Kiwis go down in Perth to Kangaroos after lacklustre effort

David Kidwell's first game in charge of the Kiwis has ended in disappointment, with the Kangaroos winning 26-6 in Perth on Saturday night.

In a test that was short of thrilling moments, Australia put in a workmanlike performance to record their second straight win over the No 1 team in the world.

The Kangaroos outscored the Kiwis five tries to one, with a big problem for New Zealand being knowing what the right move should be when attacking on the last tackle.

The spark that guided them to the outstanding 26-12 win over the Kangaroos in Brisbane last year, just wasn't there and other than the big runs from Jason Taumalolo, there were few 'wow' moments from players in black and white jerseys.

While it was a loss, the Kiwis were competitive for the first half and but for a few errors, they could have made this more of a contest.

The Kangaroos did the basics well and were able to handle the big New Zealand forwards who tried to dominate the middle of the field.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves didn't have the greatest of returns to test footy. In the third minute the prop knocked the ball on, then smashed Johnathan Thurston in the face as he attempted to regather it.

In the eighth minute the Kangaroos were in for the first time, with Darius Boyd being given too much space on the left edge and ran in between Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Jordan Rapana to score.

Six minutes later, Valentine Holmes, who turned down the invitation to play for the Kiwis a couple of years ago, set up the Kangaroos' next try, putting through a chip kick that Greg Inglis caught and scored a try from.

From the Kiwis' first real attack in the 21st minute, they came away with points as Kevin Proctor broke through the Kangaroos' defence for a try.

From then New Zealand were able to get on an equal footing with Australia and when the Kangaroos did attack there was some superb defensive efforts from Thomas Leuluai and Jason Nightingale.

The Kiwis looked good at the start of the second half, but a Kenny-Dowall blunder allowed the Kangaroos to get their third try in the 43rd minute. The Rooster player knocked the ball on when being tackled and the ball was quickly moved to Holmes who scored.

That try killed the Kiwis' momentum and they were hanging on to keep Australia out for a large part of the second half.

In the 63rd minute they did start moving the ball well and look threatening, but that attack was ended when Jesse Bromwich dropped the ball.

The killer blow for the Kangaroos came 12 in the 52nd minute when Inglis bagged his second try of the night, seizing on a grubber kick and from there onwards, it was just a matter of winding down the clock, although Boyd Cordner's try four minutes from the end, rubbed salt in the wound.

It's off to the Four Nations in England for both of these sides now and given the evidence of this game, there's of work ahead for Kidwell to get stuck into.

Australia 26 (Darius Boyd, 2 Greg Inglis, Valentine Holmes, Boyd Cordner tries; Johnathan Thurston 3 goals), New Zealand 6 (Kevin Proctor try; Shaun Johnson goal). HT: 8-6