New Zealand scored one of the biggest boilovers in the history of international rugby league with an amazing 38-28 win over Australia in a see-sawing opening Tri-Nations clash at Telstra Stadium.

Inspired by the deeds of surprise NRL premiers Wests Tigers, the Kiwis launched a stirring second half fight back to secure their first win over the Kangaroos in Australia since 1991, their first in Sydney since 1959.

"We just saw the Wests Tigers win a premiership this year with the underdog status and it shows a champion team can beat a team of champions and that's what we did tonight," proud Kiwi coach Brian McClennan said.

"Everyone got what they deserved. Our management, our players, they all got together and we had a good sense of harmony throughout the week, a good sense of brotherhood."

Skipper Ruben Wiki said the win ranked with the greatest in his Test career.

"We went to war today and we got the result we wanted," Wiki said.

"It's right up there, there's a bit of history, I think it's 49 years since we won in Sydney. It ranks right up there with the 2003 win in the Centennial (Test over Australia)."

The Kiwis received some more good news after the match with Nigel Vagana cleared of a spear tackle at a hastily arranged judiciary hearing.

Australian coach Wayne Bennett said he was stunned at the poor display his side came up with and warned they would need to be much better if they were to turn the tables next week in the return match in Auckland.

"I didn't expect us to be perfect tonight, you've got to expect some errors and you understand they're not match fit and they haven't played for anywhere from one to five or six weeks," Bennett said.

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