Mitchell Moses has scored a grand final hat-trick to help Australia claim the inaugural World Cup Nines crown with a 24-10 win over New Zealand.
Playing on his home ground at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday, Moses scored 20 of the Kangaroos’ points to finish a stellar first weekend in senior Australian colours.
The Parramatta halfback scored two of his tries in the bonus zone, including Australia’s first when he bust through from 25 metres out to dot down under the posts.
Moses finished as player of the tournament, after also being instrumental in the Kangaroos’ semi-final win over Samoa earlier on Saturday night.
David Fifita was also strong for the Kangaroos throughout the weekend, playing a role in Moses’ final try on the fulltime siren and finishing with a game-high 103 metres and four tackle busts.
It came in arguably the highest quality game of the tournament, with the Kiwis in the match until the dying minutes when they trailed 13-10.
Jamayne Isaako was again one of the Kiwis’ best, crossing for the seventh time of the weekend to lead the competition’s top try-scorer lists.
But a controversial try to Kangaroos winger Kyle Feldt in the 15th minute sealed it for Australia, although it appeared he may have made a double movement after getting the ball down short of the line.
New Zealand had earlier won their way to the decider when they accounted for England in the semi-finals, ending an inconsistent tournament for the Lions after they were also shocked by Lebanon earlier on Saturday.
Meanwhile Lebanon’s fairytale run ended in farcical scenes, with two players banned from facing Wales in their last match less than an hour before kick-off for being underage.
A deflated Cedars side were then beaten 25-14, knocking them out of the tournament after they also had points stripped for fielding one of the 17-year-olds against France.
Under NRL rules, players must be 18 to take the field but international laws have dictated the minimum age is 16.
The nines is an international event run by the NRL and it’s believed team management had been warned on Thursday the players were too young.
Earlier, Tonga and Fiji had been the competition’s great disappointments, with the latter’s golden-try win over their Pacific rivals the only victory either team had in the competition.