Australia Face England In World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup Continues As Australia Take On England.
Oct 28, 2008
After a sluggish start to the campaign, England’s bid to win their first World Cup since 1972 looks to be doomed already. Written off by many in the Australian media prior to the tournament kick off in Townsville last Saturday, England’s narrow 32-22 win over Papua New Guinea - coupled with Australia’s 30 points to 6 demolition of New Zealand - has confirmed to many that the trophy might as well be given to the Kangaroos now and be done with it.
England Upbeat
England's players remain upbeat about their task however and are confident that despite their slow start against the Kumals they can overcome the hosts in Melbourne and book their place in the semi-final. Leeds Rhinos half back Danny McGuire told BBC Sport:
“A lot of the players hadn’t played since the Grand Final and you could probably see that with how we performed. As a team we’d not played together since the mid-season test against France so it was nice to get a run out. Hopefully we’ve got the rustiness out and we can kick on now and put in a good performance against Australia at the weekend.”
Even after seeing highlights of the Kangaroo display on Sunday, McGuire is still upbeat:
McGuire's former Rhinos team-mate Gareth Ellis, who will join NRL side Wests after the tournament, added:
“We’re all a little bit disappointed with our performance against Papua New Guinea.”
“In hindsight it might do us a favour but it’s given us a good platform to improve on our performance. That’s the key for this week; we’ll all be striving to do better.
“Now we’ll have a tougher challenge against Australia, that’s not going to be easy but there’s a real sense of belief in the team.”
Coach Tony Smith is yet to name his side, but he told the BBC that changes can be expected:
"There are probably going to be a few adjustments." he said.
"We need to look over the Australia game first before we make a final call.
"Maybe if we see something we can exploit and we've got someone in the squad to do that we'd certainly consider that. I've never picked a team without watching the opposition first."
Aussies Cautious Despite Display
Firm favourites Australia opened their campaign last Sunday with a performance the total opposite to that of England.
The hosts and defending champions powered to a 30-6 win over New Zealand, scoring five tries.
Despite the heavy win, the Australian players are refusing to get as carried away as certain sections of the Aussie media as memories of their 2005 series defeat remain in their minds:
"I've been in this position before, where we've been told we're the favourites, and all we've got to do is turn up and play and we'll win the game," prop Petero Civoniceva told the Sydney Herald.
"In 2005, we got our backsides kicked, when people were saying exactly the same things. That's always in the back of our minds. You never forget those moments. The plane ride home, coming out at Brisbane Airport, and the amount of press that was there, was something I'll never forget. That always burns in the back of your mind."
Hooker and vice-captain Cameron Smith added: "Everyone's saying no one can beat us … we didn't want to go into the Cup thinking that way, thinking that we're the best team in the competition and it's going to be easy for us. We certainly don't believe that [the competition is a one-horse race], which we know is the most important thing. If one bloke or two blokes start thinking that, that's the start of the downfall for our tournament, I think."
Coach Ricky Stuart expects his side to get even better on Sunday and book their place in the semi-final, and then progress even further.
"We wanted to show the opposition we are here to be serious and on form. We now want to show that we can raise the bar."
The Pool A clash in Melbourne will kick off at 7.55pm local time and Australian official Tony Archer will take charge. The remaining Pool A tie between New Zealand and Papua New Guinea takes place on Saturday at Gold Coast Titans' Skilled Park, with both sides in need of a win.
Sources:
BBC SPORT SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
 |
