England battle back for victory
October 25, 2008

WINGER Lee Smith scored a hat trick on debut to help England to a 32-22 win over Papua New Guinea in the opening World Cup game at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

England were headed towards an embarrassing first up defeat to the Kumuls when they trailed 16-12 at half-time but rallied with four tries to one in the final 40 minutes to secure the victory.

World Cup contenders England were expected to make easy work of the underdog Kumuls, but they were made to fight all the way before securing the win.

Smith scored in the 29th minute and again just 11 minutes after half time as England drew level at 16-all.

The Leeds flyer completed his hat trick on debut in the 73rd minute as the Lions eventually cruised home to take the Pool A encounter.

Fellow winger Ade Gardner also got amongst the tries to score twice while centre Martin Gleeson was England's other tryscorer in the six tries to four win.

Despite the loss PNG will be buoyed by their opening effort having really threatened one of the top rated teams in the tournament.

Rod Griffin levelled scores 6-all in the 20th minute before late first half tries to Jason Chan and George Keppa, in the final seconds of the half, gave the Kumuls an unlikely four point lead at the break.

But the Kumuls were unable to keep up the intensity in the second half, with Penrith hooker Paul Aiton ending the English domination by scoring a consolation try in the 75th minute.

Smith, 22, was happy with his first Test but said England had left plenty of room for improvement.

“It was personally satisfying but the team, we've got a bit to work on,'' Lee told Britain's Sky Sports.

“They came out tough but in the last 20 minutes we did all right.''

England coach Tony Smith said the close match will help his side later in the tournament.

“It will probably do us a world of good rather than a soft game, though we knew it wouldn't be a soft game,'' he said.

“We put a bit of pressure on ourselves not having enough composure in the first half. There are some lessons learned.''

PNG coach Adrian Lam criticised several decisions by referee Shayne Hayne, including a disallowed try for a forward pass while leading 16-12 early in the second half.

“That was devastating. It would have put us 10 points ahead if we had got the conversion as well,'' he said.

“That was a real hurt but we hung in there. A couple more decisions going our way and it's game on.''

But an emotional Lam was still confident his team could cause an upset over the Kangaroos or Kiwis in the coming weeks.

“Tonight we showed we are a young, courageous and spirited side and I couldn't be prouder of the way the guys played,'' Lam said.

“Tonight was a little bit about getting some respect back from the world of rugby league.

“We've obviously got a big task against New Zealand next week, and to be honest the last four weeks we have been planning to play and beat England.

“We entered the game truly believing we could win it and if we had a few of the 50-50 calls go our way who knows what could have happened.''

However, further souring the narrow defeat, PNG local Jesse Joe Parker was taken to hospital with a fractured eye socket in the first half and is unlikely to play again in the tournament.

England's win means they take the early lead in the pool ahead of the heavyweight clash between Australia and New Zealand at the Sydney Football Stadium.

However the Lions will need a huge improvement on the effort if they are to threaten Australia in their next game at Melbourne's Telstra Dome next Sunday.

The Kumuls meanwhile head to the Gold Coast to face the Kiwis at Skilled Stadium next Saturday.

France overcome a dogged Scotland
October 26, 2008

FRANCE have accounted for a determined Scottish outfit 36-18 in their opening Rugby League World Cup match at Canberra Stadium.

With 12 players from Super League's Catalans outfit, the Tricolores showed more class and skill than their less fancied opponents.

Five-eighth Thomas Bosc led France effectively and with the occasional show of attacking flair but the foundation was laid by the strong running of forward Adel Fellous.

French full-back Jared Taylor scored the first try of the match when he was on the supporting end of a bustling 40 metre line break from Adel Fellous in the 16th minute.

Catalans star Bosc converted and the semi-final hopefuls were away.

Three minutes later Scotland struck back via a slick backline movement that ended with a try in the corner for Jonathan Steel.

But the first half was dominated by dropped ball, ill-disciplined tackling and strong running forwards with some big hits from both sides.

The Bravehearts came out a different side in the second half with prop Oliver Wilkes grabbing a try in the 46th minute to bring the difference back to a converted try.

Scotland were denied an opportunity to tie the game up at 24-all in the 66th minute when video referee Phil Cooley opted not to award a try to five-eighth John Duffy.

