World Cup 2022

Thought a separate thread is in order.  Men's, Women's and Wheelchair rugby to look forward to.

Men's Groups

Pool A

England
France
Greece
Samoa


Pool B

Australia
Fiji
Italy
Scotland


World Cup Pool C

Ireland
Jamaica
Lebanon
New Zealand


World Cup Pool D

Cook Islands
Papua New Guinea
Tonga
Wales

Well let's start with the hosts. Squad announcement;

Sam Tomkins (Catalans Dragons, captain), Andy Ackers (Salford Red Devils), Joe Batchelor (St Helens), John Bateman (Wigan Warriors), Tom Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Mike Cooper (Wigan Warriors), Herbie Farnworth (Brisbane Broncos), Ryan Hall (Hull KR), Chris Hill (Huddersfield Giants), Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Tommy Makinson (all St Helens), Michael McIlorum, Mike McMeeken (both Catalans Dragons), Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos), Kai Pearce-Paul (Wigan Warriors), Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters), Marc Sneyd (Salford Red Devils), Luke Thompson (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Kallum Watkins (Salford Red Devils), Jack Welsby (St Helens), Elliott Whitehead (Canberra Raiders), George Williams (Warrington Wolves), Dom Young (Newcastle Knights).

Big blow losing Walmsley & Lomax. I would LOVE to see England have a positive tournament, in honesty however it might be very hard work.

First game v Samoa could be key and will not be easy, their squad looks packed with pace, power and skill at the top of the NRL

Samoa squad;

J Aloiai (Manly), F Brown (Wests Tigers), S Crichton (Penrith), M Feagai (St George Illawarra), B Hamlin-Uele (Cronulla), C Harris-Tavita (NZ Warriors), R Hunt (Cronulla), O Kaufusi (Parramatta), L Leilua (North Queensland), S Leniu (Penrith), D Levi (Huddersfield), J Luai (Penrith), Taylan May (Penrith), Tyrone May (Catalans), A Milford (Newcastle Knights), J Papalii (Canberra), J Paulo (Parramatta), J Su'a (St George Illawarra), J Suaalii (Sydney Roosters), H Tabuai-Fidow (North Queensland), I Tago (Penrith), M Taupa'u (Manly), B To'o (Penrith), K Tuilagi (Wests Tigers).

Looks formidable, could they upset the applecart?

Ireland squad, coached by Ged Corcoran;

James Bentley, Richie Myler (Leeds Rhinos), Kenan Brand, Ed Chamberlain (Leigh Centurions), Liam Byrne, James McDonnell (Wigan Warriors), Josh Cook (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Frankie Halton, George King (capt), Louis Senior (Hull KR), James Hasson (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Jaimin Jolliffe (Gold Coast Titans), Luke Keary (Sydney Roosters), Joe Keyes (Halifax Panthers), Toby King, Robbie Mulhern (Warrington Wolves), Ben Mathiou (Featherstone Rovers), Ronan Michael, Brendan O'Hagan (York City Knights), Dan Norman (St Helens), Henry O'Kane (West Tigers), Harry Rushton, Innes Senior (Huddersfield Giants), Michael Ward (Batley Bulldogs).

Scotland Squad; Head Coach Nathan Graham

Charlie Emslie, Shane Toal (Barrow Raiders), Keiran Buchanan (Batley Bulldogs), Logan Bayliss-Brow (Brisbane Broncos), Bailey Hayward (Caterbury Bulldogs), Davey Dixon, Dale Ferguson (Dewsbury Rams), Lewis Clarke (Edinburgh Eagles), Ben Hellewell (Featherstone Rovers), Lachlan Walmsley (Halifax Panthers), Kane Linnett (Hull KR), Calum Gahan, Alex Walker (London Broncos), Kyle Schneider (Mackay Cutters), Euan Aitken (New Zealand Warriors), Luke Bain (Parramatta Eels), Ryan Brierley, Sam Luckley (Salford Red Devils), Bayley Liu (Sheffield Eagles), James Bell (St Helens), Matty Russell (Toulouse), Liam Hood (Wakefield), Guy Graham (Whitehaven RLFC), Jack Teanby (York City Knights).

