World Cup Final - Australia vrs England
Anyone else watching tonight?
England: G Widdop; J McGillvary, K Watkins, J Bateman, R Hall; K Brown, L Gale; C Hill, J Roby, J Graham, B Currie, E Whitehead, S Burgess (capt).
Interchanges: A Walmsley, T Burgess, C Heighington, J Lomax.
Australia: B Slater; D Gagai, W Chambers, J Dugan, V Holmes; M Morgan, C Cronk; A Woods, C Smith, D Klemmer, B Cordner, M Gillett, J McGuire.
Interchanges: W Graham, J McLean, R Campbell-Gillard, T Frizell.
Betts said the decision for O'Loughlin not to play in the final was taken by the Wigan player himself.
"He pushed himself as hard as he possibly could," said Betts. "He knows his body, he knows when he's ready to play in this kind of game."
Burgess, who captained England in O'Loughlin's absence in the 2016 Four Nations Series, says England's injury problems give St Helens hooker Roby and Warrington forward Currie a chance to impress.
"We've been extremely consistent in our training. Players have been in and out of different positions so not a lot changes genuinely for our team," he said.
Do England stand a chance?
Not according to the bookmakers, who have the Kangaroos as overwhelming 1-7 favourites.
England have a powerful forward pack that is comfortably the equal of any in the competition and have been strong in defence all the way through, while their attacking combinations have improved week on week.
I don't think this the Roos are on par with the unbeatable Aussie sides of the past (who still lost finals despite being unbackable favourites!) but they just go about their work so precisely that lapses in concentration will be punished almost every time. Do the basics right, defend your arse off, and wait for opposition mistakes to present opportunities.
England need to attack ruthlessly AND keep mistakes low - it's a huge ask but not impossible.
England will need to dramatically improve their kicking game. Australia will destroy them if they allow Slater to run freely on kick returns.
Ben Stokes in for Hodgson... he should add some much needed starch to the Pom's "pack".
England: G Widdop; J McGillvary, K Watkins, J Bateman, R Hall; K Brown, L Gale; C Hill, J Roby, J Graham, B Currie, E Whitehead, S Burgess (capt).
Interchanges: A Walmsley, T Burgess, C Heighington, J Lomax.
Australia: B Slater; D Gagai, W Chambers, J Dugan, V Holmes; M Morgan, C Cronk; A Woods, C Smith, D Klemmer, B Cordner, M Gillett, J McGuire.
Interchanges: W Graham, J McLean, R Campbell-Gillard, T Frizell.
Betts said the decision for O'Loughlin not to play in the final was taken by the Wigan player himself.
"He pushed himself as hard as he possibly could," said Betts. "He knows his body, he knows when he's ready to play in this kind of game."
Burgess, who captained England in O'Loughlin's absence in the 2016 Four Nations Series, says England's injury problems give St Helens hooker Roby and Warrington forward Currie a chance to impress.
"We've been extremely consistent in our training. Players have been in and out of different positions so not a lot changes genuinely for our team," he said.
Do England stand a chance?
Not according to the bookmakers, who have the Kangaroos as overwhelming 1-7 favourites.
England have a powerful forward pack that is comfortably the equal of any in the competition and have been strong in defence all the way through, while their attacking combinations have improved week on week.
I don't think this the Roos are on par with the unbeatable Aussie sides of the past (who still lost finals despite being unbackable favourites!) but they just go about their work so precisely that lapses in concentration will be punished almost every time. Do the basics right, defend your arse off, and wait for opposition mistakes to present opportunities.
England need to attack ruthlessly AND keep mistakes low - it's a huge ask but not impossible.
England will need to dramatically improve their kicking game. Australia will destroy them if they allow Slater to run freely on kick returns.
Ben Stokes in for Hodgson... he should add some much needed starch to the Pom's "pack".
The final of RLWC17 lost its sparkle once the Pacific Island nations of Fiji and Tonga lost their respective semi-finals. It was those nations, plus Samoa, PNG and to a certain extent Lebanon who drew most peoples attention to the tournament. Not because fans expected them to win the cup, just that it was fun to watch them play. Now they have gone and international rugby league returns to normality and the same old teams play in the final, that fun has gone. Australia will win tonight, it all depends on by how much. What fun is there in watching the Kangaroos destroy the poms. It has happened too often for people to care much. The best thing for the international game is not for England not to keep the score close tonight, but to win.
RLWC is a third tier competition in comparison to the State of Origin and the NRL. But that should not be looked upon as being a negative. Because with the NRL we have the best league competition in the world and the State of Origin has the best 34 players in the world.
