New Zealand.
• Daniel Tupou, Josh Mansour, Dylan Walker, Aaron Woods and Aidan Guerra made their international test debut for Australia
• With the victory, this was New Zealand's first Test win over Australia since the 2010 Four Nations Final.

FB 1 Greg Inglis RW 2 Josh Mansour RC 3 Michael Jennings LC 4 Dylan Walker LW 5 Daniel Tupou SO 6 Daly Cherry-Evans SH 7 Cooper Cronk PR 8 Aaron Woods HK 9 Cameron Smith (c) PR 10 Sam Thaiday SR 11 Beau Scott SR 12 Ryan Hoffman LF 13 Greg Bird Substitutions: BE 14 Robbie Farah BE 15 Aidan Guerra BE 16 Josh Papalii BE 17 Corey Parker Coach: Tim Sheens

FB 1 Peta Hiku RW 19 Gerard Beale RC 3 Shaun Kenny-Dowall LC 4 Dean Whare LW 2 Jason Nightingale FE 6 Kieran Foran HB 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Jesse Bromwich HK 9 Thomas Leuluai PR 10 Adam Blair SR 11 Simon Mannering (c) SR 12 Kevin Proctor LK 13 Jason Taumalolo Substitutions: BE 14 Lewis Brown BE 15 Greg Eastwood BE 16 Martin Taupau BE 17 Tohu Harris Coach: Stephen Kearney

Round 2

Saturday, 1 November 2014 4:00pm (NZT)

New Zealand	14 – 12	Samoa
Tries: Kieran Foran 10' c Jason Nightingale 64' Shaun Kenny-Dowall 76' Goals: Shaun Johnson (1/3) 11'	Report	Tries: Tautau Moga 6' Daniel Vidot 18' Joseph Leilua 44' Goals: Tim Lafai (0/3)

Toll Stadium, Whangārei, New Zealand [4] Attendance: 16,912 Referee: Henry Perenara Player of the Match: Kieran Foran

• Suaia Matagi made his international test debut for New Zealand
• Tautau Moga and Dominique Peyroux made their international test debut for Samoa
• With the victory, New Zealand retained the Peter Leitch QSM Challenge Trophy.

FB 1 Peta Hiku RW 2 Jason Nightingale RC 3 Shaun Kenny-Dowall LC 4 Dean Whare LW 5 Manu Vatuvei FE 6 Kieran Foran HB 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Jesse Bromwich HK 9 Issac Luke PR 10 Adam Blair SR 11 Simon Mannering (c) SR 12 Kevin Proctor LK 13 Jason Taumalolo Substitutions: BE 14 Lewis Brown BE 15 Suaia Matagi BE 16 Martin Taupau BE 17 Tohu Harris Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 Tim Simona RW 20 Tautau Moga RC 3 Tim Lafai LC 4 Joey Leilua LW 5 Daniel Vidot FE 6 Ben Roberts HB 7 Kyle Stanley PR 8 Isaac Liu HK 13 Josh McGuire PR 10 David Fa'alogo (c) SR 11 Frank Pritchard SR 12 Leeson Ah Mau LK 16 Sauaso Sue Substitutions: BE 9 Pita Godinet BE 14 Dunamis Lui BE 17 Mose Masoe BE 18 Dominique Peyroux Coach: Matt Parish

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Sunday, 2 November 2014 4:00pm (AEST)

Australia	16 – 12	England
Tries: Michael Jennings 16' Ben Hunt 56' c Greg Inglis 62' c Goals: Cameron Smith (2/3) 57', 64'	Report	Tries: Kallum Watkins 28' c Ryan Hall 33' c Goals: Gareth Widdop (2/2) 29', 35'

AAMI Park, Melbourne, Australia [4] Attendance: 20,585 Referee: Gerard Sutton Player of the Match: Cameron Smith

• Perth born Dan Sarginson made his international test début for England.
• Ben Hunt and David Klemmer made their international test debuts for Australia.
• Sione Mata'utia also made his international test début for Australia and becoming the youngest ever player to play for Australia at aged 18 years and 129 days, eclipsing Israel Folau's seven-year-old record by 65 days.
• Cameron Smith becomes the 6th Kangaroo-Test player, to play 40-Test games for Australia.

