NSW has won the State of Origin series opener 18-6 with a spectacular performance on the Maroons’ home turf at Lang Park.
After tough opening exchanges, including a scuffle two minutes in, the Blues burst out to a 14-0 lead on the back of two tries to Zac Lomax and one to Brian To’o in the space of 10 minutes.
They conceded their only try when To’o was in the sin-bin to start the second half after a professional foul in an aerial contest with Xavier Coates, which former NSW coach Phil Gould dubbed “a ridiculous exaggeration of the … rule”.
That period helped Queensland get back into the game after NSW dominated the first half, with Coates scoring after a bone-rattling Jeremiah Nanai tackle knocked the ball out of Latrell Mitchell’s hands in front of the posts.
But it was only a brief moment of joy for the Maroons and the partisan 52,483-strong crowd, which was largely kept out of the game as the Blues controlled the contest.
Only a wayward night with the boot for the Blues — Nathan Cleary missing three conversions and Zac Lomax hooking his only shot — kept the scoreline remotely respectable for Queensland as NSW ran in four tries to one.
“We just shot ourselves in the foot in the first half. Our attack looked a bit scrappy,” Maroons five-eighth Cameron Munster told Channel Nine.
“When you’re [against] the best of the best and giving them so much ball in the red zone, they’re gonna eventually score.
“It’s frustrating. Eighteen points, [with] what we dished up it probably should’ve been more.”
Origin II will be played in Perth on June 18, with the decider at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on July 9.
