Australia Squeeze Into The Final After Bruising Encounter with the Kiwis
The World Cup was scheduled to catch fire with the battle of the Antipodes as Australia took on New Zealand in the first semi-final at Elland Road in Leeds. Australia were overall favourites to win the World Cup, but New Zealand came into the game ranked number one in the world.
New Zealand were given a fourteen point start on the handicap coupon for the Remembrance Day clash after they struggled to come through their semi-final against Fiji, whereas Australia thrashed Lebanon to reach the semi-finals.
The sides were eighty minutes away from Old Trafford and a World Cup Final meeting with either England or Tonga who were scheduled to settle their differences on Saturday afternoon. It was the one hundred and forty-second meeting between the two sides, New Zealand only having won on thirty-four occasions.
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