In honesty it might be hard work for them, Australian and Fiji in their group.

Australian Squad; Coach Mal Meninga

Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Reagan Campbell-Gillard (Parramatta Eels), Patrick Carrigan (Brisbane Broncos), Daly Cherry-Evans, Jake Trbojevic (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles), Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin, Isaah Yeo (Penrith Panthers), Lindsay Collins, Angus Crichton, James Tedesco (c) (Sydney Roosters), Reuben Cotter, Valentine Holmes, Jeremiah Nanai, Murray Taulagi (North Queensland Cowboys), Tino Fa'asuamaleaui (Gold Coast Titans), Campbell Graham, Latrell Mitchell, Cameron Murray (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Harry Grant, Cameron Munster (Melbourne Storm), Ben Hunt (St George Illawarra Dragons), Jack Wighton (Canberra Raiders).

New Zealand squad; Coach Michael Maguire

Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Jesse Bromwich, Kenneath Bromwich, Jahrome Hughes, Brandon Smith (Melbourne Storm), Dylan Brown, Marata Niukore, Isaiah Papali'i (Parramatta Eels) James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Scott Sorensen (Penrith Panthers), Kieran Foran (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles), Peta Hiku (North Queensland Cowboys), Sebastian Kris, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Jordan Rapana, Joseph Tapine (Canberra Raiders), Isaac Liu (Gold Coast Titans), Joseph Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Sydney Roosters), Jeremy Marshall-King (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs), Ronaldo Mulitalo, Briton Nikora (Cronulla Sharks), Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (Warriors)

Hopeful of a good tournament. I think the whole thing is on the BBC so it could be a great advert for the game in this country.

Samoa and Tonga look good quality on paper, so instead of the usual RLWC situation of three potential winners, there are five possible winners this year - although England look quite a bit weaker than at the last two tournaments. This should mean more high-quality and competitive games, but there's still going to be far too many blowouts in the group stage. In my view there should be a prelim round of some sort, similar to what is being done in the World T20 cricket, to avoid so many of these one-sided games.

Australia are still the big favourites, of course, and it will take a strong effort to stop them.

I see looking at the odds that Samoa are actually favourites to win the tournament opener v England, which underlines how far they've come and, partially, how much England have regressed.

Times and dates of the fixtures
(Women and wheelchairs world cups are in the news sections)

GROUP STAGES

SAT 15th OCT.

14.30 - England v Samoa - St James park Newcastle.
19.30 - Australia v Fiji - Headingley Leeds.

SUN 16TH OCT.

14.30 - Scotland v Italy - Kingston Park Newcastle.
17.00 - Jamacia v Ireland - Headingley Leeds.
19.30 - New Zealand v Lebanon - Warrington.

MON 17TH OCT.

19.30 - France v Greece - Keepmoat Std Doncaster.

TUES 18TH OCT.

19.30 - Tonga v Papua New Guinea - St Helens.

WED 19TH OCT.

19.30 - Wales v Cook Islands - Leigh.

FRI 21ST OCT.

19.30 - Australia v Scotland - Rioch Arena Coventry.

SAT 22ND OCT.

14.30 - Fiji v Italy - Kingston Park Newcastle.
17.00 - England v France - Bolton.
19.30 - New Zealand v Jamaica - Mkm std Hull.

SUN 23RD OCT.

14.30 - Lebanon v Ireland - Leigh.
17.00 - Samoa v Greece - Keepmoat Std Doncaster.

MON 24TH OCT.

19.30 - Tonga v Wales - St Helens.

TUES 25TH OCT

19.30 - Papua New guinea v Cook Islands - Warrington.

FRI 28TH OCT

19.30 - New Zealand v Ireland - Headingley Leeds.

SAT 29TH OCT.

