By Jone Kalouniviti

The Australia Under 23 finished the finals with their best scoreline against NZ in this championships, finishing the 1st in 13-6, the second quarter 27-14, third 41-24 and finally
53-31.

Team coach Peter Turk said probably the biggest factor in the win was due to the fact they entered the finals with more confidence than their opponents.

"Its alway a special occassion for us to play the Kiwis, at this one however we might have been a bit more confident as we had beaten them a couple of times during the minor rounds,'' said Turk.

This win adds on to many wins over the years against New Zealand.

"Except for our Men's Open, the Under 23s have never lost to New Zealand since 1985.''

The intense rivalry showed from the start as both teams took each other to the wire.

But the Aussies showed more precision in mid-court with captain Gerard Murphy at centre dictating play.

Once again Goal Defender Nicholas Ebner was outstanding managing to deny ace Kiwi goal shooter Isles Posimani few attempts at goal.

New Zealand looked nothing of the team that took it to Australia in minor rounds.

But perhaps the huge win in the preliminaries (46-25) might have dented their spirits a bit.

Turk said New Zealand was capable of better results and the scoreline did not do justice to their quality of players.