It didn't matter in the end with France's Jerome Guisset and Christophe Moly both scoring tries in the final ten minutes to run away with the win.

The game was the opening match of Pool 2, which also includes Fiji.

Thurston guides Roos to victory
October 26, 2008

JOHNATHAN Thurston cast aside his personal family tragedy to lead Australia to a 30-6 victory over New Zealand in their World Cup opener at the SFS.

Only a day after his uncle Richard Saunders was bashed to death in a park south of Brisbane, Thurston produced one of his most composed efforts in a Kangaroos jumper in the most difficult of circumstances.

The star half-back had a hand in three of Australia's five tries, booted four goals and directed their attacking play in a brilliant performance worthy of man-of-the-match honours.

He was finally rested in the 72nd minute taking his record to eight wins from as many Tests for Australia.

Captain Darren Lockyer was another standout, making a seamless return to the green and gold 18 months after he last played for Australia.

Lockyer and Thurston have not played together since Origin III in 2007 but they fell immediately back into the old groove by running Australia around the paddock and controlling the tempo of the contest.

But despite being the marquee match-up of the World Cup, the game lacked the usual spark of Test match football forcing the crowd of 34,157 to start a Mexican wave with 25 minutes remaining.

Their boredom was stopped somewhat when Australian centre Brent Tate suffered concussion in the 58th minute tackling Lance Hohaia.

The loss of Tate was the only thing that went wrong for the Australians.

The same can't be said for New Zealand.

Nothing went to script for the Kiwis as their brilliant warm up form was thrown out the window as their attack fell into disarray.

Half-back Thomas Leuluai was ineffective and at times abysmal while star Benji Marshall never looked dangerous and was well below his best.

Centre Steve Matai was also put on report for a high shot on Paul Gallen in the 13th minute that could attract a suspension.

The only shining light for New Zealand was a strong solo try by forward Sika Manu in the 27th minute as he brushed aside three defenders to score their only try of the game.

Australia led 14-6 at halftime after Greg Inglis and debutant Joel Monaghan scored from sweeping backline plays down the left flank.

The Kangaroos busted the game apart shortly after oranges with Israel Folau barging over the line and then full-back Billy Slater scoring off a Thurston break on the hour for an 18-point lead.

But Slater could find himself in hot water after diving feet first at Jerome Ropati to deny a try in the 74th minute, an act he was warned about prior to the tournament.

Folau completed the dominant win by scoring his second try after some quick hands in the final 30 seconds of the game.

Tonga win thriller against Ireland
October 27, 2008

TONGA overcame adverse decisions on and off the field to beat Ireland 22-20 in a thrilling rugby league World Cup match at Parramatta Stadium.

Denied access to NRL stars Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki by the NSW Supreme Court before the match, Tonga was twice reduced to 12 men in an eventful poll three encounter.

Winger Damien Blanch scored a hat-trick of tries to give Ireland a sniff of causing the first big boilover of the competition.

However, the appropriately-named winger Esi Tonga helped his team overcome a late 20-18 deficit with a decisive 73rd minute try.

It was a case of going from villain to hero, as Tonga was one of two members of his team sin-binned by British referee Steve Ganson.

Ireland scored their first three tries and 14 points while Tonga were outnumbered.

Down 6-0 early, following a converted try to Tonga's Penrith star Michael Jennings, Ireland fully capitalised when Esi Tonga was binned for repeated infringements in the 23rd minute.

Blanch crossed for his first try three minutes later and fullback Michael Platt gave the Wolfhounds the lead despite what appeared to be a blatant forward pass by halfback Karl Fitzpatrick.

With their full complement restored, Tonga hit back with a try to winger Cooper Vuna and led 12-10 at the break following a penalty to halfback Joel Taufa'ao.

The see-sawing encounter took another twist in the 49th minute when Tongan five-eighth Feleti Mateo was sin-binned for back chatting.

Blanch scored his second try before Mateo returned to put Ireland back in front, but Tonga hit back to regain the lead with their third try.

Blanch completed his hat-hat-trick to snatch the lead back for Ireland, but Tonga's late four-pointer prevented the Wolfhounds from causing the upset.

