Shannon Boyd impressed for Australia on Saturday night, as the Cowra prop became the 808th player to don the Kangaroos playing jersey.
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Coach Mal Meninga elected to start Boyd, in front of more than 20,000 people who watched Australia beat New Zealand 26-6 at Perth, and the former Magpie repaid the faith by rising to the occasion.
Boyd made 12 carries that registered close to 100m and completed 12 tackles in defence, while playing 40 minutes of the Trans-Tasman Test.
Boyd became more involved when was injected at the 54th minute for his second stint, after playing the opening 25 minutes of the match, as Australia extended to its 8-6 advantage at the break to 20-points by full-time.
Debutantes Valentine Holmes and Tyson Frizell were just as damaging as Boyd, with Holmes crossing for one of the Kangaroos six tries, but it was Greg Inglis who stole the headlines scoring tries on either side of the break.
However, the maiden performances of Boyd and Holmes in particular will create some headaches for Mal Meninga’s coaching staff ahead of the Four Nations, with Josh Mansour and Aaron Woods to return.
Australia play Scotland on Saturday week, then New Zealand and England.
Australia 26 (Greg Inglis 2, Valentine Holes, Darius Boyd, Boyd Cordner tries; Johnathon Thurston three goals) defeated New Zealand 6 (Kevin Proctor; Isaac Luke goal).