Rugby League World Cup: Week Two Wrap

The second week of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup exhibited several heavyweights flexing their muscles, some brave efforts from minnow nations, and a tonne of excitement as the quarterfinals landscape becomes clearer after a fortnight of action. Here are how things unfolded:

Scotland unable to match hot Aussies

Australia were far too classy for Scotland in the opening clash of Round 2 as the Kangaroos stormed towards an 84-0 victory in Coventry.

Winger Josh Addo-Carr snagged the opening points of the night in the fifth minute and the Australians kept pace with the scoreboard for the remainder in an astonishing 15-try performance. The Kangaroos’ back five combined for 11 tries as they notched the nation’s highest score since their famous 110-4 win over Russia at the 2000 World Cup.

Addo-Carr’s four tries, 195 run metres, and seven tackle breaks were enough to earn him Man of the Match honours whilst wing partner Campbell Graham bagged a hat-trick of his own to go along with 151 run metres and six tackle breaks on debut.

Fellow debutant Nathan Cleary scored a try, assisted on two others, and ran for 184 metres in his bid to earn the halfback spot full-time.

Isaah Yeo, also on debut, was at his usual best scoring a try, running for 190 metres, and making 19 tackles without a miss whilst Jack Wighton scored two and assisted on two as he put forward his claim for the starting centre spot moving forward.

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Fiji flex muscles against Italians

Fiji Bati put their last-start loss to Australia behind them as they ran away 60-4 winners over Italy in Newcastle to keep their quarterfinals hopes alive.

Barnstorming back-rower Viliame Kikau crawled through a hole off halfback Brandon Wakeham to snatch the opening points of the afternoon before skipper Kevin Naiqama pounced on an Italian error to race 50 metres downfield and claim Fiji’s second moments later. From then on, the Fijian onslaught continued as they poured in a total of 10 tries with a Jake Maizen’s try of the tournament Italy’s only successful attempt at stopping the bleeding midway through the second-half.

With Apisai Koroisau partnering Wakeham in the halves, Kaiviti Silktails prospect Penioni Tagituimua was given the opportunity to spend the full 80 at hooker and delivered, crossing for a double, running for 168 metres with six tackle breaks, and making 27 tackles in a Man of the Match display.

Sunia Turuva also continued the strong start to his international career running for 230 metres from 21 carries with 11 tackle breaks whilst Naiqama, Fiji’s all-time leader in caps, ran for a game-high 234 metres and bagged a try of his own.

Kikau and Maika Sivo each crossed for doubles whilst Wakeham assisted on three tries and kicked for 242 metres.

England too good for improving French

England have kicked their World Cup campaign off with two wins on home soil after finishing with a 42-18 win over France in Bolton.

Veteran winger Ryan Hall snagged the first points of the contest for England off a ricocheted George Williams chip before grabbing a second moments later off a slick backline shift.

Victor Radley burst through and found Luke Thompson in the 23rd minute as the England lead ballooned out to 18 before Arthur Mourgue pounced on his own grubber to get the French on the board prior to halftime followed by an Éloi Pélissier out of dummy-half to bring them back within six.

With the game in the balance early in the second-half edge forwards John Bateman and Elliott Whitehead linked up to give England some breathing room before tries to Victor Radley and Dom Young secured the result for England.

George Williams earnt Man of the Match honours behind his game management and playmaking whilst Young put together another outstanding display with a try-double, a game-high 292 run metres, and three tackle breaks.

Radley was again strong for England finishing with a try, a try assist, a line break, 162 run metres and 35 tackles whilst John Bateman assisted on a try, ran for 130 metres, and made a game-high 44 tackles in his first appearance of tournament.

Arthur Romano ran for a team-high 156 metres and scored a try for France whilst Mickaël Goudemand ran for 105 metres and made 40 tackles.

Might of New Zealand shown off against plucky Jamaicans

New Zealand have leapt out to a 2-0 start to their World Cup campaign after getting the job done 68-6 against Jamaica in Hull.

The gap in class was evident early on with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak bagging a hat-trick in the opening quarter of the match as New Zealand entered halftime with a 34-0 lead. Watene-Zelezniak grabbed a fourth in the second-half before Brandon Smith snapped up a double to put icing on the Kiwi cake.

The moment of the match, however, was courtesy of the Reggae Warriors’ Ben Jones-Bishop who toed forward a loose kick in the 75th minute and dove on the ball to earn the first World Cup try in Jamaican rugby league history and spark the loudest roar of the night.

Watene-Zelezniak was awarded the Man of the Match for his four tries, three try assists, game-high 279 run metres, and seven line breaks whilst Peta Hiku scored a try, assisted on another, and ran for 215 metres.

Jeremy Marshall-King scored a double and assisted on another off the bench whilst Joseph Manu’s stupendous international run continued with a pair of try assists, 162 run metres, and seven tackle breaks.

Chevaughn Bailey, who plays for the Duhaney Park Red Sharks in Kingston, deserves credit for putting in a 56-minute shift off the bench against the world’s number-one ranked nation. The veteran, who made his first appearance for Jamaica in their 2014 Caribbean Carnival Cup loss to Canada, took eight carries for 41 metres and made 10 tackles in a proud moment for the side.

Cedars earn huge win over Ireland as quarterfinals berth beckons

Lebanon appear destined for a second-consecutive World Cup quarterfinals berth after coming away with a 32-14 win over Ireland in Leigh.