14.30 - England v Greece - Bramell Lane Sheffield.
17.00 - Fiji v Scotland - Kingston Park Newcastle.
19.30 - Australia v Italy - St Helens.

SUN 30TH OCT.

12.00 - Lebanon v Jamaica - Leigh.
14.30 - Tonga v Cook Islands - Middlesbrough.
17.00 - Samoa v France - Warrington.

MON 31ST OCT.

19.30 - Papua New Guinea v Wales - Keepmoat Doncaster.


QUARTER FINALS

FRI 4TH NOV.

19.30 - Group B winner v Group C 2nd place - Huddersfield.

SAT 5TH NOV

14.30 - Group A winner v Group D 2nd - Wigan.
19.30 - Group C winner v Group B 2nd - MKM Hull.

SUN 6TH NOV.

14.30 - Group D Winner v Group A 2nd - Warrington.


SEMI FINALS

FRI 11TH NOV

19.45 - QF1 winner v QF3 Winner - Elland Rd Leeds.

SAT 12TH NOV.

14.30 - QF2 Winners v QF4 winners - Emirates std London.


FINAL

SAT 19TH NOV.

16.00 - Old Trafford Manchester.

Seems silly to have one semi-final down south, when the rest of the tournament is played in the north.

Squads not already posted (Sorry won't be putting teams they play for) also sorry for bad spelling that's completely my fault.

GROUP A

FRANCE
Lambert Belmas, Alvisca Da Costa, Jordan Dezaria, Morgan Escare, Ben Garcia, Tony Gigot, Mickael Goademandy, Louis Jouffet, Benjamin Jullien, Matthew Laguerre, samisoni Langi, Corentiu Le Cam, Paul Marconi, Anthony Mariou, Arthur Mourgue, Eloi Pelissier, Maxiune Puech, Arthur Romano, Cesar Rouge, Justin Sangare, Paul Seguire, Gadwin Springer, Maxime Stefani, Fouad Yaha.

GREECE
Stefanos Bastas, Nikoloas Bosmos, Terence Constantinou, Aris Dardamunis, Nicholas Flocas, Myles Gal, Lachlan Ilias, Jake Kambos, Konstantino Katsidonis, Grigorios Koutsimpogiorgos, Billy Magoulias, Peter Mamouzelos, Jordan Meads, Jonathan Mitsias, Nicholas Mougios, Ioannis Rousoglou, Sebastian Sell, Liam sue-Tin, Siteni Taukamo, Robert Tuliatu, Mitchell Zampetide.


GROUP B

FIJI
Jowasa Drodrolagi, Tui Kamikamica, Vuate Korawalevu, Villiame Kikau, Apisai Koroisau, Issac Lumelume, Pio Maisamouseal, Lamar Manuel-Liolevave, Nestane Masima, Kaylen Miller, Sitiveni Moceidrdee, Kevin Naiqama, Ben Nakubuwai, Henry Rawalui, Joseph Ratuvakacereivaly, Mikaele Ravalawa, Taniela Sadrugu, Maika Sivo, Penioni Tagitumua, Sunia turuva, Semi Valemai, King Vuniyayawa, Brandon Waheham, Josh won.

ITALY
Daniel Atkinson, Nathan Brown, Joey Tramoultan, Cooper Johns, Ryan King, Jake Maizen, Luca Moretti, Luke Polsell, Jack Campagono, Alec Susino, Luke Hodge, Kyle Pickering, Jack Colovatti, Ethan Natoli, Rinaldo Palumbo, Nicholas Tilburg, Gieolo Colerines, Simone Boscolo, Giordano Arena, Ippolito Occhiaulini, Alex Rojatto, Dean Parata, Brenden Santi, Anton Laria, Richard Leponi.

