Kiwis to learn from great escape

The Kiwis says they will take a lesson from their great escape win over exciting Four Nations rugby league underdogs Samoa.

The 14-12 result in Whangarei leaves New Zealand with a 100 per cent record heading into their last pool match against England in Dunedin on Saturday.

But the Kiwis’ lacklustre performance contrasted with their effort in overwhelming Australia 30-12 in Brisbane seven days earlier and they needed a late try to Shaun Kenny-Dowall to deprive Samoa of a monumental upset.

Kearney didn’t believe the Kiwis had taken a step backwards against a Samoa team who proved their mettle once again, having pushed England hard last week.

“No, we’re two steps into a tournament and we’ve got two wins,” said Kearney.

“We set the bar pretty high last week.

“I think this performance was a good lesson to us of where we need to work towards if we want to really make a go of this competition.”

While Kearney admitted to nervousness as the clock ticked down, Kenny-Dowall said there wasn’t any panic on the field.

“The boys held their heads under pressure and we were able to come away with it,” said Kenny-Dowall, who had a tough afternoon against block-busting opposite Joey Leilua.

Leilu proved a handful for the Kiwis throughout the match.

He put a huge fend on Kenny-Dowall which knocked him to the ground on the way to scoring the try that gave Samoa a 12-6 lead early in the second half.

Kenny-Dowall did have the last say and it was “pretty relieving” when he got over in the corner with under five minutes remaining.

The 26-year-old is relishing being back in the Kiwis jumper after missing the 2013 World Cup because of a broken jaw.

He had suffered the break early in the Sydney Roosters’ 2013 grand final victory over Manly, playing on despite the injury.

He also sat out the Anzac Test in May as the Kiwis went for a new-look line-up.

“It’s everything,” he said of the getting back into the Test arena.

“I set myself a goal after missing out on the Anzac Test and I’m so happy to be back in the black and white.”

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