Wiki Gets Some Help at the End

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup doesn't get underway until this Saturday, but the lead-up action has been going on for some time. On 13 October, a New Zealand "All Golds" side defeated a New Zealand Maori side 44-10 World Cup warm-up match. Although the All Golds side featured a number of players from New Zealand's national team, the side is actually a commemorative team which has played several matches since late 2007 to honor the original professional New Zealand side that introduced professionalism and rugby league in the Southern Hemisphere.

Although New Zealand Maori came off on the wrong end of the scoreline, they didn't have to have been beaten by quite such a margin. At the end of the match a number of players eased their pursuit on defense to allow retiring New Zealand legend Ruben Wiki into the try zone unmolested in his final appearance. After that, another retiring Kiwi, Logan Swann, was allowed a shot at a difficult conversion, which he made. Many of the All Golds players moved on to play for the Kiwis when they smashed Tonga in a final warm-up match last Saturday, while New Zealand Maori will be surely hoping their goodwill pays dividends as they take on an Australian Indigenous side in an exhibition match this coming Sunday (just before a match between Australia and New Zealand).

The classic try and conversion are in the clip below, along with a disallowed try to New Zealand Maori that allowed Wiki his final score: