Kiwis overcome gallant Wales

Manu scored a brace at Wembley

Gerard Beale and Sika Manu both scored two tries as New Zealand overcame a gallant Wales 36-0 in their Four Nations clash at Wembley on Saturday.

Wales were forced to concede four goal-line drop-outs in the first 12 minutes and were probably happy to concede just two tries in that time.

Nevertheless the Welsh, who had seven part-timers in their 17-man squad, played with pride and determination that mirrored the battling performance in their 42-4 defeat to England seven days earlier.

Left winger Jason Nightingale opened the scoring when he profited from a kind bounce from skipper Benji Marshall's grubber kick.

Marshall was involved again when he delivered a lovely inside pass to put impressive full-back Kevin Locke over for the Kiwis' second.

Iestyn Harris' men rallied and managed to cause the Kiwi defence some problems, with winger Rhys Williams and centre Ian Webster going close.

Superb

But they lost young second rower Tyson Frizzell with an arm injury midway through the first half and New Zealand gradually imposed themselves on the game.

Manu brushed off weak tackles from three defenders to claim his first try and then doubled his tally 10 minutes before the break when Wales failed to deal with Marshall's high kick.

The Kiwi captain showed his class again with a deft pass to free Alex Glenn, who got Beale over for his side's fifth try just before the break.

But it was another 20 minutes before the New Zealanders were able to breach the Welsh line again as they mounted a superb rearguard defensive effort

The Four Nations holders however were simply too strong and emphasised their class with two further tries in the final quarter.

It was New Zealand's seventh win in 10 meetings with the Welsh but Iestyn Harris' men emerged with considerable credit from the encounter.