Dylan Edwards and Tom Trbojevic silence haters as Kangaroos advance to Pacific Cup final

Dylan Edwards and Tom Trbojevic were both back to their brilliant best on Sunday as the Kangaroos beat New Zealand 22-10 to seal their spot in the final of the Pacific Championships. The Aussies exacted some revenge over the Kiwis after they were thrashed 30-0 in last year's final, in what was their most embarrassing loss in years.

But Mal Meninga's side have fired a warning to their Kiwi counterparts that they won't take them lightly this time around. After copping some backlash for their performances against Tonga two weeks ago, Edwards and Trbojevic were the Kangaroos' best players on Sunday.

Both have been carrying injuries (a knee for Edwards and shoulder for Trbojevic), and some questioned whether they should be playing for Australia at all. But on Sunday they silenced the haters with sparkling performances.

Edwards had 17 runs for 182 metres, and sealed the victory with a brilliant line break and try assist for Mitchell Moses to score. Trbojevic ran for 190 metres from 14 carries and also set up Zac Lomax with a superb break and try assist in the first half. Lomax was also among the best for Meninga's team, running for 200 metres and scoring a double on the wing.

Kangaroos advance to Pacific Championship final

The win over an understrength Kiwi side means the Kangaroos are through to the final in two weeks' time, where they will face the winner of next weekend's clash between Tonga and New Zealand. It also righted the ship after the 30-0 debacle last year.

"If we happened to lose tonight, we were under pressure as a team and we'd have to rely on whoever next week to lose (to make the final)," said coach Meninga. "It's always pressure under these sorts of relegation and promotion systems.

"I'm just happy that we've made it. We're there. I'm really pleased with the defensive effort and obviously we scored a few more points than last week. There's still improvements in us but that's a good thing."

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Isaah Yeo predicts improvement from New Zealand

Kangaroos captain Isaah Yeo predicted New Zealand would be much stronger if they meet again in the final. "I felt like we were a better side this week than last week and I think just the extra weeks' prep, you have the game under your belt," he said.

"I certainly think New Zealand will be a hundred times better. There are blokes in there who wouldn't have played for four or five weeks. So automatically, you get 80 minutes under your belt and another week's training, you'll be a better side for it. Off the back of that, whoever wins next week will be a better side again because they've got another game under their belt."

The Panthers star also spoke candidly about the pain of Australia's loss to the Kiwis in last year's final after the Kangaroos recorded their first win in New Zealand since 2012. But he still felt Australia had unfinished business in the tournament. "It was certainly nice to get one back on them for sure but I guess the ultimate goal and all that matters is that championship in two weeks' time," he said.

with AAP