The brilliance of Shaun Johnson has helped New Zealand clinch its second Four Nations title, beating Trans-Tasman rivals Australia 22-18 victory in the final in Wellington.

The Kangaroos had lost their first match of the tournament 30-12 to the Kiwis, but wins over England and Samoa put them through to Saturday night’s final.

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First-half tries to Jason Nightingale and Manu Vatuvei put the home side 14-6 up at the break – the latter try involving half-back Johnson beating four Australian tackles before spinning a 30 metre pass to the left wing, where Vatuvei completed a brilliant pick-up then dived over in the corner.

Australia hit back within minutes of the restart, scoring a controversial try to Sione Mata’utia that the Kiwis believed should have been ruled out for obstruction.

Cameron Smith added the extras to make it 14-12 to New Zealand, and soon afterwards the game was halted for several minutes as New Zealand interchange player Martin Taupau was taken off on a stretcher with a suspected neck injury.

Michael Jennings stopped a certain try when he dragged the lightning-quick Johnson into touch, but in the 58th minute the New Zealand number seven had his revenge, spearing through a gap then leaving Greg Inglis floundering to go in for New Zealand’s third try of the night.

He missed a straightforward conversion to leave the Kangaroos within a converted try at 18-12.

The Australian defence was found wanting again in the 62nd minute, however, when another slashing move ended up with Vatuvei dragging a tackler 10 metres to the line before touching down. Johnson hit the post to leave it 22-12.

Australia kept its hopes alive when Dylan Walker sent Ben Hunt in for a try with four minutes to go, and Smith converted to make it 22-18.

Australia nearly scored again in the corner in the final minute, but the visitors came up just short.

New Zealand’s title win follows success in 2010, when the Kiwis beat Australia 16-12 in the final.