2014 RUGBY LEAGUE FOUR-NATIONS OVERVIEW
Host Nations – Australia and New Zealand
Total Attendance – 144,786
Average Crowd – 20,684
Number of Teams – 4
2014 Four-Nations Snapshot – The 2014 Four-Nations is the 4th instalment of the highly successful rugby league competition. With the ongoing improvement of 2nd tier nations, and the 2013 Rugby League World Cup being hosted in the UK. The Four-Nations took take place in Australia and New Zealand in October / November 2014 with the Final being held in Wellington, New Zealand.
The Four Nations tournament has seen France, Papua New Guinea and Wales all take part against the big three since its inception. There has been many mixed messages from the RLIF in the lead up to the 2013 RLWC about who would be the 4th team. It was originally going to be a play-off between the top to finishing Pacific nations in the RLWC. Then it was changed to the highest finishing nation. With Australia racking up a big scoreline against Fiji in the 2013 World Cup Semi final it seems that there has been a back flip of sorts with a play-off between the top two finishing Pacific nations Samoa and Fiji taking place to secure a Four Nations place.
The play-off match between Fiji and Samoa for a place in the 2014 Four Nations took place on the 3rd of May at Penrith Stadium. Samoa ran away with the game in the 2nd half of the test defeating Fiji 32 – 16 and securing their Four Nations berth. Click here for more info on the Samoa v Fiji International
In April 2013 on the back of announcing broadcasting arrangements for the 2013 RLWC the BBC were confirmed as UK broadcasting partners for the 2014 Rugby League Four Nations. Broadcasting Partners in Australia are Channel 9 and GEM.
Week 1: Kicking off with a double header at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane in front of 47,813 Fans, The Four Nations opened with a bang. In a cracker of a game Samoa ran England to within 6 points. England just held on to win 32 – 26. The second match saw a major upset with New Zealand’s forwards dominating the Australian’s. The full time score was a shock to the rugby league community, Australia 12 – New Zealand 30. The opening week of the Four Nations has set the series up to be won of the most interesting in the tournaments history.
Week 2: Samoa travelled to Whangarei to take on New Zealand in front of 16,912 fans which was a record for Test match between the two nations. Toa nearly caused a major upset and it took some questionable calls and a bit of luck to see New Zealand score close to full time to record a narrow victory over Samoa 14 – 12.
The Australia v England match a day later was full of controversy. England had Australia on the rack at half time leading 12 – 4. The battle continued in the 2nd half with Australia clawing their way back to take the lead late in the game. With a minute to go England seemed to have scored the winning try when Hall went over. After many video replays the try was denied, England going down to the Australians 16 – 12 in front of 20,585 fans.
Week 3: New Zealand and England had another classic international battle to kick-off week 3 of the 4 Nations competition. In front of 15,836 fans in Dunedin the Kiwis just held on 16 – 14. The Kiwis finishing top of the Four Nations table also booked their place in the Four Nations Final.
Australia simultaneously dumped England and Samoa out of the tournament, regerstering a 44 – 18 win against the Samoans, and setting up the final clash with New Zealand and breaking the hearts of Samoan and English rugby league fans across the globe.
The result was certainly no upset, with Samoa going into this encounter without a win, however going into the game both had a chance of progressing going into the final, making for a tense encounter. Australia will go into Saturday’s final as marginal favourites, despite getting walloped by New Zealand in the opening week.
The Final was a classic with Shaun Johnson putting in a man of the match performance assisting the Kwis to win the Four Nations tournament for the 2nd time. With the Kangaroos being denied a try in the dying minutes, the Kiwis held on to win 22 – 18.
With the closness of the 4 teams, great crowds and great footy the 2014 Four Nations is the most successful Four Nations tournament staged to date.
The 2014 Four Nations schedule and kick-off times are in full is as follows: (Click here for kick-off time zones)
Saturday October 25th – England 32 v Samoa 26 (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane) Double Header 4.30pm kick-off (Local time) Crowd: 47,813 – Click here for team and fixture details or Click here for match report
Saturday October 25th – Australia 12 v New Zealand 30 (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane) Double Header 6.30pm kick-off (Local time) Crowd: 47,813 – Click here for team and fixture details or Click here for match report
Saturday November 1st – New Zealand 14 v Samoa 12 (Toll Stadium, Whangarei) 4pm kick-off (Local time) Crowd: 16,912 (Record test crowd between New Zealand and Samoa) – Click here for team and fixture details or Click here for match report
Sunday November 2nd – Australia 16 v England 12 (AAMI Park, Melbourne) 4pm kick-off (Local time) Crowd: 20,585 – Click here for team and fixture details or Click here for match report
Saturday November 8th – New Zealand 16 v England 14 (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin) 8pm kick-off (Local time) Crowd: 15,836 Click here for team and fixture details or Click here for match report
Sunday November 9th – Australia 44 v Samoa 18 (WIN Stadium, Wollongong) 4pm kick-off (Local time) Crowd:18,456 Click here for team and fixture details or click here for match report
Saturday November 15th – 4 Nations Final, New Zealand 22 v Australia 18 (Westpac Stadium, Wellington) 8.45pm kick-off (Local time) Crowd: 25,183 Click here for team and fixture details or click here for match report
2014 Rugby League Four Nations Champions: New Zealand
Dear Readers, if you would like to talk more about the Four-Nations with other rugby league fans please visit our international rugby league forums at http://forums.rugbyleagueplanet.com and have your say.