Samoa clinch island derby
October 31, 2008

SAMOA took a big step towards the rugby league World Cup semi-finals with a dogged 20-12 win over arch rival Tonga in their island derby at Penrith.

Samoa will clinch their pool if they beat Ireland in the last pool match at Parramatta next Wednesday.

The clash featured plenty of rugged defence and jarring hits, plus occasional high tackles.

And when it was over, hundreds of excited Samoa fans charged onto the pitch to celebrate.

While it wasn't the spiteful battle some pundits had forecast, Australian referee Shayne Hayne still had his work cut out.

He placed two players on report. The first was Samoa prop Kylie Leulua'i for a high tackle on Tongan full-back Fetuli Talanoa in the first half.

After the break, Hayne placed Tonga centre Etu Uaisele on report for a dangerous tackle on full-back Smith Samau, who was picked up and driven into the ground.

Samoa grabbed initiative early, with winger Francis Meli crossing in the third minute.

And they bolted to a 10-0 advantage in the 11th minute, when skipper Nigel Vagana picked off a pass from Tonga hooker Tevita Leo-Latu and sprinted 90m for a try converted by Ben Roberts.

Tonga surged back into the game when classy centre Michael Jennings charged onto a brilliant flick pass from Tony Williams. The conversion cut the deficit to four points.

Vagana missed a glorious opportunity for another try when he dropped the ball over the line in what effectively became a 12-point turnaround. Just a couple of minutes later Leo-Latu burst out of dummy-half to set up a 12-10 Tonga lead.

However Bulldogs NRL star Matt Utai weaved over in the right hand corner to give Samoa a 14-12 half-time lead.

It was virtually one way traffic in the second half, with Samoa dominating possession against an outfit clearly still fatigued from last Monday's win over Ireland.

Samoa extended their lead with a brilliant try to centre George Carmont, who capitalised on some sensational lead-up work by forwards David Solomona and Lagi Setu.

The dominant Samoans had potential tries to Carmont and Ben Roberts rubbed out, but continued to monopolise possession until the closing minutes.

Tonga was further hampered by an apparent groin injury to half-back Willie Manu.


Great game and great crowd. Was lucky enough to get free tickets to see this match. Some of Best NRL and Super League players played tonight. Glad i went. cheers Dougie

Samoa-Tonga clash to be annual affair
November 01, 2008

RUGBY league officials will make Samoa-Tonga an annual event after their World Cup epic at CUA Stadium was compared to the birth of State of Origin.

In their first game together, the Nigel Vagana-inspired Samoans eliminated Tonga from pool three and set up a possible semi-final clash with Australia when tries either side of half-time gave them a bruising, thrill-a-minute 20-12 victory.

But the enduring image from the night was the large chunk of a vocal 11,787 crowd invading the field at fullt-ime, with Fox Sports sideline eye Scott Sattler bowled over live on air and Samoa's local hero Tony Puletua chaired from the field in his final game at Penrith. And despite the fear of violence, there was no evidence of any crowd trouble.

"We're going to make it an annual fixture," Rugby League International Federation development officer Tas Baitieri said.

"The idea is that next year Samoa and Tonga play off with the winner added to the following season's Tri-Nations, making it a Quad-Nations."

There is also push for the annual tournament to become a Six Nations from 2010, with France and a Pacific qualifier to take part every year.

Vagana, the Samoa captain, said both countries were ready to play at the top level "for the next 100 years" while second-rower David Solomona reckoned comparisons with the first Origin match in 1980 at Lang Park were not over the top.

"Hopefully it can be like that," he said. "Sixty per cent of the Toyota Cup is Polynesian. If we can get these as annual events, it's only going to make international rugby league better.

"Whoever's in charge of international league, if they came to the game today and you went to Australia-New Zealand, you tell me who's more passionate?

"I've been to Test matches, I've played in big derbys in England and it was crazy out there. It was probably the best support ever."

Samoa looked to have broken their bitter rivals' backs when George Carmont's try made it 20-12 in the 54th minute but the Tongan defence was nothing short of heroic as they repelled attack after attack for the rest of the game.

Fantastic Fiji smash France
November 01, 2008

FIJI scored the biggest upset of the Rugby League World Cup so far with a stunning 42-6 win over France at WIN Stadium on Saturday evening.

