Five Wests Tigers players featured in the first weekend of the 2014 Four Nations tournament, with England and New Zealand registering opening round victories.
Tim Simona was the only Wests Tigers player to feature in the thrilling opening match between England and Samoa. Simona played in the unfamiliar position of fullback, however looked dangerous in attack and made a total of 151 metres.
The match finished five tries apiece, with the heavily favoured England side scraping home 32-26 due to the pinpoint goal kicking of Gareth Widdop.
WATCH: England v Samoa Match Highlights
The second match of the double header at Suncorp Stadium featured four Wests Tigers players - Robbie Farah, Aaron Woods (both Australia), Adam Blair and Martin Taupau (both New Zealand).
Woods started the match at prop for his Test match debut, with teammate Farah coming off the bench for Australia and getting more game time than expected due to an injury to Daly Cherry-Evans in the 35th minute.
Opposing Woods up front for the Kiwis was Blair, who played a key role in getting his side on the front-foot. Coming from the interchange bench was Taupau who amassed 137 metres in an impressive 39-minute stint.
New Zealand capitalised on the depleted Kangaroos side, which played the entire second half without both Cherry-Evans and fullback Greg Inglis, recording a 30-12 victory to open their campaign.
WATCH: Australia vs New Zealand Match Highlights
Australia will now play England in a do-or-die Test match this Sunday at AAMI Park (Melbourne), while New Zealand will look to secure a place in the Four Nations Final with a victory against Samoa at Toll Stadium (Northland, NZ).
Samoa
Tim Simona
Fullback – 80 minutes
16 runs for 151 metres
1 tackle break
2 tackles
2 offloads
1 error
Australia
Aaron Woods
Prop – 47 minutes
10 runs for 80 metres
34 tackles
1 penalty conceded
Robbie Farah
Interchange – 45 minutes
2 runs for 26 metres
12 tackles
1 error
New Zealand
Adam Blair
Prop – 56 minutes
10 runs for 70 metres
29 tackles
1 error
Martin Taupau
Interchange – 39 minutes
14 runs for 137 metres
21 tackles
1 try-assist
2 offloads
