Footy greats savage shambolic Kangaroos after record-breaking defeat to New Zealand: ‘Quite embarrassing’
- League legends destroy Kangaroos’ achievements
- Greg Alexander called result ’embarrassing’
- The Aussies suffered their heaviest defeat in history
New Zealand handed Australia their heaviest ever defeat and a rugby league lesson for the ages in a record-breaking 30-0 Pacific Cup final in Hamilton.
It was the largest losing margin in Australian Test history, surpassing the 24-point gap in wins in 1952 and 2005, also by the Kiwis.
From start to finish, and from fullback to the bench, the Kiwis were superior in every facet of the game against a Kangaroos team that had nothing to offer in attack and looked disinterested in defence.
Footy legend Greg Alexander had high hopes for the Aussies to perform well before the match, but branded the stunning result an ’embarrassing result for Australian rugby league’.
“The Kiwis had to get off to a good start, they had to be strong and aggressive and they had to keep it going because this Australian team is a fantastic side,” Alexander said.
New Zealand handed Australia their heaviest defeat ever at the FMG Stadium in Waikato
It was the first time since 2005 that the Aussies were completely left out
“But the Kiwis embarrassed them (Kangaroos) this afternoon. It is an embarrassing result for Australian rugby league.”
NRL great Cooper Cronk praised the Kiwis for their cohesion against their woeful opponents.
“You got a contribution from everyone for New Zealand and they absolutely put the handcuffs on Australia at various stages,” Cronk said.
‘Great achievement.’
Footy icon Andrew Johns was also shocked by the Australian defense after New Zealand scored their fifth try.
‘This is quite embarrassing coming from Australia. It is very tired and the technique is very poor,” Johns said in Nine’s reporting.
Rugby league pundits also used Twitter to slam Mal Meninga’s men.
‘The Kiwis completely bullied the Kangaroos. I know we’ve won some pretty big games in the past, but this has to be one of the most dominant performances in recent history. And this is certainly not a sub-par Australian team,” wrote sports commentator Sam Hewat.
Both Greg Alexander and Andrew Johns called the Kangaroos’ performance shameful
‘What a boring performance. It’s as if the Kangaroos showed up waiting for the result,” broadcaster Julian King wrote.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga said the result ‘hurt’ and would be well received by the international rugby league world.
“Everyone likes to see us lose and we did that,” Meninga said.
‘We made everyone happy. Obviously (the result) will shock the rugby league world because of the way we lost and the outcome, but we will come back with redemption at the end of next year.
‘We made a lot of mistakes. That’s a reflection of how New Zealand played. They were the better side and deserved their win.”
Australian coach Mal Meninga said the Kiwis deserved their win and highlighted the number of mistakes the Kangaroos made
Kiwi lock Joseph Tapine led the pack like a colossus, halving Dylan Brown and Jahrome Hughes controlled the game at ease in the inaugural Pacific Cup.
Winger Jamayne Isaako scored a double to continue his incredible year.
As a collective, New Zealand were at their best in their first win over Australia since 2018.
“You never think a Test match is going to be 30-0 but there is something special within this group,” Kiwis coach Michael Maguire said.