Fiji went into the tournament as 500-1 outsiders to win the title but shocked France with a spectacular seven-tries-to-one win.

Newcastle flyer Akuila Uate scored three tries - one an amazing 90-metre individual effort - as the crowd favourites out-enthused their more fancied rivals.

Full-back Jarryd Hayne was sensational at the back for Fiji, scoring two tries and proving a handful for the France defence.

The big win all but assures Fiji a place in the next phase of the tournament, a semi-final qualifier against the winner of Pool 3 on Monday week.

If they can win that game, likely to be against Samoa, they could find themselves in a semi-final against tournament favourites Australia.

Hayne brought the pro-Fiji crowd of 9213 to life with a try in the sixth minute and his side never looked back in the Pool 2 match.

They led 18-6 at the break and then sealed the amazing win with a four-tries-to-nil second-half blitz.

Fiji provided some sparkling highlights with their fluent ball movement and brilliant athleticism but the standout was Uate's third try in the 74th minute.

From dummy half he broke the line and then showed blistering pace and a devastating step to score the try of the tournament.

Captain Wes Naiqama said the amazing performance of his Newcastle teammate did not surprise him.

"Everyone knows what Aku is capable of and he has been waiting for this chance, for this opportunity to showcase what he has got,'' Naiqama said.

Fiji's NRL players were vital but the team's lesser lights from NSW sides like the Parkes Spacemen and Terrigal Sharks also provided spark.

Parkes five-eighth Alipate Noilea put his clubmate Semisitora in for a try and Sharks frontrower Iowane Divavesi also crashed over.

The Fiji players are deeply religious, and their coach Joe Dakuitoga said their faith in a higher power had propelled them to victory.

"We want to thank God for giving the boys the strength (and) the power - so we are giving him back all of the glory,'' Dakuitoga said.

France lost hooker James Wynne early to a dislocated elbow but coach John Monie refused to make excuses for his well-beaten side.

"I was disappointed,'' Monie said.

"We should have played better football than that - they had too much enthusiasm.''

The Fijians provided some sparkling highlights with their fluent ball movement and brilliant athleticism but the stand out was Uate's third try in the 74th minute.

From dummy half he broke the line and then showed blistering pace and a devastating step to score the try of the tournament.

Captain Wes Naiqama said the amazing performance of his Newcastle teammate did not surprise him.

“Everyone knows what Aku is capable of and he has been waiting for this chance, for this opportunity to showcase what he has got,” Naiqama said.

Fiji's NRL players were vital but the team's lesser lights from NSW sides like the Parkes Spacemen and Terrigal Sharks also provided spark.

Parkes five-eighth Alipate Noilea put his clubmate Semisitora in for a try and Sharks frontrower Iowane Divavesi also crashed over.

The Fijians are deeply religious and their coach Joe Dakuitoga said their faith in a higher power had propelled them to victory.

“We want to thank God for giving the boys the strength (and) the power - so we are giving him back all of the glory,” Dakuitoga said.

France lost hooker James Wynne early to a dislocated elbow but coach John Monie refused to make excuses for his well-beaten side.

“I was disappointed,” Monie said.

“We should have played better football than that - they had too much enthusiasm.”

New Zealand fly high over PNG
November 01, 2008

THE sight of Benji Marshall recovering on the sidelines couldn't wipe the smile off coach Stephen Kearney's face as New Zealand broke their World Cup duck with a 48-6 win over PNG.

After setting up two tries on the Gold Coast, star playmaker Marshall didn't take the field in the second half - something New Zealand fans have unfortunately gotten used to over the years.

But a relaxed Kiwis camp claimed the livewire pivot was rested as a precaution after he complained of hamstring tightness at half-time.

It was not the only reason Kearney looked like a relieved man.

The Kiwis have all but guaranteed a semi-final berth from Pool 1 by notching their nine-tries-to-one thumping.

Kearney cut a more anxious figure when the Kiwis arrived at Skilled Park looking to bounce back from their mauling at the hands of Australia against an unpredictable PNG that gave England a first-round fright.

But PNG were as tight as Marshall's hamstring in the first half as the Kiwis romped to a 22-0 lead by the main break thanks to a Simon Mannering double.

