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Kiwis Humble Hockeyroos as Australia Endures Worst Olympic Hockey Campaign In 32 Years

Notch one up for the Kiwis in the age-old trans-Tasman blood feud.

Photo credit: YouTube

New Zealand delivered a trans-Tasman coup de grace on Australia's Olympic hockey hopes in Rio de Janeiro this morning.

The New Zealand women's hockey team beat Australia 4-2 in their quarterfinal at the Olympic Hockey Centre in the western Rio suburb of Deodoro. Anita McLaren was the star for the Kiwis, scoring two goals and setting up a third, as the Hockeyroos struggled to keep up with the Blacksticks energy and motivation.

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Gemma Flynn - whose partner is All Blacks legend Richie McCaw - and Charlotte Harrison also scored for New Zealand.

With the Australian men's team bombing out of the Olympic tournament with a 4-0 defeat to the Netherlands in their quarterfinal, it now means this will be the first Games since 1984 that Australia will fail to win a hockey medal in.

Local media have already been harsh. Daily Telegraph sportswriter Jon Ralph branded both Australian Olympic hockey campaigns as a "train wreck."

"Australia's train wreck of an Olympic hockey campaign is over after the Hockeyroos meekly joined their men's counterparts in a humbling quarterfinal exit," Ralph wrote.

Bizarrely, last week Australia media called the Kiwi women's team "soft" after the New Zealander wore full protective masks for penalty corners. The Blacksticks would get sweet revenge in Rio, though.

New Zealand will play Great Britain on Thursday morning (AEST), with the winner secured passage through to the Olympic final two days later.

The Kiwi men's team suffered heartbreak yesterday when they coughed up a 2-1 lead to Germany in the last seconds of their quarterfinal. They would eventually lose 3-2.