2014 Rugby League Four Nations Table
|
Team
|
P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS |
|
New Zealand
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 38 | 6 |
|
Australia
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 72 | 60 | 4 |
|
England
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 58 | 2 |
|
Samoa
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 56 | 90 | 0 |
2014 Rugby League Four Nations Squads as of the 24/10/14
Australia Four Nations Squad
Greg Bird (Gold Coast Titans/West Maitland Red Dogs/ Maitland Pumpkin Pickers)
Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles/Mackay Brothers)
Boyd Cordner (Sydney Roosters/Old Bar Pirates)
Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm/Souths Acacia)
Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers/Enfield Federals/Leichhardt Wanderers)
Aidan Guerra (Sydney Roosters/Townsville Brothers)
Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne Storm/Campbelltown Collegians)
Ben Hunt Brisbane (Broncos/Blackwater Crushers)
Greg Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs/Bowraville Tigers)
Josh Jackson (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs/Gulgong Terriers/Mudgee Dragons)
Michael Jennings (Sydney Roosters/St Marys/West City Tigers)
Alex Johnston (South Sydney Rabbitohs/La Perouse Panthers)
David Klemmer (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs/All Saints)
Josh Mansour (Penrith Panthers/St Johns/Kingsgrove Colts)
Sione Mata’utia (Newcastle Knights/Raymond Terrace/South Newcastle)
Matt Moylan (Penrith Panthers)
Josh Papalii (Canberra Raiders/Logan Brothers)
Corey Parker (Brisbane Broncos/Logan Brothers)
Beau Scott (Newcastle Knights/Picton Magpies)
Cameron Smith (c) (Melbourne Storm/Logan Brothers)
Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos/Townsville Brothers)
Daniel Tupou (Sydney Roosters/Berala Bears/Guildford Owls)
Dylan Walker (South Sydney Rabbitohs/Mascot Jets)
Aaron Woods (Wests Tigers/Leichhardt Juniors)
New Zealand Four Nations Squad
Gerard Beale (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Adam Blair (Wests Tigers)
Jesse Bromwich (Melbourne Storm)
Lewis Brown (Penrith Panthers)
Greg Eastwood (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Sosaia Feki (Cronulla Sharks)
Kieran Foran (Manly Sea Eagles)
Tohu Harris (Melbourne Storm)
Siliva Havili (Vodafone Warriors)
Peta Hiku (Manly Sea Eagles)
Josh Hoffman (Brisbane Broncos)
Shaun Johnson (Vodafone Warriors)
Shaun Kenny-Dowall (Sydney Roosters)
Thomas Leuluai (Vodafone Warriors)
Issac Luke (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
Simon Mannering (Vodafone Warriors)
Suaia Matagi (Vodafone Warriors)
Jason Nightingale (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Kevin Proctor (Melbourne Storm)
Jason Taumalolo (North Queensland Cowboys)
Martin Taupau (Wests Tigers)
Bodene Thompson (Wests Tigers)
Manu Vatuvei (Vodafone Warriors)
Dean Whare (Penrith Panthers)
England Four Nations Squad
George Burgess, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Dewsbury Moor
Joe Burgess, Wigan Warriors, Ince Rose Bridge
Tom Burgess, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Dewsbury Moor
Josh Charnley, Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks
Daryl Clark, Castleford Tigers, Newsome Panthers
Mike Cooper, St George Illawarra Dragons, Latchford Albion
Liam Farrell, Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks
Brett Ferres, Huddersfield Giants, Smawthorne Panthers
James Graham, Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, Blackbrook
Ryan Hall, Leeds Rhinos, Oulton Raiders
Zak Hardaker, Leeds Rhinos, Featherstone Lions
Chris Hill, Warrington Wolves, New Spring Lions
Josh Hodgson, Hull KR, East Hull
Sean O’Loughlin (captain), Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks
Stefan Ratchford, Warrington Wolves, Wigan St Patricks
Dan Sarginson, Wigan Warriors, Hemel Stags
Michael Shenton, Castleford Tigers, Upton
Matty Smith, Wigan Warriors, Blackbrook
Joel Tomkins, Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks
Sam Tomkins, New Zealand Warriors, Wigan St Patricks
Kallum Watkins, Leeds Rhinos, Latchford Albion
Joe Westerman, Hull FC, Featherstone Lions
Elliott Whitehead, Catalans Dragons, West Bowling
Gareth Widdop, St George Illawarra Dragons, King Cross
Samoa Four Nations Squad
Leeson Ah Mau (St George Illawarra)
David Fa’alogo (Newcastle)
Pita Godinet (Wakefield)
Tim Lafai (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Joey Leilua (Newcastle)
Ricky Leutele (Cronulla Sharks)
Isacc Liu (Sydney Roosters)
Dunamis Lui (Manly)
Penania Manumalealii (Cronulla)
Josh McGuire (Brisbane)
Mose Masoe (St Helens)
Peter Mata’utia (St George Illawarra)
Reni Maitua (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Tautau Moga (North Queensland Cowboys)
Dominique Peyroux (NZ Warriors)
Frank Pritchard (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Ben Roberts (Melbourne)
Jesse Sene-Lefao (Manly)
Tim Simona (Wests Tigers)
Michael Sio (NZ Warriors)
Kyle Stanley (St George Illawarra)
Sauaso Sue (Wests Tigers)
Sam Tagataese (Cronulla)
Daniel Vidot (Brisbane)
Antonio Winterstein (North Queensland Cowboys)