The pro-Kumuls, 11,278-strong crowd finally had something to cheer about in the 48th minute when Gold Coast-based winger David Moore crashed over after strong lead-up work by Neville Costigan and Jessie Joe.

The 'PNG' chant resonated around the stadium as the crowd sniffed a comeback.

But within eight minutes the venue sounded more like a library as the Kiwis silenced the PNG uprising with the first of five unanswered tries.

Utility Issac Luke delivered a trademark run from dummy half to scamper 35 metres untouched and score near the posts in the 56th minute.

The floodgates opened as David Fa'alogo (60th) and Adam Blair (68th) cut through flimsy defence, Sam Perrett (71st) bagged his second off a Luke kick and Greg Eastwood (75th) did it all himself with a barnstorming run.

Perrett could have had a hat-trick but knocked on with the line wide open right on full-time.

PNG team manager Bob Bennett cut a very different figure in the coach's box to his brother, NZ assistant and Broncos legend Wayne as the massacre unfolded.

Indeed Wayne Bennett would have been tempted to crack a rare smile by half-time when the writing was on the wall.

Second game syndrome appeared to have struck down the Kumuls who failed to back up from their stirring 10-point loss to England in their cup opener.

The alarm bells began ringing for PNG coach Adrian Lam when Marshall exposed a huge overlap and set up Jerome Ropati in just the ninth minute.

Mannering then fed off under fire Kiwi half-back Thomas Leuluai to stroll over for two tries in eight minutes.

A Marshall cut-out pass allowed winger Sam Perrett to stroll over in the 34th minute.

PNG began with plenty of intent, with Perrett left lying prone on the ground in the opening minute following a tackle that looked suspiciously like a grapple from hulking prop Makali Aizue.

Marshall said he wanted to go back on in the second half but was told by staff to rest.

“I was spewing,” Marshall said.

The win blew New Zealand's overall record against PNG to a staggering 15-1 - but they had not played each other since way back in 1996.

Lam said the Kumuls only had themselves to blame after suffering a hangover following their high against England.

“Everything has to line up perfectly for us to compete at this tournament and we were our own worst enemies,” Lam said.

“It's been an emotional rollercoaster all week and I knew it would be tough to get them up tonight.”

PNG must win their next game to be any hope of moving into the semi-finals - a game against no less than Australia tomorrow week at Townsville.

“It's only going to get harder for us. But we've got a great bond, you can't question that,” Lam said.

“(Against Australia) I just want the boys to compete, to play at their best, that's all I can ask.”

Lam said he was “very disappointed” with Steve Ganson's 10 metres and Kiwi mentor Kearney was obviously scratching his head over some of the English referee's interpretations.

Meanwhile, Kearney believed his side had taken a “step forward”.

“What really pleased me tonight was the defensive performance of the lads. I watched PNG play last week and I thought they really troubled the English - it was going to take a good performance to keep them out tonight,” he said.

Marshall said he would be “sweet” for New Zealand's next match against England at Newcastle next Saturday night.

Kangaroos crush toothless Lions
November 02, 2008

AUSTRALIA looked well on the way to an eighth straight Rugby League World Cup title after demolishing England 52-4 in their pool match at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.

A week after trouncing New Zealand - the other side expected to challenge them for the crown - the Kangaroos again looked a class above as they ran in nine tries to one, Storm pair Greg Inglis and Billy Slater delighting their home fans with hat-tricks.

The pair combined for an exhilarating 100-metre try midway through the second half, Inglis collecting an England grubber on his own goaline before finding Slater, who ran rings around Lions winger Mark Calderwood on his way to the line.

Such was Australia's dominance that coach Ricky Stuart could afford to give skipper Darren Lockyer a 23-minute early mark - the ice wrapped around his strained biceps more precaution than cause for alarm.

England showed some signs of life, particularly out of dummy half where diminutive half-back Rob Burrow and James Roby caused numerous headaches for a retreating defence, but their good moments were sporadic against a clinical Australia side.

The win all but assures the Kangaroos - provided they don't slip up against Papua New Guinea next Sunday - top spot heading into the semi-finals, but it hardly seems to matter who else qualifies for the final four with another World Cup appearing a formality for the home side.

