THE Kiwis didn’t have much trouble disposing of Scotland in their Rugby League World Cup quarter-final in Leeds last night.

The first-ever match between the two countries was won by New Zealand 40-4.

The Bravehearts had a masterly stand-off, Danny Brough, who set-up Scotland’s sole try for Alex Hurst – much to the delight of the near capacity crowd of more than 16,000.

Brough’s magical kicking (such as his towering, swirling restarts) and passing, along with spirited efforts from teammates including Warrington Wolves' Matty Russell, Widnes Vikings' Ben Kavanagh and Leigh Centurions' Sam Barlow, gave the Kiwis a number of anxious moments.

But those moments were too few to pose a serious threat to a New Zealand team which improved on what it’d shown so far in the tournament.

One again there was blockbusting power in the forwards, especially from Ben Matulino, Frank Pritchard and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Also, there was another mature display of control from Kieran Foran at stand-off, playing in his 13th Test. And to top it off there were constant threats from each of the other backs as well.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was probably the pick of them, so it was no surprise that he won the ‘Man of the Match’ award. He would have been hard to overlook in view of his two tries and the 265 metres he gained with the ball in hand. He is now the equal-top try-scorer in the tournament with six.

Manu Vatuvei had an eye-catching performance too – as did Bryson Goodwin who scored two tries, one from a spectacular high take from a cross kick.

But the Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney won’t be all smiles.

Among the worries was Vatuvei leaving the field with a groin injury. Another was an upper back sprain to Sonny Bill Williams in his first hit-up - though he stayed on until half-time. And a third was Shaun Johnson landing only four from eight shots at goal.

The Kiwis travel down to London next for their RLWC semi-final against the winner of the England v France match, which is played at 8pm tonight at Wigan's DW Stadium.

Both semi-finals in the RLWC are played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, November 23, with the Kiwis' match set to kick-off at 1pm.

Kiwis: Kevin Locke, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Dean Whare, Bryson Goodwin, Manu Vatuvei, Kieran Foran (Vice-Captain), Shaun Johnson, Ben Matulino, Issac Luke, Jesse Bromwich, Frank Pritchard, Sonny Bill Williams, Simon Mannering (Captain). Interchange: Elijah Taylor, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank-Paul Nu’uausala, Sam Moa.

Scotland: Matthew Russell, David Scott, Ben Hellewell, Kane Linnett, Alex Hurst, Danny Brough, Peter Wallace, Adam Walker, Ian Henderson, Luke Douglas, Danny Addy, Brett Phillips, Ben Kavanagh. Interchange: Andrew Henderson, Oliver Wilkes, Alex Szostak, Sam Barlow.