GROUP C

LEBANON
Jalal Bazzaz, Adam Doueihi, Hanna El-Nacha, Toufic El-Hajj, Elie El-Zakheim, Atef Hamdon, Kayne Kalache, Andrew Kazzi, Jacob Kiraz, Bilaal Maarbani, Anthony Layou, Josh Mansour, Jaxson Rahme, Josh Maree, Tony Maroun, Absas Miski, Brad Morloos, Mitchell Moses, Khalil Rahme, Khalad Rajab, Reece Robinson, James Roumanou, Mikey Tannous, Chasrbel Tasipale.

JAMACIA
Greg Johnson, AJ Wallace, Aaron jones-Bishop, Ross Peltier, Keehen Tomlinson, Chevauguau Bailey, Khamish McKain, Andrew Simpson, Marvin Thompson, Renaldo Wade, James Woodburn-hall, Ashton Goulding, Michael Lawrence, Kieran Rush, Bradley Ho, Mo Agoro, Abevia McDonald, Joel Farrell, Ben Jones-Bishop, Joo Brown, Alex Young, Jacob Ogden, Jordan Andrade, JY-mel Coleman.

GROUP D

TONGA
Talatau Junior Amona, David Fifita, Adsin Fonua-Blake, Moeaki Fotuaika, Siliva Havili, Will Hopoate, Konrad Hurrell, Isaiya Katoa, Sione Katoa, Felise Kaufusi, Keaon Koloamatangi, Toluta'u Koula, Tui Lolohea, Soni Luke, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Kesi Niu, Haumole Olakan'atu, Will Winkle, Moses Suli, Siosifia Kaukeiaho, Jason Taumalolo, Daniel Tupou.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Wellington Albert, Jacob Alick, Kevin Appo, Watson Boas, Xavier Coates, Edene Gebbie, Edwin Ipape, Zev John,Alex Johnston, Lachlan Lam, Kyle Laybutt, Nene McDonald, Rhyse Martin, Sylvester Namo, Jimmy Ngutlery, Justin Olam, Nixon Putt, Dan Russell, Jeremiah Simbeken, Rodrick Tal, Sherwain Tanabi, Wesser Tenza, Emmanuel Waine, McKenzie Yei.

COOK ISLANDS
Kevin Arona, Tinirau Arona, Geoffrey Daniels, Jonathan Ford, Anthony Gelling, Kayal Iro, Makahesi McKatoa, Steven Marsters, Esan Marsters, Savvy Moale, Tepai Moerra, Rylan Napa, Ruatapu Ngetikaura, Moses Woovgo McGreal, Pride Petterson-Rabati, Dom Peyroux, Brendon Piakuru, Reuben Porter, Vincent Rennie, Reubenn Rennie, Brad Takairangi, Aaron Tevoi, Zane Tetevano, Paul Ulberg.

Quick thoughts.

Agree with Beast regards England's injuries, especially Walmsley who is arguably the best prop on the world right now. And as Duty says, the Samoa game is important and not just for the good start.
The rest of the group's are wide open as to who will get 2nd place (Australia, New Zealand, Tonga you would expect to finish rop) especially in groups c&d. And to be honest the draws for the group's, and qualifying is a whole lot better than the previous 2 world cups. France could put in a suprise against the 2 other teams in group A.

Duty.

They always do, Last time in England (2013),the semi final was at Wembley (though there was a group game in Bristol). It's to try and spread the sport and capitalise on a London crowd, and people going for the weekend. We've had 4 nations games at London stadium and Loftus rd. The more suprising venue is Middlesbrough. And I'm not sure about Newcastle having that many games, when Cumbria has none (you could argue ground Capacity but a small full ground is just as much a boast, and we had alot in 2013 Halifax,workington for example both full to the seems)..

England stuff Fiji 50-0 in there warm up game last night, very good signs.

Today France/Tonga & Wales/Lebanon warm up games.

Thanks Beast for getting this thread up and running and Luke for posting the rest of the squads up.
Some very decent seasoned players in some of those teams and you did a great job getting all those names in there... with all the tricky spelling.  

Yeah, for me the Big 3 plus Tonga and Samoa are the ones who will most likely clinch the silverware.