This lack if coverage isn't by chance. It's very deliberate. Other codes having a world cup final Australia with Australia playing would absolutely be featured in most news bulletins. Rugby league does not have (dare I say it) " the friends in high places" other codes use for publicizing/informing the general public.This is a reality for this underrated code and reflects its struggle to grow exponentially like the code deserves. Its a sophisticated way of controlling/limiting the progress of rugby league and that is reality until significant change in things like the elite private schools of the world accepting/allowing rugby league as a sports option. By not having such acceptance the big end of town necessarily has employees that are only familiar with codes like union etc. This is where the issues start for rugby-league and this treatment of the RLWC by mainstream media reflects this ambivalence/disregard for rugby league. Until this barrier is broken rugby league will struggle as it has clearly done so especially internationally fir many decades. No doubt its(RL) a superior code but these dudes know this but are paid to control/limit it by many of those "friends in high places" that don't have time for rugby-league.
Chatting to some English fans in Southbank last night and they had been to nz for the tonga semi. They said it was by far the best atmosphere and rugby league game they’d ever seen. If a major outcome like that can’t get media interest going nothing will. NRL Summer series talks about the RL WC for two mniutes and then says; Anyway back to who is being picked for origin.............
I just watched the 0900 Sky News Australia bulletin and the newsreader mentioned how much sport was happening today, including the RLWC and cricket. He quipped "who needs domestic sport when you have international competition" and then threw to the sports report. Here is the order of reports:
2018 FIFA WC draw
A League overnight
Some EPL drama
2nd Ashes Test
Womens 7s win
and no mention of RLWC
RLWC is a third tier competition in comparison to the State of Origin and the NRL. But that should not be looked upon as being a negative. Because with the NRL we have the best league competition in the world and the State of Origin has the best 34 players in the world.
This lack if coverage isn't by chance. It's very deliberate. Other codes having a world cup final Australia with Australia playing would absolutely be featured in most news bulletins. Rugby league does not have (dare I say it) " the friends in high places" other codes use for publicizing/informing the general public.This is a reality for this underrated code and reflects its struggle to grow exponentially like the code deserves. Its a sophisticated way of controlling/limiting the progress of rugby league and that is reality until significant change in things like the elite private schools of the world accepting/allowing rugby league as a sports option. By not having such acceptance the big end of town necessarily has employees that are only familiar with codes like union etc. This is where the issues start for rugby-league and this treatment of the RLWC by mainstream media reflects this ambivalence/disregard for rugby league. Until this barrier is broken rugby league will struggle as it has clearly done so especially internationally fir many decades. No doubt its(RL) a superior code but these dudes know this but are paid to control/limit it by many of those "friends in high places" that don't have time for rugby-league.
Chatting to some English fans in Southbank last night and they had been to nz for the tonga semi. They said it was by far the best atmosphere and rugby league game they’d ever seen. If a major outcome like that can’t get media interest going nothing will. NRL Summer series talks about the RL WC for two mniutes and then says; Anyway back to who is being picked for origin.............
I just watched the 0900 Sky News Australia bulletin and the newsreader mentioned how much sport was happening today, including the RLWC and cricket. He quipped "who needs domestic sport when you have international competition" and then threw to the sports report. Here is the order of reports:
2018 FIFA WC draw
A League overnight
Some EPL drama
2nd Ashes Test
Womens 7s win
and no mention of RLWC
I thought it was game of attrition.
England defended like their lives depended on it but unfortunately with the ball weren't creative enough and made a few mistakes at crucial times. They should hold their heads up high for making it such a tense final.
Bad luck England, missing arguably their best two players and still fought hard and were one pass away on a line break from taking it to extra time.
Well done Australia, played a solid percentages game. Highlighted I suppose by Gillett, Frizzel, Cordner, McGuire, Graham all on the field at the end, content to tackle their way to a win.
Enjoyable, tough finish to a great tournament. If you had not watched international rugby league before this world cup, you'd say there are many contenders, with NZ, Tonga, Lebanon, England and Australia all within 6 of one of the others in their finals.
Australia never looked like losing even with only a 6 point lead. If England got a try, it would have made it very interesting.
What a great world cup and what would have made it even better if there were better crowds for the games played in Australia.
The Jillaroos won too. Women's match was great too, whole tournament has been a real boost for Rugby League.
England defended like their lives depended on it but unfortunately with the ball weren't creative enough and made a few mistakes at crucial times. They should hold their heads up high for making it such a tense final.
Bad luck England, missing arguably their best two players and still fought hard and were one pass away on a line break from taking it to extra time.
Well done Australia, played a solid percentages game. Highlighted I suppose by Gillett, Frizzel, Cordner, McGuire, Graham all on the field at the end, content to tackle their way to a win.
Enjoyable, tough finish to a great tournament. If you had not watched international rugby league before this world cup, you'd say there are many contenders, with NZ, Tonga, Lebanon, England and Australia all within 6 of one of the others in their finals.
Australia never looked like losing even with only a 6 point lead. If England got a try, it would have made it very interesting.