FB 1 Greg Inglis RW 2 Josh Mansour RC 3 Michael Jennings LC 4 Dylan Walker LW 5 Sione Mata'utia SO 6 Daly Cherry-Evans SH 7 Cooper Cronk PR 8 Aaron Woods HK 9 Cameron Smith (c) PR 10 Sam Thaiday SR 11 Beau Scott SR 12 Greg Bird LF 13 Corey Parker Substitutions: BE 14 Boyd Cordner BE 15 Ben Hunt BE 16 David Klemmer BE 17 Josh Papalii Coach: Tim Sheens

FB 1 Sam Tomkins RW 2 Josh Charnley RC 3 Kallum Watkins LC 18 Dan Sarginson LW 5 Ryan Hall SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Matty Smith PR 8 George Burgess HK 9 Josh Hodgson PR 10 James Graham SR 11 Liam Farrell SR 12 Joel Tomkins LF 19 Sean O'Loughlin (c) Substitutions: BE 14 Daryl Clark BE 15 Brett Ferres BE 16 Tom Burgess BE 17 Chris Hill Coach: Steve McNamara

Round 3

Saturday, 8 November 2014 7:00pm (NZT)

New Zealand	16 – 14	England
Tries: Jason Nightingale (2) 2' c, 29' c Manu Vatuvei 45' Goals: Shaun Johnson (2/3) 3', 31'	Report	Tries: Ryan Hall (2) 7', 56' c Josh Charnley 24' Goals: Gareth Widdop (1/3) 58'

Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand [4] Attendance: 15,863 Referee: Phil Bentham Player of the Match: Jason Taumalolo

• With the victory, New Zealand secured a place in the final.

FB 1 Peta Hiku RW 2 Jason Nightingale RC 3 Shaun Kenny-Dowall LC 4 Dean Whare LW 5 Manu Vatuvei FE 6 Kieran Foran HB 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Jesse Bromwich HK 14 Thomas Leuluai PR 10 Adam Blair SR 11 Simon Mannering (c) SR 12 Kevin Proctor LK 13 Jason Taumalolo Substitutions: BE 9 Issac Luke BE 15 Greg Eastwood BE 16 Martin Taupau BE 17 Tohu Harris Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 Sam Tomkins RW 2 Josh Charnley RC 3 Kallum Watkins LC 4 Dan Sarginson LW 5 Ryan Hall SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Matty Smith PR 8 George Burgess HK 14 Daryl Clark PR 10 James Graham SR 11 Liam Farrell SR 12 Joel Tomkins LF 13 Sean O'Loughlin (c) Substitutions: BE 15 Brett Ferres BE 16 Tom Burgess BE 17 Chris Hill BE 18 Elliott Whitehead Coach: Steve McNamara

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Sunday, 9 November 2014 4:00pm (AEST)

Australia	44 – 18	Samoa
Tries: Cooper Cronk (2) 2', 62' Greg Inglis (2) 11', 26' Daly Cherry-Evans 30' David Klemmer 34' Josh Papalii 76' Josh Mansour 79' Goals: Cameron Smith (4/6) Daly Cherry-Evans (2/2)	Report	Tries: Tim Simona 20' Ben Roberts 47' David Fa'alogo 69' Goals: Tim Lafai (3/3)

WIN Stadium, Wollongong, Australia [4] Attendance: 18,456 Referee: Gerard Sutton Player of the Match: Greg Inglis

• Josh Jackson made his international test debut for Australia.
• With the victory, Australia secured a place in the final.

FB 1 Greg Inglis RW 2 Josh Mansour RC 3 Michael Jennings LC 4 Dylan Walker LW 5 Sione Mata'utia SO 6 Daly Cherry-Evans SH 7 Cooper Cronk PR 8 Aaron Woods HK 9 Cameron Smith (c) PR 10 Josh Papalii SR 11 Sam Thaiday SR 12 Greg Bird LF 13 Corey Parker Substitutions: BE 14 Boyd Cordner BE 15 Ben Hunt BE 19 David Klemmer BE 21 Josh Jackson Coach: Tim Sheens

FB 1 Tim Simona RW 2 Antonio Winterstein RC 3 Tim Lafai LC 4 Joey Leilua LW 5 Daniel Vidot FE 6 Ben Roberts HB 7 Kyle Stanley PR 8 Isaac Liu HK 13 Josh McGuire PR 10 David Fa'alogo (c) SR 11 Frank Pritchard SR 12 Leeson Ah Mau LK 17 Mose Masoe Substitutions: BE 9 Pita Godinet BE 14 Dunamis Lui BE 15 Reni Maitua BE 16 Sauaso Sue Coach: Matt Parish

Standings

2014 Four Nations v t e
	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	New Zealand W	3	3	0	0	60	38	+22	6
2	Australia	3	2	0	1	72	60	+12	4
3	England	3	1	0	2	58	58	0	2
4	Samoa	3	0	0	3	56	90	–34	0