The England result v Fiji is a good sign for you guys. I think you still have a very strong and experienced squad with good depth despite the unavailability of Walmsley, Lomax and Percival. Looking forward to see Victor Radley... he's as tough as teak and leaves nothing on the field.

The growing strength of Samoa and Tonga with groups of hardened players from Penrith, Souths, Cowboys, Parramatta, etc will be something to watch out for. I'm also looking forward to the Tonga-PNG, England-France, Tonga-Wales and Samoa-France games... should be some thrilling contests hopefully.

On Wales - I know they're probably not the force they once were but how are they looking for this tournament?
On France - I don't know much about them either. Any players to look out for and can they spring any surprises?

Anyway, the first match kicks off in less than an hour now. Australia-Fiji is on at 05:30am here.
Recording them both but I'll see if I can watch at least the first one live before I conk out.

Hope the tournament is a cracker and may your team go well!

France tend to be mainly Catalan players. There league has unfortunately been abit poor the last few years with one side dominating. They got stuffed by Tonga last week in the friendly.

Wales have suffered from lack of games, and again don't think they will do well. Though as you know an early win can do wonders.

The team's (other than the big ones), I think could pull off a shock. Ireland good balance and some good players in key positions, Lebanon same.

One I'm interested in, Greece great experience for alot of players who play in the Greek league.

Could be the worst opening ceremony I've seen!

Going to be a very tough test against a highly physical Samoa side.

Duty281 wrote:Could be the worst opening ceremony I've seen!

Going to be a very tough test against a highly physical Samoa side.

Yeah, obviously some technical problems but those flags in the crowd look pretty impressive. Good atmosphere there.

Think the atmosphere during the game has been very lacklustre. Should have held the first game in a rugby league heartland - Wigan, Leeds, St Helens, Huddersfield, Hull - for a proper atmosphere, rather than in Newcastle.

Anyway, really positive first 40 for England. Playing the game at pace; moving the ball well; individual confidence from every player to try creative things; and all backed up by a strong kick chase and fast defensive line. I just hope conceding that intercept try doesn't rein in their creative endeavours.

Haven't seen a lot of Dom Young in the NRL this year, but he looks like he'll be a superstar in the sport for many years to come...and he could easily transition to the 15-a-side version.

Samoa have looked flat in comparison, though they're still well in the contest. Had they made it 18-12 just before HT it would be a different game entirely. Too many individual errors from them so far, and they've ended most of their sets poorly. Their kick chase in particular has been woeful.

First try in the second half will go a long way to deciding it. Samoa get it and nerves could engulf England. England score it and they surely can't surrender a 16/18 point lead.

Yep, that Watkins try knocked Samoa out of contention and now they've really fallen apart. Nasty late hit on Tomkins underlined a ragged effort.

It's obviously difficult to judge the international stature of teams in this sport because the international game is played so sparingly. But on this evidence England have a good chance of winning the tournament. We haven't seen them consistently tested defensively in this one, and the kicking game needs work, but England look a powerful unit playing with confidence and style. And winning this one should mean, barring upsets, that England have no prospect of playing Aus or NZ (and not both) until the final.* Dream start.

Samoa the opposite. Look good on paper, but on the pitch they were disjointed, lacked chemistry and made far too many handling errors. They've got time to grow into the competition, with games v France and Greece to come, but they're set for a tough QF with Tonga.

* No prospect of this due to the draw anyway. Have to say the tournament draw looks odd with the possibility of England/Samoa re-matching for a SF. Usually in other sports' World Cups the only time two teams from the same group can play again is in the final.

Wow, 50 up!

60-6 final score, that's unreal. Samoa chucked it in for the last 20, but it was still pretty much a complete performance from England.

If someone had said England would have scored 40 I would have laughed. OK Samoa were not great but a sensational result, really hoping the media get behind the tournament on the back of it and some much needed publicity and good will is generated.