It looked like turning into a rout early as Slater and Inglis scored their first tries inside the opening 10 minutes, Slater pouncing on a Cameron Smith grubber to continue a huge six-day period that began with the birth of his daughter on Monday.

England were rattled, even the simplest task of getting to their kick at the end of the set was too tough, but momentum shifted as the Kangaroos - perhaps plagued by complacency - dropped several balls and gave away silly penalties.

It coincided with England's best period of the match, though they received more than a little help from video referee Ashley Klein who gave Roby the benefit of the doubt as he attempted to ground the ball to put the visitors back in the contest at 12-4.

That was as good as it got, their night summed up when Paul Wellens - just minutes out from the half-time break - allowed a kick to roll over the dead ball line without a defender in sight.

Unfortunately for Wellens the ball had been touched off Cameron Smith's boot by another England player. Anthony Laffranchi crashed over from the ensuing drop out to give Australia a commanding 22-4 half-time lead.

Inglis and Slater turned the second half into a party as they toyed with their opponents.

Slater's length-of-the-field effort was followed just minutes later by Inglis's third when a short kick off went horribly wrong for England and the Melbourne superstar sprinted away after picking up the loose ball on his own 40-metre line.

Irish thrash Samoa in boilover
November 05, 2008

INSPIRED by a record-breaking performance from winger Pat Richards, Ireland caused a major boilover at the rugby league World Cup with a 34-16 win over Samoa to advance to a semi-final qualifier.

Needing to win by five points to finish top of the pool, underdogs Ireland unbelievably bolted to a 14-0 lead at Parramatta Stadium, despite taking a defensive pummeling in the first 10 minutes.

Samoa got back to within two points late in the first half before Ireland scored the next 16 points to blow the Pacific island side out of the water.

Richards haul of 22 points from three tries and five goals was the most in a World Cup match for Ireland, eclipsing Steve Prescott's bag of 14 against Samoa eight years ago.

It could have been an even bigger night for the former Wests Tigers premiership winner who missed with five of his ten kicks at goal.

But that was about all that went right for Samoa, who won their opening game against Tonga and were favourites to make it out of pool 3.

Instead they finished bottom of the pool courtesy of points differential.

Samoa pounded the Ireland line for the first ten minutes, but had two potential tries to skipper and five-eighth Nigel Vagana and hooker Terrence Seuseu rubbed out by video referee Steve Ganson.

Trailing 22-12 midway through the second half, they lost talisman Vagana to injury and then had forward David Solomona placed on report by the French referee for elbowing centre Sean Gleeson.

After surviving the early onslaught, Ireland piled on three tries in seven minutes with Richards using his 23cm height advantage to leap over for the first over opposing winger Matt Utai before four-pointers to lock Simon Finnigan and centre Sean Gleeson.

Shellshocked Samoa hit back with Vagana capitalising on a spilt ball by Ireland full-back Michael Platt before Misi Taulapapa burrowed over from dummy half.

Richards scored his second try three minutes into the second half when he cut inside and beat three defenders, the two sides then trading tries before the hulking winger completed his hat-trick inside the last two minutes.

Ireland coach Andy Kelly was proud of his team's performance, though he felt they still had room for improvement.

"I think we learnt the lesson from the Tongan game and tonight we came out a little bit stronger and a little bit wiser," Kelly said.

"It was a smashing effort."

Richards, a former Parramatta Junior, who was back on his old home ground, relished the opportunity to be part of Ireland's World Cup journey, but stressed it was a different experience to the Tiger's premiership-winning run.

"It is a totally different competition, I've never played for Ireland before, but I'm really enjoying it," Richards said.

"Being part of the squad is very special. We're very tight knit and that helped."

Samoa coach John Ackland said while the short five-day turnaround for his team after the much-anticipated clash with Tonga could have been a factor, they had known about that prior to the tournament.

He rued the series of lost scoring opportunities, but paid generous credit to Ireland's gritty defence.

"They defended their tryline terrific, three or four last-ditch tackles, full credit to them," Ackland said.

"We got into their 20 and we had numbers and didn't take advantage," he said.

Ackland said Vagana was feeling "pretty sore" after being helped off the ground.