RLWC Daily Wrap: Round 2 - Day Two
A day full of "what if's", Day Two was a day to forget for 2 teams while one beaten team will remember it forever. You didn't stay up or wake up early -- here's how day two of Round 2 went down.
It was clear from the very first set of the game that Italy was in trouble. Sorry, it was clear they were in trouble before Fiji even kicked it on the last tackle of the set. The Fijian winger catching before being tackled and forcing the Italians to work it out off their 20m line just made the signs even more ominous.
It was when Nathan Brown, the leader of the Italian pack, half knocked-on / offloaded and then accidentally kicked the ball fifteen metres ahead that it was clear the Italians weren’t going to have a chance.
Usually, it feels pretty good to be right. I would have much preferred to have been wrong this morning.
I was not.
Completely dominant from start to finish, there was nothing Italy could do. Dominated through the middle, it was silly mistakes early in the match that gave Fiji the chance to truly set the tone of the match.
When you’re up against a better, stronger team, you have to start fast, as Lebanon did against New Zealand.
Italy did the opposite and could never get its feet back under them. They were almost as bad as the commentators' pronunciation of Fijian names.
Key Moments
The Sun Blinds the Italian Fullback
For a tad over five minutes to start the match, Italy managed to keep Fiji from scoring. While they were clearly on the back foot, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility to imagine them earning a penalty and finding themselves in an attacking position.
Alas, Luke Polselli completely lost a Fijian bomb behind the sun as it landed on his shoulder, providing Fiji the chance they needed to score the first try of the game.
Fiji never looked back.
Standout Players
Apisai Koroisau
Taking a page out of Australia’s book by playing in the halves with the number nine on his back, the more Koroisau touched the ball, the better Fiji looked. Just so crafty with the ball in his hands, Italy didn’t know what he was doing from one second to the next.
Viliame Kikau
Kikau is a special player. There aren’t many rugby league players who can have a stat line like him. While he might not have the work rate in attack or, more specifically, the metres of other forwards, the times he does touch it are devastating. He didn’t run 200 metres from 16 runs. He scored two tries and set up a few others; doing something special with almost every touch.
Tui Kamikamica
The Fijian side completely dominated through the middle and it was the efforts of the Melbourne Storm front-rower that helped them succeed in that area. Running hard and direct, and making. sure the Italian forwards will still be feeling his tackles tomorrow morning, he’s a beast.
Penioni Tagituimua
When you’re replacing Api Koroisau at hooker, it’s pretty difficult to put forth a performance that doesn’t seem like a B in comparison to what Koroisau would provide. However, Tagituimua bought a completely different style to dummy half that worked incredibly along with Koroisau in the halves. With a bigger body, he ran for well over 150m, made his tackles, and tallied two tries to his name.
It didn’t take long for those who had hoped this game would be one of the best games of the round to take a big cartoonish gulp.
I was one of them. After the way France played against Greece and the rivalry that sits between the two nations, I thought there was a chance that if the French stood up and England got a bit over-confident, the game could be close.
For about ten minutes it looked like it could be… then it wasn’t. At all.
With Ryan Hall opening the scoring within five minutes and then adding another five minutes later, it looked like France might be blown off the park.
Yet France fought their way back into it before halftime, setting themselves up for a final, highly-contested forty minutes.
It wasn’t to be.
Key Moments
Pommies Eating Metres like a Scone at High Tea
It isn’t too often that stats completely tell the story. I mean, that’s the entire point of what I’m writing, I suppose. Alas, nothing tells the truth about how England dominated than this; of the thirteen starting players, nine of them ran over 100 metres.
That’s all their starting forwards except for the hooker, both halves, Herbie Farnworth and then 200+ from both Ryan Hall and Dom Young.
It’s almost impossible to win when your team makes almost half the metres of the opposing team with similar possession.
Pre-Halftime Tries Provide Some Hope
After a horrible start to the match, it looked like England might just trample all over the French defence.
However, when Arthur Mourge went over in the 28th minute and then Eloi Pelissier scored four minutes later, France was right back in it, going into halftime down 18-12.
Woke the beast rather than demoralising them
We’ve seen it a million times. A team is just utterly dominant, but they fail to convert a few chances, and all of a sudden the team that was getting smashed is somehow only a try behind and full of confidence.
Nothing deflates the team that was dominant quite like that. However, rather than allowing it to change the way they were playing, England woke up after seemingly going to sleep at the end of the first half.
Within fifteen minutes of the second half, England had scored three more tries and completely took the game out of France’s reach.
Standout Players
Ryan Hall
There are two things Ryan Hall has always been good at. Making metres and scoring tries. The English veteran did both at an incredibly high standard this morning.
Waltzing over for two early tries, Hall earned them through the hard yards he made for England early in their sets. with 22 runs for nearly 250m, France had no answer for him setting a platform for their forwards.
George Williams
Mostly forgotten about in NRL circles since he left the Canberra Raiders under mysterious circumstances, George Williams has quickly reminded anyone who forgot just how good he is.
In everything for the Poms, leading the team around and directing them with his exceptional passing game, Williams made sure not to miss the metre party either, racking up 142m
Victor Radley
With the way they play and the way he plays, I can’t imagine England playing well or winning against quality competition if Radley doesn’t have a great game. His defence, ball-playing and running are all crucial to the success of the team and this morning was no exception.
It’s weird to come out of a 62-point bashing and be more disappointed in the team that won.
Granted, the Kiwis were without their usual playmakers of Dylan Brown and Jahrome Hughes, meaning Joey Manu had to shift into five-eighth, with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstadt coming into fullback.
However, with their number one enemy, Australia, looking like they were covered in wd-40 with how slick they were, I expected the Kiwis to come out with a clinical performance.
This was anything but clinical.
Completing at 69% thanks to a whopping 16 errors, didn’t take their competition seriously, understandably, and weren’t too worried about how they won.
While it doesn’t matter too much now and there are still three games between now and when they inevitably come up against Australia, playing down to your competition is a slippery slope.
Sometimes it’s hard to rise again when you need to.
Key Moments
Jamaica Score their First Try at a Rugby League World Cup
Scoring only one penalty goal against Ireland last week, Jamaica had not scored a try in a Rugby League World Cup. Going to Ben Jones-Bishop, a veteran of Jamaica Rugby League, was an awesome moment. One can only hope ten years from now it is just the first of many.
Standout Players
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
Say what you will about the competition or other players that were worthy. Not only did Watene-Zelezniak run for 255m, he scored 4 tries and assisted 2. Combine that with 4 tackle breaks, 6 line breaks, and 3 line break assists, Watene-Zelezniak was awesome.
Brandon Smith
This game wasn’t built for the forwards but it was certainly open to the work of Brandon Smith through the middle. Earning himself 132m and 2 tries from hooker, Smith was doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted against the poor Jamaican defence.
Want to support but hate the thought of receiving more emails? Buy me a coffee instead! It’s much appreciated.
Like what you see? Think about subscribing! It’s completely free and allows you to receive every new post from Out of My League straight into your inbox.