Re; Atmosphere I missed the opening ceremony, watching on TV it was weirdly quiet, I question if the pitch-side microphones were working or switched on.

Welcome again Pal Joey hope you are well. Aus beat Fiji minus their Grand Final players 42-8. Looked very rusty in the first half, however the way they started the second suggested to me Meninga had some strong words in the second half, Harry Grant was superb, great to see Addo-Carr in the UK and with space to run, is there a faster athlete in World sports outside of Track and Field?

Duty281 wrote:Think the atmosphere during the game has been very lacklustre. Should have held the first game in a rugby league heartland - Wigan, Leeds, St Helens, Huddersfield, Hull - for a proper atmosphere, rather than in Newcastle.

Samoa have looked flat in comparison, though they're still well in the contest. Had they made it 18-12 just before HT it would be a different game entirely. Too many individual errors from them so far, and they've ended most of their sets poorly. Their kick chase in particular has been woeful.

Yes, the atmosphere wasn't buzzing much for most of the first half, I meant those initial scenes pre-game when the Samoan spectators formed the flag in the stand and the anticipation for the match was building up. Once the lead had jumped out in the 2nd half and the tries started to flow, the home crowd got more into it.

On Newcastle as a venue... I understand what you mean. Maybe they're simply trying to promote the game a bit more there but I'd agree it would have been more vocal in those places you mention. Would Elland Road have been a better venue for the other match? I know Headingley is the home of the Rhinos but the ground lacked atmosphere too. I just remember some Test matches at Elland Rd 30 years ago when the crowd was jam packed in and the noise was incredible.

I thought England played a near perfect game. Straight up the middle to soften the Samoans up initially with some deft handling to gain yardage. Then blew them away out wide with some great individual efforts and fine sequences of play. The Samoans were at 6s and 7s and struggled to contain the momentum and then they lost some discipline and defensive structure - which was well exploited by England.

It occurred to me during the match that some of the NRL 'stars' were at a complete loss as to how to handle the England onslaught. The classic 'team of champions' v 'a champion team' scenario. Shows how much value the consolidated game plan of an NRL team on a long run of wins is something an individual player should never take for granted.

England, on the other hand, had many new players coming together too but they played as a cohesive team unit and from that approach the individual play makers were able to produce the goods. Control with the ball and good discipline paid dividends and they were much smarter than their opposition.

The Beast wrote:If someone had said England would have scored 40 I would have laughed.  OK Samoa were not great but a sensational result, really hoping the media get behind the tournament on the back of it and some much needed publicity and good will is generated.

Re; Atmosphere I missed the opening ceremony, watching on TV it was weirdly quiet, I question if the pitch-side microphones were working or switched on.

Welcome again Pal Joey hope you are well.  Aus beat Fiji minus their Grand Final players 42-8.  Looked very rusty in the first half, however the way they started the second suggested to me Meninga had some strong words in the second half, Harry Grant was superb, great to see Addo-Carr in the UK and with space to run, is there a faster athlete in World sports outside of Track and Field?

Cheers mate. I watched the recording just before.

Yes, it was a slow start with the Fiji try to put them on the scoreboard first but from then on it was pretty much all one-way traffic. Probably typical for a first WC group match where Big Mal is blooding a few debutantes and looking at possible combinations within the squad.

That was a nice run from Addo-Carr to score his try. He's a real character. I just hope he remains aware of the short in-goal areas and gets the ball down early like he did for his try. Same applies for the offensive kicking game close to the try line. There's not much space to work with so pinpoint accuracy is required. Australian players are used to much more space in the in-goal area but I'm sure that's been factored in.

I think they still blew a few chances with poor handling, dropped ball and wrong options / poor execution on the 5th tackle but even so it was not a bad start to the tournament. There's so much talent there in the squad but I got the sense they were beginning to loosen up and hit their straps especially in the 2nd half. Val Holmes was good with the boot too.