What a great world cup and what would have made it even better if there were better crowds for the games played in Australia.
The Jillaroos won too. Women's match was great too, whole tournament has been a real boost for Rugby League.
Boyd Cordner who scored the try was man of the match.
Australia:
Most tries: 1 – Cordner
Most goals: 1 – Smith
Most field goals: 0 –
Most try assists: 0 –
Most runs: 13 – Dane Gagai
Most running metres: 142 – Dane Gagai
Most tackles: 24 – Matt Gillett
Most missed tackles: 2* – (Multiple)
Most line breaks: 1 – Cordner
Will we ever see Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk in an Australian team together again? Me thinks not.
Australia:
Most tries: 1 – Cordner
Most goals: 1 – Smith
Most field goals: 0 –
Most try assists: 0 –
Most runs: 13 – Dane Gagai
Most running metres: 142 – Dane Gagai
Most tackles: 24 – Matt Gillett
Most missed tackles: 2* – (Multiple)
Most line breaks: 1 – Cordner
Will we ever see Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk in an Australian team together again? Me thinks not.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... zxh7d.html
Australia 6 England 0
It took six weeks to tell is what we already knew: that Australia is the best rugby league nation in the world.
The first chapter of the World Cup book was familiar, its ending even more predictable but every twist in between has given the international game a little ray of hope that it won't be swallowed up in the money-spinning domestic juggernauts. And didn't this last chapter have some twists.
It took all of Wayne Bennett's mastery and mind games to make the World Cup final, a classic case of brute over brains. He's passionate about nothing other than winning, and he almost won the unwinnable.
The post-mortem will say he has breathed life into England, made Australia hold their own for 80 minutes and helped an international game bob its head above water for a bit of deserved affirmation. Reports of its death, as they say, have been greatly exaggerated.
And so Australia live on as world champions. You can't completely suck the life out of the Kangaroos' cast of millionaires in a Test match. Not yet. Not when there is so much at stake. But wasn't the ending supposed to be so much easier than this?
Mal Meninga became the first man to captain and then coach his country to World Cup triumphs, but his old sparring partner Bennett made him sweat for it as one Boyd Cordner try was all that separated the teams with Australia scrambling to a 6-0 win at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
Meninga still hasn't lost as coach of the Kangaroos in two years. But while the gap to a shambolic New Zealand widens, the gap to an improving England closes.
Much like in the tournament opener, England were like a little puppy who just kept nipping at the heels of a new owner. They annoyed them during the week with ruckgate, then annoyed them when it mattered most on the night.
But annoying and annulling are two different things. The Kangaroos' rule on international rugby league is not over.
If not for the late arriving fingertips of Josh Dugan to scrape Kallum Watkins' ankles and trip him up midway through the second half with a try beckoning, the rugby league world could have been turned upside down. It was the best chance England had. They had more than most thought they would get. And still came up empty.
Bennett may have quipped that England couldn't win after a pulsating semi-final win over Tonga, but even he didn't believe what he was saying.
And neither did Sam Burgess. The man who was run out of rugby union after a forgettable World Cup in the 15-man game has never stood so tall in the 13-man game, launching at Australian ball carriers and trying to inspire one of the biggest boilovers in World Cup history.
The stand-in captain for the injured Sean O'Loughlin didn't need the affirmation of being first out of the tunnel to prove he was England's on-field leader.
It took 15 minutes for the Kangaroos to finally crack the white brick wall Bennett has built, Cordner charging onto a Michael Morgan pass to crash over. They wouldn't do it for the remaining 65.
Admirably, England stood tall for the rest of the first half. Yet it is one thing being brave, another brilliant. And against a suffocating Australian defence there are not many chances to be brilliant.
Luke Gale sent a clutch of swirling torpedoes into the Brisbane night sky and they were as close to the try line as England could get in the opening stanza.
Australia got over the same try line early in the second half, but a protesting Elliott Whitehead implored referee Gerard Sutton to check Jordan McLean hadn't used Cameron Smith as an impediment in the build-up to Michael Morgan scooting over. He was vindicated.
But barely a minute later Whitehead was being checked again, this time for his senses after Cordner clattered into him. The attack might not have been edge-of-the-seat stuff, but the defence was.
And so England kept prodding, Bennett's fingertips all over a side fuelled with confidence only he could give them. Gareth Widdop switched to the halves. Watkins and Jermaine McGillvary threatened.
But confidence only gets you so far against class. Maybe the ending will be different next time.
Australia 6 (Boyd Cordner try; Cameron Smith goal) defeated England 0 at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton. Crowd: 40,033.
Australia 6 England 0
It took six weeks to tell is what we already knew: that Australia is the best rugby league nation in the world.
The first chapter of the World Cup book was familiar, its ending even more predictable but every twist in between has given the international game a little ray of hope that it won't be swallowed up in the money-spinning domestic juggernauts. And didn't this last chapter have some twists.
