Final thoughts
Well, no surprise about the result, but possibly about the margin of Australia’s victory, and certainly about how hard England pushed their hosts. That they were still in with a shout of winning it themselves with six minutes remaining speaks volumes for their efforts. It might not have been pretty, but they rattled the reigning world champions with a gutsy display based on some hard-nosed defence, and for that they should be given credit. They should also be able to take inspiration from that performance into their next game, although the injury to Sam Burgess will, of course, be of major concern to Wayne Bennett. The latest is that he’ll be out for three to four weeks with a medial ligament injury.
Australia, though, were just too good in the end as they ensured the defence of their crown began in winning style. As Slater alluded to, there are improvements to be made, and that will only be of concern to their rivals, but on the night, they did enough to see off England. Mal Meninga should be pleased.
Right, that’s about it from me. Thanks for joining us, and see you next time. Here’s John Davidson’s match report from AAMI Park:
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“All in all a tough effort and a good start to our preparations,” says Billy Slater, while England skipper Sean O’Loughlin says, “We’re disappointed but there’s a lot more in us. But it’s not a bad place to stat. We’re not pleased with a loss but we can take something out of it.”
Full-time: Australia 18-4 England
80 mins: And there goes the siren. Australia win by 14 points, probably deservedly, but credit to England who ran them close enough. A few more thoughts to follow.
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TRY! Australia 18-4 England (Dugan)
79 mins: That’s it! All over now at AAMI Park as Josh Dugan picks up a cross-field kick that no one else wanted to touch and runs pretty much the entire length of the field to score and secure victory for Australia! Incredible work from James Graham though, who tries to catch him and doesn’t give up until the whistle sounds. Smith with the extras.
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77 mins: That kick has taken the wind out of England’s sails.
Penalty goal! Australia 12-4 England (Smith)
75 mins: Well, this could, and should, be the game now! The Kangaroos get a penalty within range and Smith will go for goal. His sweet left foot doesn’t fail him and with eight points the difference now, it looks like England’s hopes are over.
73 mins: Ooh! Big defence from Australia this time! England threaten and as Hall gets the ball and looks to power into the corner, along come Gagai and Slater to barge him out of play! What a huge play what might prove to be.
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72 mins: Anyway, after that break in play – likely needed by both sets of players – we back underway, with England again on the front foot. Gale ends up grubbering through and Slater can’t get out of his own in-goal! Another chance for England now.
71 mins: The play goes to the video referee, who’s interested in what happens after Morgan and Lomax both dived for the ball. The decision is that Morgan knocked the ball out of Lomax’s hands, and forward, so England start again on their 20m line.
70 mins: Gagai, under a high kick, keeps his cool and takes the ball cleanly. Australia needed that. And the hosts build on that, a move forward culminating in Morgan’s grubber ricocheting off an English leg before he attempts to dive on it in the in-goal!
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69 mins: This is a tremendous encounter. Both sets of players are sucking down air, they look knackered, but there’s still another 10 minutes left.
67 mins: Drama! England are heaping the pressure on the Kangaroos! Lomax attempts a kick through that he chases himself but Australia come up with it! And with that, the hosts can take a bit of a breather.
66 mins: Slater fumbles a high ball yards from his goal line and England have a great chance to hit back! Roby gets the ball, sees a gap and barges over! He’s definitely over, but he can’t ground the ball, with Slater holding him up!
65 mins: Widdop is lucky here, as he loses the ball before he grans it back acrobatically and rather fortuitously.
63 mins: McGillvary is called up for a penalty and it gives Australia an opportunity to attack. Klemmer, with that distinctive, powerful high-stepping manner he has, pumps off towards the English goal line. The pressure increases but England’s defence, as it did for the majority of the first half, holds firm!
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61 mins: Ryan Hall, who’s been immense for England, heads off on another muscular run before being brought down by Gagai. The Australians eventually gain possession deep in their own half.
60 mins: We reach the hour mark in Melbourne and the imposing figure of Josh Dugan reemerges from the sheds. Looks like he’s fine to come back into the fray.
58 mins: I’m not sure what Wayne Bennett said at half-time, but whatever it was, it’s worked. His team are a try and a kick away from levelling this up and the way they’re playing at the moment, you wouldn’t bet against it, if betting is your thing.
56 mins: England are “bossing” possession so far this half – well, the graphic on the telly tells us they have enjoyed 52% thus far. It might not be dominant, but what a turnaround from the opening period.
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55 mins: Lomax nearly gets through the Kangaroos’ defence, and only an ankle tap from Holmes arrests his progress! There’s plenty of life left in the English and it’s Australia’s turn to try to get out of their own half now.
