The 2011
ANZAC Test was a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
played between
Australia and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
on 6 May 2011 at
Skilled Park
A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of wo ...
on the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
. Australia won their tenth straight Anzac test with a score of 20–10.
Pre-game
The game was originally scheduled to be played in
AMI Stadium in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
but was moved because of the damages from the
2011 Canterbury earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
. However, 250 earthquake victims and volunteer workers were flown in for the match. to be commemorated.
New Zealand were given a chance by some pundits considering that they had beaten Australia in the
2008 Rugby League World Cup Final and in the
2010 Four Nations
The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was played in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2010. The tournament was the second time the Four Nations had been held, following on from the 2009 edition held in England and France.
...
. Winning the Anzac test was seen as the one achievement that alluded the New Zealand team. However, Australia went into the match as favorites, having won the last nine Anzac Tests and having never lost to New Zealand in an Anzac Test in Australia. The odds for an Australian win opened at $1.35 but dropped to $1.22 while New Zealand was paying $4.25.
The
New Zealand national anthem was performed by
J.Williams.
Squads
*Replaced originally selected
David Shillington
David Shillington (born 24 June 1983 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian in ...
who withdrew due to injury.
Match summary
New Zealand were criticized after the game for their unforgiving error rate, most notably for a period in the second half where five consecutive New Zealand errors allowed Australia to score two tries to secure their win.
New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney said after the game "It seems a bit same old, same old – but I know we're taking steps in the right direction. The effort of the guys to keep hanging in there was a real positive.'
New Zealand had at least proved that they could be competitive with Australia again.
See also
References
External links
{{coord, 28, 4, 1, S, 153, 22, 44, E, type:landmark_region:AU-QLD, name=Skilled Park, display=title
Anzac Test
Anzac Test
Anzac Test
Rugby league on the Gold Coast, Queensland
International rugby league competitions hosted by Australia
May 2011 sports events in Australia