The Adam Doueihi-less Cedars withstood an early ambush from the Irish pack to grab the first points of the afternoon through a 16th minute penalty goal before some hot potato hands sent the ball out into the arms of left centre Reece Robinson for the opening try of the encounter.

The lead soon became 14-0 courtesy of a sharp set-play through the middle with Mitchell Moses hitting a streaking Jacob Kiraz to cross next to the sticks.

A botched short kick-off at the half-hour mark saw Brandon Morkos cross for a third Lebanese try before Luke Keary sent a looping long-ball over to winger Louis Senior to get Ireland on the board shortly before halftime.

Senior grabbed a second on the other side of halftime as Ireland mounted a fightback, however, tries to Elie El-Zakhem and Abbas Miski dashed any hopes of an Irish comeback as Lebanon secured a major win to keep their quarterfinals hopes firmly alive.

Moses finished with two try assists, 143 run metres, and 304 kick metres en route to a Man of the Match nod whilst Kiraz scored and assisted on a try, ran for 168 metres, and broke five tackles before his afternoon ended early due to concussion.

El-Zakhem ran for a team-high 192 metres, scored a try, and made 23 tackles whilst Miski’s impressive tournament continued with a try, 159 run metres, and three tackle breaks.

Louis Senior’s double led the way for Ireland along with his 97 run metres and four tackle breaks whilst Jaimin Jolliffe ran for 114 metres, broke five tackles, and made 40 tackles in 61 minutes in the middle.

Sāmoa annihilate Greece in bounce-back win

Toa Sāmoa put their horror World Cup opener behind them to dominate Greece 72-4 in Doncaster.

Brian To’o skied to collect a Chanel Harris-Tavita chip in the opening set of the match to score first before skipper Junior Paulo claimed Sāmoa’s second moments later.

Their onslaught continued for the remainder of half with another five names joining To’o and Paulo on the scoresheet to give the Sāmoans a 42-0 halftime lead.

The opening points of the second-half, however, came through Greece’s Lachlan Ilias who capped off back-to-back chip-and-chases with yet another ‘try of the tournament’ contender.

Harris-Tavita, Tim Lafai, and Danny Levi all claimed doubles as Sāmoa stormed towards their biggest ever win.

Jarome Luai was named Man of the Match for his try, five try assists, 172 run metres and four tackle breaks whilst Penrith teammate To’o ran for an absurd 371 metres with 16 tackle breaks and scored a try.

Joseph Sua’ali’i assisted on a try, ran for 289 metres, and assisted on three line breaks whilst veteran centre Lafai ran for 254 metres, broke 10 tackles, assisted on two tries and scored his first double in Sāmoan colours and debutant Mathew Feagai ran for 182 metres, broke seven tackles, made five line breaks and scored a try.

Tonga outlast stoic Welsh in St Helens

Mate Ma’a Tonga earnt their second win of the tournament with a 32-6 display against Wales, who may be winless but have given a terrific account of themselves, in St Helens.

Wales’ Kyle Evans pounced on a Siosifa Talakai error to open the account for Wales in the 15th minute before the Tongans caught Wales short off a scrum shift to send Daniel Tupou over in the corner for their answer. The Dragons kept pace for a solid 35 minutes before Tonga went bang-bang with tries to David Fifita and Keaon Koloamatangi just before halftime and capped a tight second half off with two more Tupou four-pointers.

Tupou’s game-high 217 run metres, three tries, and five tackle breaks earnt him a Man of the Match nod whilst Tesi Niu ran for 174 metres, broke seven tackles, scored a try and assisted on another in his first outing of the tournament.

Addin Fonua-Blake led the Tongan forwards with 184 run metres from 17 carries and 16 tackles whilst Talakai assisted on a pair of tries, ran for 185 metres, and broke three tackles.

Josh Ralph was strong for Wales assisting on the opening try of the game, running for a team-high 155 metres, and kicking for 131 metres whilst Kyle Evans scored a try and ran for 180 metres with eight tackle breaks.

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PNG snag first win in Kukis rout

The Kumuls gave their shot at a quarterfinals berth a major boost with a 32-16 win over the Cook Islands in Warrington.

The Kukis earnt strong field position early and found themselves with a 2-0 lead before Rodrick Tai raced 80 metres downfield off a 20-metre restart to score the first try of the game against the run of play.

Kyle Laybutt took advantage of a late Jacob Alick offload to brush through some meagre defence and put the Kumuls lead out to 10-2 before McKenzie Yei was sin-binned in the 27th minute leading to a Paul Ulberg try in the left corner which cut the lead to just two.

Papua New Guinea scored in the first set of the second-half for the second week in-a-row, this time through skipper Rhyse Martin, before Tai grabbed his second shortly after.

Both sides exchanged tries for the remainder of the game but the Kumuls were too strong as they earnt their first win of the World Cup to set up a must-win third game versus the Welsh in Doncaster.

Martin was named Man of the Match for his 107-metre, 31-tackle effort whilst Tai ran for a team-high 182 metres to go along with his two tries and six tackle breaks.

Nene Macdonald was strong for the Kumuls in the centres finishing with 125 run metres and three tackle breaks whilst Edwin Ipape’s breakout tournament continued with 122 run metres, four tackle breaks, line break assist and 40 tackles.

For the Cook Islands, fullback Kayal Iro ran for a game-high 202 metres from 22 carries with six tackle breaks, a try and a try assist and Esan Marsters assisted on a try and ran for 144 metres with four tackle breaks in the halves.

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