New South Wales fightback stuns Queensland in epic

New South Wales fightback stuns Queensland in epicImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The first match of Origin 2026 was characterised by typically aggressive defenceByElizabeth HudsonBBC Sport JournalistPublished10 minutes agoCommentsState of Origin - game oneNew South Wales (6) 22Tries: Young, Strange, Cleary, Tedesco Goals: Cleary 3Queensland (20) 20Tries: Toia, Flegler, Habuai-Fidow Goals: Walker 4New South Wales staged the greatest comeback in State of Origin history following the pivotal dismissal of Queensland's Kalyn Ponga as the Blues won a dramatic opening game of this year's series.Ponga became the seventh player to be sent off in Origin matches when he was dismissed for a high tackle on wing Tolutau Koula with 23 minutes left to play and the full-back's side leading 20-6.NSW half-backs Ethan Strange and Nathan Cleary then scored tries, with the latter converting his, to reduce the deficit to 20-16 and set up a grandstand finish at Sydney's Accor Stadium.The 12-man Maroons defended valiantly and looked to have withstood the Blues' pressure but in the 78th minute veteran James Tedesco outjumped stand-in full-back Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to grab Cleary's superb high kick and ground the ball to tie the scores.It presented Cleary with a relatively straightforward conversion and, after a false start that increased the tension, he stroked the ball over in the pouring rain to seal victory in the first game of the best-of-three series.Game two will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 17 June with the third match at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on 8 July.The Maroons, who won last year's series 2-1, made a whirlwind start with three tries in the space of eight minutes during the opening quarter.Robert Toia latched on to a pinpoint kick from his Sydney Roosters team-mate Sam Walker to open the scoring.Walker also set up the second try, passing for Robert Flegler to crash over under the posts and complete a fairytale c...