Final

Saturday, 15 November 8:30pm (NZT)

New Zealand	22 – 18	Australia
Tries Manu Vatuvei (35', 63') 2 Jason Nightingale (23') 1 Shaun Johnson (58') 1 Goals Shaun Johnson 3/5 (25', 29' pen, 36')	Report	Tries 1 (11') Michael Jennings 1 (42') Sione Mata'utia 1 (76') Ben Hunt Goals 3/3 Cameron Smith (12', 43', 77')

Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand [4] Attendance: 25,093 Referee: Phil Bentham Player of the Match: Shaun Johnson [5]

New Zealand	Position	Australia
Peta Hiku	FB	Greg Inglis
Jason Nightingale	WG	Josh Mansour
Dean Whare	CE	Michael Jennings
Shaun Kenny-Dowall	CE	Dylan Walker
Manu Vatuvei	WG	Sione Mata'utia
Kieran Foran	FE	Daly Cherry-Evans
Shaun Johnson	HB	Cooper Cronk
Jesse Bromwich	PR	Aaron Woods
Isaac Luke	HK	Cameron Smith (c)
Adam Blair	PR	Josh Papalii
Simon Mannering (c)	SR	Sam Thaiday
Kevin Proctor	SR	Greg Bird
Jason Taumalolo	LK	Corey Parker
Lewis Brown	Int	Boyd Cordner
Greg Eastwood	Int	Ben Hunt
Martin Taupau	Int	Josh Jackson
Tohu Harris	Int	David Klemmer

Score Progression:
11th: Australia 6 - 0 (Jennings Try, Smith Goal) 23rd: Even 6 - 6 (Nightingale Try, Johnson Goal) 29th: New Zealand 8 - 6 (Johnson Penalty Goal) 35th: New Zealand 14 - 6 (Vatuvei Try, Johnson Goal) 42nd: New Zealand 14 - 12 (Mata'utia Try, Smith Goal) 58th: New Zealand 18 - 12 (Johnson Try) 63rd: New Zealand 22 - 12 (Vatuvei Try) 76th: New Zealand 22 - 18 (Hunt Try, Smith Goal)

Match records:

• This was Australia's first game at Wellington's Westpac Stadium since 2007, when they beat New Zealand 58-0.
• This was New Zealand's first home game at Wellington's Westpac Stadium since the 2010 Four Nations Round 1 clash with England, when they won 24-10.
• With the victory, New Zealand won this year's Four Nations Title, as well as their second Tournament Title.
• New Zealand became the second team since Australia (in the 2011 Four Nations series), to go through the tournament undefeated.
• New Zealand won 2 consecutive matches against Australia, for the first time since 1998. ^[6]
• New Zealand earned their first victory over Australia at a home venue since 2003, when they won 30-16 over Australia at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium.
• Manu Vatuvei becomes New Zealand's all-time leading try-scorer, passing Nigel Vagana's record (of 19 tries) after scoring his second try in the game for a total of 20 test tries.
• Simon Mannering became the fifth Kiwi-Test player to play 40 tests for New Zealand.

Player statistics

Top point scorers Player Team T G FG Pts 1 Shaun Johnson   New Zealand 2 11 0 30 2 Cameron Smith   Australia 0 11 0 22 3 Jason Nightingale   New Zealand 5 0 0 20 4 Gareth Widdop   England 0 9 0 18 5 Greg Inglis   Australia 4 0 0 16

Top try scorers Player Team T 1 Jason Nightingale   New Zealand 5 2 Greg Inglis   Australia 4 3 Ryan Hall   England 3 Manu Vatuvei   New Zealand

Broadcasting rights

In the United Kingdom, Premier Sports televised all the matches live while BBC Two televised England's round robin matches and the final live. BBC One televised highlights of matchday one while BBC Two televised highlights of matchday two while BBC One televised highlights of England's final round robin match against New Zealand while highlights of matchday three was televised on BBC Two in England and England HD at 10:00pm and in Northern Ireland at 10:30pm and in Scotland 11:00pm and in Wales at 11:30pm. BBC One televised highlights of the final.

References

1. Brisbane double-header launches Four Nations
2. Officials named for key fixtures nzrl.co.nz, 14 October 2014
3. Four Nations referees announced nrl.com, 17 October 2014
4. "2014 Four Nations Schedule". NRL.com. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
5. "Kiwis claim second Four Nations title". NRL.com. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 2016-05-28.
6. Putting the record straight warriors.co.nz, 18 November 2014