Kiwis crushed by Kangaroos

Darren Lockyer: Last match in Australia

Australia gave captain Darren Lockyer a fitting send-off as they claimed a crushing 42-6 victory over New Zealand in a one-off Test in Newcastle.

Lockyer was winning a record 56th cap on his last appearance on Australian soil and marked the occasion as he was at the centre of an eight-try rout at Ausgrid Stadium.

The Kiwis were ravaged by injury but on this evidence still have to find a major improvement if they are to successfully defend their Four Nations title in Britain.

The visitors had 12 players missing through injury, while Wigan's Thomas Leuluai was absent and Melbourne prop Adam Blair has just one game left of a five-match suspension.

But that will not stop there from being big concerns for New Zealand, who were outplayed from the kick-off as Akuila Uate marked his Australia debut by scoring two tries in the first seven minutes.

Lockyer, who will lead Australia in the upcoming Four Nations, was typically influential as former Fiji international Uate opened the scoring in the third minute.

The skipper then combined with Willie Tonga to get the Newcastle flyer over the whitewash again four minutes later.

Tries

Johnathan Thurston made it 10-0 with the first of four goals before Lockyer linked up with Billy Slater to create a try for left winger Darius Boyd in the 13th minute.

Lockyer was caught high and late by Kiwi debutant Russell Packer, who was placed on report by English referee Phil Bentham, but it did not disrupt the dominance of the Australians.

Uate would have had a hat-trick inside 15 minutes had he not fumbled Slater's pass with the line at his mercy following another brilliant move from inside the Kangaroos' own half.

Centre Chris Lawrence added to the try tally midway through the first half as he put the finishing touches on a break from Thurston, and he grabbed a second eight minutes before half-time to make it 26-0.

Hooker Issac Luke injected more purpose into the Kiwis' attack after coming off the bench and the world champions pulled a try back on 55 minutes when Kevin Locke shot over from dummy half after a storming run from Packer.

Luke added the conversion but Australia were soon back on top when debutant prop Keith Galloway crashed over on 62 minutes and Cameron Smith added the extras to extend his side's lead to 32-6.

Lockyer took a breather but the scoring continued, with Tonga and Boyd capitalising on a woefully disorganised Kiwis defence.