53 mins: Hill now takes a hit-up as England creep forwards, past halfway. Again it goes to McGillvary on the wing, and he again opts to kick. Nothing comes of his invention this time, and Australia can build again.
52 mins: This is much better from England. Much better indeed. They seem to have found some kind of second wind since they settled after half-time. There’s a lot more energy to their play and they’re creating scoring chances.
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50 mins: Burgess update: he won’t return tonight, and will be diagnosed fully after the match.
48 mins: McGillvary, with the ball in his hands and the wind in his hair, chooses to attempt a kick through – it hits a Kangaroo player though and the move forward breaks down. That was a chance for a re-invigorated England.
47 mins: Josh Dugan’s gone the same way as Sam Burgess at the end of the first half – up the tunnel. The Kangaroo will be checked out after that earlier head knock.
46 mins: Dugan and McGillvary have a very slight tete-a-tete – and I mean slight, it’s barely anything – but it brings to mind how little aggro there has been tonight. Especially since there was pre-match mutterings that there could be some biffo, due to the relaxed punching rules at this World Cup.
44 mins: Excitement at AAMI Park! Dugan and Holmes both go down within a second of each other with head knocks and Lomax takes advantage by feeding the marauding McGillvary. He dances through the Kangaroos defence but is stopped short of the try line.
43 mins: Word is that the England staff are still assessing Sam Burgess. Which means that he’s not out of the game just yet. Don’t forget, this is a man who played pretty much an entire NRL grand final with a broken cheek bone.
42 mins: Chance for Australia! Morgan boots a high ball into the night sky and Roby can’t hang onto his catch, even without any pressure on him. He spills it and Australia will have a scrum. They nearly mess it up, but then Slater does, dropping a simple pass. Looks like both sides need a little more time to warm back up again.
41 mins: OK, here we go again. Let’s not forget it’s still a tight game – just six points in it. But of course, who scores the next try will be crucial to the outcome. England are back out first, without Sam Burgess.
Time for a quick cuppa and I’ll be back for the second half in a couple of minutes.
And breathe. A hectic half of rugby league, that one. The blow of losing Burgess could prove costly for England, not just tonight, but for the remainder of the tournament, if it’s as bad as feared. England’s next game is next Saturday, 4 November, against Lebanon in Sydney, FYI.
Half-time: Australia 10-4 England
40 mins: Indeed it is. The siren goes and the first half is brought to a close. It’s been one that Australia have dominated, despite having gone down an early try, and perhaps should have ended with a greater lead than the six-point one they hold.
39 mins: Slater nearly opens up the English defence at one end, but McGillvary intercepts a pass out wide, crucially so, before stretching his long legs to take the ball up the other! He’s eventually stopped in his tracks, though, and that should be that for the half.
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38 mins: Ooh! Gagai nearly gets on the end of a cross-field kick in trademark style, but a tremendous leap from Ryan Hall, who grabs the ball out of midair before Gagai can get it, puts paid to any hopes the debutant had of scoring in this first appearance in a Kangaroos jersey.
37 mins: Widdop’s pass to Lomax now is poor, and you wonder if there’s any way back for England in this one. Especially with Australia attacking once more as the first half winds down.
36 mins: Nope, Sam Burgess is done. He limps off the pitch and straight up the tunnel. There couldn’t be any worse news for England, really.
35 mins: Despite that, Burgess is back up and running. He looked cooked moments ago, but it seems like he’ll try to run it off and play out the half.
33 mins: Burgess (Sam) steps inside and goes down under a Dugan tackle. This doesn’t look good at all. There’s a problem with his knee and it looks like he won’t be able to continue. Disaster for England!
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31 mins: There’s a danger now that this one is going to run away from England now. Another Australian try before half-time could well prove fatal to their (English) chances.
TRY! Australia 10-4 England (Slater)
29 mins: Penalty to Australia, but they take the tap rather than kicking for goal. That decision is justified soon after as Slater looks towards the sideline before getting his head down and charging for the line himself. He makes it and that’s a great time to score – and a bad time for England to concede. Skipper Smith drags his kick wide of the mark and it’s a six-point game.
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27 mins: Billy Slater now, full of energy, darts forward after escaping a Tom Burgess tackle. Australia look dangerous when Slater is in that kind of mood.
25 mins: Smith gets a kick away and he’s poleaxed after the event. No complaints from the veteran, mind.
24 mins: Finally the English defence is broken down. It took more than a quarter of the game, but the worry for the visitors now is that they’ve created precious little going forward. That will have to change if they are to get something out of this game.