England's performance was a statement I thought, good hard running took there chances then let rip. France Samoa last game becomes very interesting now (if as expected both beat Greece).
Agree Duty, should have been held in the heartlands, now problem having games in Newcastle later, but the opening ceremony in Manchester,Leeds would have better.
Elland Rd for me, great atmosphere and because of how it's built tends to keep alot of the noise in.

Didn't see Australia, so can't really comment.

Yesterday's results.

World number one's New Zealand overcame a dogged performance by Lebanon to win 34-12. Italy beat a disappointing Scotland 28-4, and Ireland put in a great performance to beat Jamacia 48-2.

I saw Scotland v Italy. I have to be honest IMO Scotland were awful. I have no idea who played half-back but there was seemingly no organisation in attack leading more defence. They have Australia on Friday, a repeat of that will be a cricket score.

Bookmakers seem to agree - Australia have 60 points on the handicap v Scotland.

Saw most of France/Greece tonight. Not impressed by France, they made pretty tough work of beating the Greeks. Gigot had a very poor game. Don't see them getting close to either England or Samoa on this evidence.

Gigot has had a poor season, don't quite understand how he got into the squad in my opinion.

Game of the tournament so far by light years between Tonga and PNG. An amazing contest showcasing RL at its brilliant best and Tonga managed a late winner.

Underdogs PNG perhaps somewhat unfortunate to be on the losing side - a couple of close chances missed in the first half, and narrowly on the wrong end of a tight video ref decision in the second.

Another entertaining game, this time between Wales and the Cook Islands.

Wales just lacking the composure in attack at the end to snatch a draw, but they still got closer than many would have thought. Tremendous effort from them.

Don't understand on the last play why the fullback didn't just back himself and go low.
But otherwise like you say another food game.

Very much enjoyed Tonga v PNE, agreed the latter very unfortunate the "corner post" incident looked like a try to me.

Wales did much better than I expected, I thought their halves were excellent in particular Ollie Olds.

Scotland 60 points in the handicap (thanks Duty) need a big improvement or that might be generous.

Australia 40-0 up at half time.

Australia defensively outstanding,and if they where less conservative in attack would have been over 60.

Scotland, well best you can say is there massively outclassed. Not helped by some individual defence mistake.

Finishes 84-0.

Australia dominate. Scotland couldn't do anything.

Very professional from Australia, but these mismatches are not good for the game, the audience or the team getting battered.

And there'll be too many of these mismatches over the weekend, with Tonga set to smash Wales, NZ to destroy Jamaica and Samoa to thrash Greece. Even England are likely to give France a wallop. There should have been a prelim round to limit the demolitions.

Disagree there.

Sometimes you just have to accept that an outstanding team will have these games. It's happened in every sport (look at the big scores in the premier league, no one calls for that to be reduced). Australia gave a pretty much near perfect performance, that would have beaten all most every side by a decent score.
The only way to improve international rugby league is by a) having more internationals so sides are playing constantly. B) sides playing the best and learning. I've seen Australia/Scotland at Hull krs ground, and Scotland gave a brilliant showing, yes they lost but put up a fight, this time they ran into an exceptional performance. It happens. Until these sides are playing yearly, unfortunately they are going to be a step behind.

In what I thought could be a close, decent game. Turns out I thought wrong, as Fiji stuff Italy 60-4.

England beat France 42-18.

Patchy performance, excellent at start and for 15 minutes of the 2nd half, otherwise solid. Bateman pass to whitehead was forward, but some good attacking phases.
France where very conservative in attack, when they opened up looked dangerous. Didn't do it enough.

England looked pretty complacent and disinterested after the strong start effectively won the game. It's a shame the Samoa game wasn't the last group game, because then England could have surged into the KO rounds with real momentum, rather than just wondering in after defeating France and Greece and not being tested.

NZ/Jamaica next. Fear for the Jamaicans, Kiwis could put up a century.

Ht New Zealand 34-0 up.

New Zealand clinical, but Jamaica are giving a decent account, and trying things. Don't look like scoring, but am enjoying watching them. New Zealand attacking well, especially out wide.

