Smith Stoops to rescue draw

Australia needed a late try from Cameron Smith to rescue a 20-20 draw against New Zealand at the end of a Four Nations thriller at the Twickenham Stoop.

For just the third time in their long history the two trans-Tasman rivals finished level after an absorbing 80 minutes of Test match rugby.

It looked like the Kiwis had managed a repeat of their World Cup final triumph over the same opponents when Frank Pritchard touched down on the left with just five minutes to spare.

However the Kangaroos managed to get out of jail before the final hooter, hooker Smith accepting Greg Inglis' pass to dive over the line.

See-saw game

Jonathan Thurston kept his cool to slot over the extras, his fourth successful kick meaning a see-saw game finished with honours even.

After England's rather pedestrian win over France on the tournament's opening night, Australia and New Zealand certainly turned up the heat to show the watching Tony Smith what his side can expect in the next fortnight.

Despite missing eight members of their World Cup-winning team, the Kiwis turned in a superb performance to make a mockery of their standing as third favourites to take the title.

They certainly revelled in the physicality of the game - none more so than rookie Jarred Waerea-Hargreaves, who came off the bench to deliver some fearful hits in defence.

The brutal nature of the action meant there were penalties aplenty, nine alone inside the opening 16 minutes, while tempers unsurprisingly flared up at one stage in the first half, Isaac Luke taking such offence to Paul Gallen's swinging arm that the pair ended up exchanging punches.

A drawn final outcome should really not have been a shock considering the scoreline had been level at six apiece after the first 40 minutes.

It was New Zealand who drew first blood when a fast-running Frank-Paul Nuuslala accepted Adam Blair's pass to burst through to the line.

Australia responded with a try from Brett Morris, who was left with an easy run-in after Smith's flick out the back door had set Inglis running free.

The winger had already wasted two glorious opportunities to get off the mark in the Green and Gold, firstly being forced into touch out wide before slipping and dropping the ball with the line seemingly at his mercy.

Pickpocket Thurston

Tim Sheen's side had to wait until the 45th minute to go ahead - Thurston pickpocketing the ball off Lance Hohaia for an easy run-in next to the posts.

Despite the scrum-half adding the simple conversion and also a penalty that soon followed, the Kiwis simply refused to go away.

Junior Sau somehow wriggled out of a three-man tackle to plant the ball down before Hohai enjoyed a moment of redemption; the full-back making amends for his earlier error by diving over on the left having beaten opposing number Billy Slater with a wonderful dummy.

Bryson Goodwin's second conversion of the night put New Zealand ahead but his failure to convert Pritchard's try kept Australia alive, albeit only just.

There was still enough time on the clock for Smith to get over following an initial break by the outstanding Inglis, though, the extras from Thurston's accurate boot meaning the points had to be shared.