TRY! Australia 6-4 England (Gillett)
23 mins: Australia hit back! And it’s Gillett who receives the ball from Smith before jinking this way and that before muscling his way over the line. Smith lines up the ensuing kick and lands it! Australia lead for the first time tonight!
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20 mins: The longer the Australians fail to find a finishing touch, and the longer the English defence remains strong, home frustrations will build.
If you’ve time have a quick read of this, which includes the prescient line: “England winger Jermaine McGillvary is one to watch”.
18 mins: James Graham has 16 tackles so far, according to the man on the telly. Burgess too, has been heavily involved for England. Good stuff from the NRL boys.
17 mins: Yet for all their pressure and possession in England’s half, the visitors are holding firm with some excellent, hard-nosed defending.
16 mins: Boom! Klemmer gets his knees pumping high for the first time tonight and rushes into a posse of English shirts. At least two of them are sent sprawling.
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15 mins: England’s sojourn in the Australian half doesn’t last long though and before too long they’re back at their own 20-metre line, as Lomax takes a high kick.
13 mins: It’s a poor one from Widdop but it works in his favour, weirdly, and England reclaim possession.
12 mins: It’s all green at the moment with barely any respite for England. Graham hauls down Klemmer as the huge Australian forward line surges once more. Morgan this time attempts a kick through, and this one is better. It’ll be another drop out.
11 mins: Billy Slater now looks to find a chink in the English armour, which so far has held firm in the face of increasing Australian pressure. Still, there’s no way through.
10 mins: No suggestion from me at all that England targeted Cronk, but it’ll do them no harm to have roughed him up early doors.
9 mins: The nose isn’t affecting Cronk’s play though, and a little dink through is tricky for Graham to deal with in the England in-goal. Although the Australian can now add being winded to his list of ailments, with Sam Burgess hammering him after the ball left his boot.
8 mins: Moments later Cronk goes down with a bloody nose. That looks nasty, but he’ll carry on, of course.
7 mins: Cronk breaks through as the Kangaroos look to hit back now. No dice this time though as a desperate pass only finds an England shirt.
6 mins: Well, well, well. I’m not sure too many were expecting that to happen. Excellent for the game that it has though.
TRY! Australia 0-4 England (McGillvary)
5 mins: England now advance towards the Australia goal line, with Widdop directing play. Burgess gets the ball, comes back inside and is tackled. On the last tackle, O’Loughlin finds Widdop who flings a cut-out pass to McGillvary, who leaps to catch it, before getting his feet back down on terra firma a putting down! Widdop misses the extras but we have a game on our hands!
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3 mins: Klemmer now surges forward before excitement levels rise momentarily as a kick towards Gagai in the corner of the in-goal is ever-so-slightly over hit.
2 mins: Burgess sees his first defensive action of the night, forcing a spill of the ball. Australia regather and the counter re-sets.
Peeeep!
1 min: And finally, we’re off! Game faces on! Smith kicks us off! Chris Hill has the first hit up of this World Cup before James Graham is targeted and takes a big hit himself. He’s not one to shy away though.
Indeed it is. The Kangaroos lock arms and form a circle with Cameron Smith in the centre. He pays respect to the traditional owners of the land and they all then say “and we will rise as one” as they do indeed, rise as one. JT then delivers his much anticipated speech, about selflessness and unity. Great stuff.
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We’re looking at splitting the difference, Phil. Thurston is out on the pitch in his suit and will deliver an acknowledgement of country before we get underway. This is going to be amazing.
You seem to have forgotten that it is traditional in Australian sports to kick off between 5 and 15 minutes late@mike_hytner
— phil withall (@phil_withall) October 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/phil_withall/status/923838189852278784
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They’ll have to clear off all those flags from the pitch before we can get underway, but we’re not too far off now. And actually, not half as behind schedule as I was fearing.
And right on cue, here come the teams! Cameron Smith, playing his 35th consecutive Test tonight, leads out the defending champions alongside Sean O’Loughlin and his England team. Decent renditions of God Save the Queen and Advance Australia Fair later and we’re pretty much set for lift off.
And finally, we get a good look at what the next five weeks are all about as the Paul Barrière trophy is brought out and gingerly placed on a pedestal. Not a bad looking piece of silverware by any stretch. But OK, I’m ready for the game to start now.
Yep, told you. It’s four minutes to kick-off and there’s no way they’re getting this game started on time. Unless the game’s actually going to be played elsewhere, recorded and then shown to viewers on delay, Carabao Cup draw style.
Here comes Gary Schofield in front of the English flag, to Chumbawamba’s I Get Knocked Down. And now here’s local hero JT, Johnathan Thurston, leading out the Australian flag.