Really good effort from Jamaica and to get the try near the end was amazing.

Will admit to not knowing much about RL as a RU fan but, I will support Ireland in all they do

Should be the closest encounter of the weekend and it's effectively a last-16 knockout game.

Irelands call sounding very northern English

Wasn't particularly close, Lebanon played excellently and Moses controlled the game with precision. Thought Ireland were quite a nasty team and put in several cheap and violent hits, for which they should have be sanctioned more heavily by the referee.

Going back I know but Australia admittedly under no pressure were superb, their techniques are spot on and they are relentless in their application. Every time they take the ball up there is someone in support, very hard to line someone up and hammer them when there a threat of tipping the ball on. Most of the game "basic" skills but IMO the best are the best due their core skills being so solid.

Yes, England scratchy, harsh on debut but I am not sure Ackers generally showed he is as yet at the level required. Yes great from dummy half but passing needs to be a lot crisper. Surprisingly to me Eng look better with Williams/Welsby in the halves.

Credit to Jamaica they have shown some fantastic grit and fight. Not loving Andrew Voss on commentary, I don't mind some humour but somewhat patronising IMO.

Lebanon for me impressive today, nothing however went right for Ireland who as Duty suggests seemed more interested in hurting the opposition then playing.

As a general comment it is a shame to see so many one sided scores but the sport cannot win. We have had tournaments with fewer teams and convoluted groups which have faced some flak. Change the structure there is flak. Secondly IMO what attracts me to the game explains why these scores blow out, so hard to defend when teams are pretty well just defending, the ball is in play a lot more that Union, there is no soccer style of play to put 11 men in the penalty area if you are on the back foot there is nowhere to hide.

I think a prelim round would have worked best, maybe somewhat convoluted but would have led to a better and tighter competition. Two problems I see with the group stage:

1) Three of the groups you know who would qualify before a ball was kicked, so not much interest there. The only group with an unknown was Lebanon or Ireland in Group C.

2) All of the HW matches in the groups other than C, to decide a fairly meaningless top spot, were played on the first week - Eng v Samoa; Aus v Fiji; Tonga v PNG...I suppose you could add NZ v Lebanon as well! This may have set up an interesting first week, but it means weeks two and three are rather dull, as we watch Eng, Aus, NZ, Tonga, PNG, Samoa and Fiji all steamroller their opposition. The competition loses a bit of momentum as hardly any of the games in weeks two and three are remotely close.

It was far from perfect but I really liked the 2008 format, which put the smaller nations into two separate groups of their own, and had the three big teams in their own group. There were a lot of close games as a result.

NZ with a bit of a messy win over Ireland to start the third round of games. NZ not looking like a potential World Cup winning side from what I've seen of them against Lebanon and Ireland - defensive weaknesses on the edges, poor goalkicking and too many basic errors. QF v Fiji for them next week. They should win but can't say it's a guarantee.

No, Hughes was outstanding but other than that they where just okay. Ireland just kept shooting themselves in the foot with poor defensive reads. Though not sure how Warerea-Hargreaves stayed on, that's a red any day of the week. Also thought Hicks (especially 1st half), was just giving everything to New Zealand.

I don't think Maguire's style helps the Kiwis.

Okay.
So we got the blowout win by a massive score.
But fair play to Greece, given that until a month ago it was illegal to play RL in the country. Stuck to the task, and played okay against a top 3 team in the world.

As for England, 3 wins, lots of points, no injuries and a couple of selection dilemmas. Going really well so far.

Greece gave it a really good first twenty, as well, before they tired, probably as an accumulation of all the games played to this point.

Job done for England so far. Looks as though we're heading for a 2017 rematch in the final.

The other games.

Australia got there big win against Italy. Though thought Italy played okay, just made far to many errors to really trouble the Aussies.

And Fiji beat a good effort from Scotland. Good game this, Scotland where good. Fiji disappointing.