Johnson Magic helps NZ to Four Nations crown

New Zealand have secured the 2014 edition of the 4 Nations after a thrilling 22-18 win over Australia at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

The Kiwis had been the form team of the whole tournament but early on it was the Aussies who were in control. The Aussies took advantage of their field position in just the 12th minute when Michael Jennings was the recipient of some miscommunication on the high ball and Michael Jennings was in the right place at the right time.

From there it was all the Kiwis who took control of the match with a 61% possession rate and with that possession they added the points, firstly through Jason Nightingale, then with a penalty goal they took the lead. Some Shaun Johnson magic gave the Kiwis their third try of the night when some nothing play turned into some magic play when Johnson dodged around five defenders before throwing a 30m pass that found the beast perfectly and he scored in the corner.

The Kiwis took a 14-6 lead to halftime but it didn't take long for the Aussies to hit back when Sione Mata'utia got his first international try after some good play from Daly Cherry-Evans and the hint of an obstruction.

The Kiwis then looked to have put the game beyond doubt through a try to Manu Vatuvei and then another piece of Shaun Johnson magic saw the score go out to 22-12 with both conversions hitting the posts.

The Aussies then put up a late fightback and they scored with just under 10 to go through Ben Hunt off some lucky passes and good bursts before in the final seconds they were called back for a forward pass which set up Sione Mata'utia in the corner.

The victory secures a good tournament for the Kiwis and brings down the curtain on a super year of Rugby League that began just over 9 months ago.

NEW ZEALAND (22)
Tries: Jason Nightingale, Shaun Johnson, Manu Vatuvei (2)
Field Goals:
Conversions: Shaun Johnson (2/4)
Penalty Goals: Shaun Johnson (1/1)

AUSTRALIA (18)
Tries: Michael Jennings, Sione Mata'utia, Ben Hunt
Field Goals:
Conversions: Cameron Smith (3/3)
Penalty Goals:

TEAM NEWS: New Zealand Kiwis - Gerard Beale and Bodene Thompson not required off the extended bench

TEAM NEWS: Australian Kangaroos - Robbie Farah, Aidan Guerra and Ryan Hoffman once again not picked in the run on side. Josh Jackson and David Klemmer come onto the interchange.

Welcome to LeagueUnlimited.com's LIVE coverage from Westpac Stadium in Wellington as the New Zealand Kiwis host the Australia Kangaroos in the 2014 Four Nations Final. The Kangaroos met the Kiwis in the opening game of the competition which saw the Kiwis claim victory. Australia have been patchy in their performances to date and the Kiwis will be up to the task of taking out the tournament.

Both teams out onto Westpac Stadium with the National Anthems to be performed ahead of the New Zealand Haka

Phil Bentham calls time on and the final game of 2014 is underway

1: Good opening set for the Kiwi's they get to halfway but the last tackle kick was average under pressure only going 15m

2: PENALTY AUSTRALIA: Early Penalty against the Kiwi's for a hand on the ball, Australia start next set on the 30m line

2: Cameron Smith finds space and puts a grubber kick to the corner for Josh Mansour but the ball bounces too high and it goes dead

4: PENALTY AUSTRALIA: Adam Blair penalised for crowding the man playing the ball and Australia move to the 40m line

6: HELD UP IN GOAL: Corey Parker bursts to the line but the Kiwis defence is too strong and they resist the Aussie attack and come away with the handover

7: Shaun Johnson goes super high off the bomb but Greg Inglis takes a good take at the back

7: Cooper Cronk puts a deep kick in that finds Peta Hiku on the full who offloads to SKD and he goes to halfway

9: Dylan Walker can't grab hold of the ball and Phil Bentham rules a goalline dropout

10: DECISION CHANGED: Video Referees check the replay and it shows the ball went straight through Dylan Walker without a touch and hit the back of the NZ player, 20m restart

11: VIDEO REFEREE: Possible Michael Jennings try, Checking the onside and the contest, Phil Bentham says TRY

11: TRY AUSTRALIA
Scored by Michael Jennings. Kick to come.
The Video Referee screen might have been no good but the Try was all good after the review for Michael Jennings to get the 4 points

12: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION AUSTRALIA
Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
Cameron Smith converts the goal to put the Aussies ahead

13: Excellent set after points for the Aussies, they find touch 10m out from the NZ line

14: Shaun Johnson sends the ball high with the bomb then gets tackled in the air BUT nothing again from Phil Bentham

16: Shaun Johnson is going high but Greg Inglis is as safe as dairy at a vegan conference

17: PENALTY KIWIS: Phil Bentham penalises the Kangaroos for being too slow leaving the ruck

19: UNFORCED ERROR AUSTRALIA
Michael Jennings makes an unforced error.
Michael Jennings sticks his arm out and cuts down a pass that almost definitely would've sent the Kiwis into score

19: The Kiwis on the attack just 5m out from the tryline after the scrum

19: A bit of push and shove after a bit too much going on in the tackle according to Phil Bentham

20: PENALTY KIWIS: Australia penalised for a high tackle, NZ on the attack 10m out

