League: World Cup try 'a blur'

Kiwis halfback Shaun Johnson signs the hat of Jaime Fraser (7)  at Kaikorai Valley College...
Kiwis halfback Shaun Johnson signs the hat of Jaime Fraser (7) at Kaikorai Valley College yesterday. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
League fans might well remember Shaun Johnson's stunning try to knock England out of last year's World Cup - but it turns out the Kiwi halfback does not.

''I can't really remember it ...it's all sort of a blur. It just sort of happened instantly, it was nothing planned,'' he told media at a flag football carnival at Kaikorai Valley College yesterday.

''It was a tough game, I know that. I thought we were quite lucky to get away with that win and hopefully we don't leave it down to the last minute [tomorrow night].''

While Johnson cannot remember the try himself, he has been reminded of it via social media.

''It's been pretty hard to get away from. I've been tagged in a few posts on Instagram and I'm sure there will be a few more to come ahead of this weekend's game.

''For myself, it was a very proud moment, but that was a long time ago now, and to me that's irrelevant for what's about to happen this weekend,'' he said.

Almost a year since his try dumped England out of the World Cup at Wembley, the Kiwis get a chance to send the English packing from the Four Nations at Forsyth Barr Stadium tomorrow night.

Unlike many of the Kiwis, Johnson has played a couple of preseason games for the Warriors at the stadium, a venue he liked because the stands were close to the field.

While the Kiwis will be playing in arguably the best stadium in the country tomorrow night, Johnson enjoyed the opportunity to train at Tahuna Park earlier in the week, the ground which hosted Dunedin's last test match - 86 years ago.

Johnson, who gave Australia and Samoa all sorts of problems with his towering spiral punt in the first two rounds, was looking forward to testing out Warriors teammate Sam Tomkins under the high ball. Tomkins will start at fullback for England,''I will be giving Sammy a couple this weekend to see how he goes,'' Johnson said.

''We have been talking throughout the tournament a bit, but this week for some reason I haven't heard from him [Tomkins]. I might give him a text or something, but no, we can't get too caught up in that. It's going to be strictly business until after the game.''

The Kiwis halfback was surprised it had been 86 years since Dunedin had hosted a test match and was in favour of the side venturing south more often.

''For myself, growing up in New Zealand, I've been a rugby league kid and a rugby league fan, so any chance we get to grow the game outside of Auckland will be welcome. ''I've been here a couple of times now and there is still a few people around that recognise our faces, so as long as we can put a smile on someone's face, it's worth the trip.''

With just a day until Dunedin's drought ends, Johnson was eyeing a much improved performance from the narrow 14-12 win against Samoa last weekend.

''It's a very big game for us. Obviously with how we performed last week, we really want to bounceL back from that and put in a good performance this weekend.''

 -by Robert Van Royen

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