Each flag has its own ambassador. Wales, Scotland and then Ireland are carried out. Pat Richards is the Irish ambassador. The great Hazem El Masri is next up as Lebanon are introduced to the crowd.
So we’re going to have each team’s flag brought out onto the pitch, starting with Papua New Guinea. More singing, more dancing, more drumming. New Zealand out next. The woman singing (apologies, I don’t know who it is) has pipes.
Well this is lovely. Aunty Caroline Briggs delivers a Welcome to Country. She finishes with “Welcome to our beautiful home” as the opening ceremony kicks off with some fireworks, drummers, didgeridoo playing and dancing. Still nowhere near a full house in the stands, though.
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The teams
OK, here’s how the two sides line up tonight:
Australia: 1. Billy Slater; 2. Dane Gagai, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Josh Dugan, 5. Valentine Holmes; 6. Michael Morgan, 7. Cooper Cronk; 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Cameron Smith, 10. David Klemmer, 11. Boyd Cordner, 12. Matt Gillett, 13. Jake Trbojevic. Interchange: 14. Wade Graham, 15. Jordan McLean, 16. Josh Mcguire, 17. Tyson Frizell.
England 1. Jonny Lomax; 2. Jermaine McGillvary, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. John Bateman, 5. Ryan Hall; 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Luke Gale; 8. Chris Hill, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. James Graham, 11. Sam Burgess, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Sean O’Loughlin. Interchange: Walmsley, 15. Chris Heighington, 16. Tom Burgess, 17. James Roby 18. Ben Currie.
Or, here’s all that information in a handy tweet that could have just saved me typing all that out:
This is how we line up against the Poms tonight. #GoTheRoos 🇦🇺#RISE #RLWC2017 pic.twitter.com/RRTSUIei04
— Australian Kangaroos (@Kangaroos) October 27, 2017
Rugby league wouldn’t be rugby league without a bit of off-field scandal, would it? Never a dull day and all that. And today, the day of the opening game of the Rugby League World Cup, was no exception when, with near impeccable timing, this happened:
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of crowd this matchup pulls tonight after much talk about how much this tournament has flown under the radar, both in Australia and the UK. With the opener being staged away from the rugby league heartland of Sydney, concerns over crowd size have also been raised, although that is to completely ignore the fact that rugby league crowds – including for international matches – are notoriously poor in Sydney. Anyway, it appears to be a pleasant evening in Melbourne, so no excuses on that front. That said, with nearly 20 minutes to go, there are plenty of empty seats to be seen around AAMI Park.
Welcome
Here we go then. The Rugby League World Cup is upon us once again. And with it the inexorable march to an 11th title for Australia, the undisputed kings of the game and nailed-on favourites to be celebrating once the other 13 nations have fallen by the wayside and whole thing wraps up five weeks from now without so much as a jot of intrigue. Nothing shall stand in their way.
Or... maybe not. Yes, Mal Meninga’s side are hot favourites, yes, they have some pretty decent players, yes, they are on home soil and, yes, it’s pretty much theirs to lose, but, BUT, only a fool would suggest there is a sure thing in sport. I am not willing to be that fool today.
We’ll have a much better idea of how things are going to pan out after tonight’s game at AAMI Park in Melbourne, where England are expected to provide as stiff an early test as neutral rugby league fans can hope for. Sean O’Loughlin’s side, guided by the master of coaching himself, Wayne Bennett, are, on paper at least, in the mix. If anyone can mastermind an upset, it’s old Wayne.
They may not have reached a final since 1995, and their winless run against Australia stretches way back to 1995 (England) or 2006 (Great Britain) but they’re certainly capable of giving Australia something to think about.
There have even been suggestions that Australia’s overwhelming favouritism may count against them and open to door to complacency. Meninga, you can be sure, will not allow that to happen, but to be honest it’s as valid as any other potential weakness the Kangaroos may have. England, and any other opposition over the next five weeks, will have to take what they can.
Anyway, what we can definitely expect tonight (Australia!)/this morning (UK!)/today (other places in the world!) is that there will be 26 huge and hugely committed men scrapping tooth and nail for victory. No ground given, no prisoners taken etc etc.
Do get in touch with any thoughts you may have on the game – mike.hytner@theguardian.com or with more brevity (I’m still on 140 characters) @mike_hytner. Kick-off is scheduled for 8pm in Melbourne, that’s 10am UK in the UK, so stick around (although I have zero confidence in the game actually starting on time, these things never do).
Mike will be here shortly. In the meantime, have a quick look at this handy little team-by-team guide.
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