21: Kieran Foran puts a kick towards the ingoal in but GI picks it up quite easily

22: Peta Hiku is absolutely poleaxed by David Klemmer then Manu Vatuvei was on the opposite end to one of his usual tackles

23: TRY NEW ZEALAND
Scored by Jason Nightingale. Kick to come.
Great work across 2 plays from the Kiwis sets up some great field position and an overlap and Jason Nightingale scores in the corner

25: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Shaun Johnson converts the try from the sideline to level the scores

27: Kieran Foran puts a beautiful bomb in that traps Josh Mansour and he can't reach it and on the bounce has to bat it dead

28: PENALTY KIWIS: Kieran Foran gets over the tryline but ducked under a high tackled that is now penalised by Phil Bentham

30: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL NEW ZEALAND
Penalty goal attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Shaun Johnson takes the easy 2 points on offer and they take the lead for the first time tonight

31: Shaun Johnson goes high once again and this time its Greg Inglis underneath it and he takes it beautifully

32: Cooper Cronk tries a 40/20 and it fails...... badly, goes out on the full by about 5m

32: Farrier required on the track - No.15 NZ has lost a shoe (Greg Eastwood lost his boot in the tackle)

33: A great kick from Kieran Foran forces Greg Inglis to bat the ball dead

33: They don't call him Kapow for nothing - Martin Taupau just steamrolls the Aussie defence

34: VIDEO REFEREE: Possible Manu Vatuvei TRY - Checking obstruction midfield, then Sideline and Grounding, Phil Bentham has given the 'T'

34: TRY NEW ZEALAND
Scored by Manu Vatuvei. Kick to come.
Some Shaun Johnson magic sees him beat 4 or 5 Aussie defenders then he throws a beautiful rocket ball out to the Beast who scores in the corner

34: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson successful.
Shaun Johnson's kick is absolutely perfect and pushes the lead out to 8

34: UNFORCED ERROR NEW ZEALAND
Kieran Foran makes an unforced error.
Kieran Foran drops an offload on his own 10m line and despite the protests it looks pretty clear

40: HALF TIME: New Zealand 14 lead Australia 6

41: Second half is UNDERWAY as the Kangaroos get first use of the ball as the Kiwis kick off.

43: VIDEO REFEREE for the Kangaroos with Sione Mata'utia crossing in the corner

43: TRY AUSTRALIA
Scored by Sione Mata'utia. Kick to come.
Sione Mata'utia is awarded the try after several reviews of obstruction as Daly Cherry-Evans bolted through the Kiwis defence to score. Cherry-Evans created the open space with his footwork to give Mata'utia clearance at the line.

44: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION AUSTRALIA
Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
Cam Smith makes no mistake with the conversion attempt from the sideline to close the gap to 2 points.

45: Long delay here after a neck injury to Martin Taupau after a tackle that didn't have too much in it by the looks of things

47: PENALTY AUSTRALIA: Kiwis penalised for having 2 efforts in the tackle

48: A mass of offloads from the Kiwis on their own line puts pressure on themselves but Greg Bird knocks the ball down in trying to get the ball free

51: Greg Inglis puts a good kick in and claims a 40/20 but the replay easily dispels the claim

53: Sione Mata'utia slides in to try and get the 20m restart but slides into goalpost instead

54: Shaun Johnson runs across field and finds a gap but the last ditch cover tackle from Michael Jennings saves the day and Johnson is pushed over the sideline

58: TRY NEW ZEALAND
Scored by Shaun Johnson. Kick to come.
Shaun Johnson gives a show and go and puts the pedal down and beats the Aussie defensive line and GI

60: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson unsuccessful.
Shaun Johnson magic with the try - then bland with the conversion

63: TRY NEW ZEALAND
Scored by Manu Vatuvei. Kick to come.
Kieran Foran straightens the attack, sets up the lead up and Manu Vatuvei has too much strength for the Aussie defence

65: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND
Conversion attempt by Shaun Johnson unsuccessful.
Shaun Johnson keeping the Aussies in it... just, he hits the post and keeps the margin at 10

68: Michael Jennings flings the ball back into play but the English Touch Judge has his flag up for Jennings being out, and it was a good call even though it was just a toe

70: NZ creating space on the outside of the Australian defenders and the ball is taken dead by the Aussie defender after a Nightingale grubber

71: ANOTHER Goaline dropout coming for the Aussies after a Shaun Johnson grubber bounces up before it goes dead and GI has to knock it dead

PENALTY AUSTRALIA: Kiwi's make a second effort and they are penalised helping Australia upfield

75: TRY AUSTRALIA
Scored by Ben Hunt. Kick to come.
Some good work from the Aussies and a few forward passes, a Manu shoulder charge and some luck help the Aussies to have a fighting chance

78: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION AUSTRALIA
Conversion attempt by Cameron Smith successful.
Cameron Smith converts the try from out wide and the Aussies are within a try

79: PENALTY AUSTRALIA: NZ lose it at the back and they are offside on the pick up - Aussies on the attack inside the 10m zone

80: FULL TIME - The Aussies thought they had levelled it but a forward pass at the end dented the chances