It took all of Wayne Bennett's mastery and mind games to make the World Cup final, a classic case of brute over brains. He's passionate about nothing other than winning, and he almost won the unwinnable.
The post-mortem will say he has breathed life into England, made Australia hold their own for 80 minutes and helped an international game bob its head above water for a bit of deserved affirmation. Reports of its death, as they say, have been greatly exaggerated.
And so Australia live on as world champions. You can't completely suck the life out of the Kangaroos' cast of millionaires in a Test match. Not yet. Not when there is so much at stake. But wasn't the ending supposed to be so much easier than this?
Mal Meninga became the first man to captain and then coach his country to World Cup triumphs, but his old sparring partner Bennett made him sweat for it as one Boyd Cordner try was all that separated the teams with Australia scrambling to a 6-0 win at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
Meninga still hasn't lost as coach of the Kangaroos in two years. But while the gap to a shambolic New Zealand widens, the gap to an improving England closes.
Much like in the tournament opener, England were like a little puppy who just kept nipping at the heels of a new owner. They annoyed them during the week with ruckgate, then annoyed them when it mattered most on the night.
But annoying and annulling are two different things. The Kangaroos' rule on international rugby league is not over.
If not for the late arriving fingertips of Josh Dugan to scrape Kallum Watkins' ankles and trip him up midway through the second half with a try beckoning, the rugby league world could have been turned upside down. It was the best chance England had. They had more than most thought they would get. And still came up empty.
Bennett may have quipped that England couldn't win after a pulsating semi-final win over Tonga, but even he didn't believe what he was saying.
And neither did Sam Burgess. The man who was run out of rugby union after a forgettable World Cup in the 15-man game has never stood so tall in the 13-man game, launching at Australian ball carriers and trying to inspire one of the biggest boilovers in World Cup history.
The stand-in captain for the injured Sean O'Loughlin didn't need the affirmation of being first out of the tunnel to prove he was England's on-field leader.
It took 15 minutes for the Kangaroos to finally crack the white brick wall Bennett has built, Cordner charging onto a Michael Morgan pass to crash over. They wouldn't do it for the remaining 65.
Admirably, England stood tall for the rest of the first half. Yet it is one thing being brave, another brilliant. And against a suffocating Australian defence there are not many chances to be brilliant.
Luke Gale sent a clutch of swirling torpedoes into the Brisbane night sky and they were as close to the try line as England could get in the opening stanza.
Australia got over the same try line early in the second half, but a protesting Elliott Whitehead implored referee Gerard Sutton to check Jordan McLean hadn't used Cameron Smith as an impediment in the build-up to Michael Morgan scooting over. He was vindicated.
But barely a minute later Whitehead was being checked again, this time for his senses after Cordner clattered into him. The attack might not have been edge-of-the-seat stuff, but the defence was.
And so England kept prodding, Bennett's fingertips all over a side fuelled with confidence only he could give them. Gareth Widdop switched to the halves. Watkins and Jermaine McGillvary threatened.
But confidence only gets you so far against class. Maybe the ending will be different next time.
Australia 6 (Boyd Cordner try; Cameron Smith goal) defeated England 0 at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton. Crowd: 40,033.
Has anyone else heard James Graham's carry on? Called someone a cheating c... - because biting ears and only serving 7 of your 12 games of suspension, coating your legs with vasoline and screaming in a refs face are the actions of a model citizen apparently - and rather than concede that it's unfortunate that it got picked up on TV, he talks about how tough he believes he plays. What a wanker. No wonder his record in deciders is so appallingly bad.
Gareth Widderp should wash his hair more than once a month. He looked like a greasy homeless bum that just crawled out from under a train bridge in Oldham.
I feel the main difference between England and Australia is that England whilst they have a very good side they just lack the class playmaker which Australia has a wealth of. If they had someone classy in the halves they would've scored at least a couple of tries tonight. Anyway it was a great defensive effort by the Aussies and I'm proud to say I support the national team with pride. Well deserved Boyd Cordner, was a very deserving winner of the MOM award.
Australia are a great team and deserved to win. A superb game of rugby in which the difference was mistakes from the England team and a lack of edge on the Australian line, combined with commitment from the Aussies.
Thanks for a great world cup!
I feel the main difference between England and Australia is that England whilst they have a very good side they just lack the class playmaker which Australia has a wealth of. If they had someone classy in the halves they would've scored at least a couple of tries tonight. Anyway it was a great defensive effort by the Aussies and I'm proud to say I support the national team with pride. Well deserved Boyd Cordner, was a very deserving winner of the MOM award.
Australia are a great team and deserved to win. A superb game of rugby in which the difference was mistakes from the England team and a lack of edge on the Australian line, combined with commitment from the Aussies.
Thanks for a great world cup!