Student World Cup

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England 35 France 18

A WORKMANLIKE England side saw off a disappointing French outfit in their
opening Student Rugby League World Cup match in Brisbane, Australia
yesterday.

It was thought the French side would turn on the style but they made too
many basic errors. And even though England had prop Andrew Ali sent off for
alleged striking around the half hour, they still had too much power for the
French team who are playing in the competition for the first time.

But both sides had a real taste of the big-time as the match was played as a
curtain-raiser to the Aussie match between Brisbane Broncos and Cronulla
Sharks at the Suncorp stadium

Martin Ainscough got England on the scoreboard with a try which he converted
after the French had made an early score with a penalty.

Then Matt Mullholland got through the French defence after Kevin Till, who
was a thorn in the side of the French all afternoon, had carved out an
opening.

Ainscough added the conversion.

Quick hands from Mullholland got the ball out to Simon Edwards and the
winger touched down for an unconverted try to make the score 16-2.

Just as the game went into its second quarter full-back Alex Clemie raced
some 70m for a fine solo effort and when France?s Romain Dintilhac went high
on Clemie, Ainscough booted over the penalty to see England take a 22-2
lead.

The French side were finding the going tough and were guilty of making basic
errors. But they had a chance when they ran the ball after England were
caught offside, and then it needed some good defence by the English to keep
the French at bay.

With some 32 minutes gone England were down to 12 men after Ali was sent off
for alleged striking. But try as they might the men in blue could not find
an immediate way to unlock the English defence and the score at the break
was 22-2 to England.

However the defensive effort probably did take its toll and the French
picked up a try from Mohamed Chaabi in the corner on 53 minutes. But that
only came after Ainscough had intercepted a pass at a scrum in the 48th
minute and raced away to touch down for an unconverted try.

Ainscough added a penalty before Till got through the French defence to make
it 32-6 and Ainscough?s conversion made the score 34-6 in England?s favour.

But when Clemie knocked a grubber kick on in the 73rd minute Robin Villa
pounced to score for the French and then added the conversion.

And when the French broke away again shortly before the end Gregory Tiquet,
who was one of the French successes, snapped up the chance to score with
Villa adding the goal points.

With time running out England took the ball into French territory and Martin
Ainscough popped over a field-goal to deflate French spirits a little more.

England:

5 Alex Clemie

7 Simon Edwards

3 Matt Mullholland

6 Ben Cramant

5 Stu McReynolds

18 Kevin Till

11 Matt Ainscough

8 Alex Benson

9 Richard Hulme

10 Alan Robinson

13 Dave Norcross

17 Mark Spurr

4 Jonathan Chamberlain

Subs (all used)

14 Wayne Parillon

8 Scott Houston

16 Tom Sang

12 Jon Nicholls

20 Andy Walker

1 Andrew Ali

Tries:Ainscough (14,48), Mullholland (17), Edwards (21), Clemie (26), Till
(62).

Goals: Ainscough (5) Field-goal: Ainscough.



France:

1 Cedric Olieu,

2 Mohamed Chaabi,

3 Christophe Calegari

4 Simon Latournerie

5 Robin Villa

6 Sebastien Hascoet

7 Gregory Tiquet

8 Sebastien Amigas

9 Romain Dentilhac

10 Nicolas Bouillet

11 Thomas Valette

12 Andrew Bentley

13 Guillaume Reffle

Subs (All used)

14 Marc Osmont

15 Bruno Ormeno

16 Jonathan Laskowski

17 Dominque Vidal

18 Bruno Pezet

19 Sylvain Teixido

20 Romaric Bemba

21 Mathieu Almarcha



Tries:Chaabi (53);Villa (69); Tiquet (73).

Goals: Villa (2).

 

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Ireland 46 Pacific Islands 48

A DRAMATIC late winner saw the opening match in the 2005 Student Rugby
League world off to a cracking start.

The rains of the build up period were replaced by sunshine as the two sides
locked horns at the Griffith University campus in Brisbane, Australia.

And within three minutes of the match starting Pacific Islands’ Wil Wilshire
was on the end of some fine build up play to open up their account.

Sione Fukofuka’s conversion attempt hit the cross bar but came back. It only
took the Irish four minutes to go ahead when Luke Garnett’s try was
converted by Gareth Simpson.

But that 4-0 lead was short-lived as tries by John Reese and Bobby Makau
were both converted by Sione Fukofuka to see the Islands 16-6 in front.

Keith Armstrong closed the gap on 17 minutes with a try following some good
work from James Giblin and although Adam Walsh missed with the conversion
attempt the gap was down to six points at 16-10.

The Islands side edged further in front on 21 minutes when Liu Famate
crossed the line for Sione Fukafuka to convert and seven minutes later
Junior Alesina touched down, with Fukofuka converting to make the score
17-10.

Before the break Ireland hhad hit back with tries from Luke Garnett and
James Giblin, both converted by Gareth Simpson to keep the boys in green in
touch at 26-22.

David Tronc edged the Islands side further ahead with an unconverted try in
the fifth minute of the second half and Bruno Schwartz made it 36-22 when
Josh Stowers converted on 53 minutes.

Sione Fukfuka and Paul O’Connor traded tries and conversions to see the
Islands side 42-28 ahead just after the hour.Ireland’s man of the match
Paul O’Connor popped up in the 66th minute to make it 42-32 in the 66th
minute and Danny Shaw’s conversion made it 42-34.

Liam Julian closed the gap even further with 10 minutes to go when Shaw
converted Julian’s attempt to make the score 42-40.

Then came the dramatic finale when Ireland’s Steve Smith put them into a
72nd minute lead and Smith’s conversion took the score to 46-42 in the Irish
favour.

Four minutes later there was a brawl after an alleged flop in the tackle by
Ireland.

Luke Garnett and an Islander were sinbinned and from the resulting penalty
the ball was moved and right on the whistle the Islanders’ man of the match
Liu Faamate tied the scored but Josh Stowers was on hand to land the
conversion and see the Islands side home.

Ireland:
1 Paul O’Connor
2 Ben Toleman
3 Steve Smith
4 Danny Shaw
5 Dave Heathwood
6 Gareth Simpson
7 Jimmy Giblin
8 David Bulmer
9 Phil Wood
10 Gareth Jones
11 Luke Garnett
12 Paul Lane
13 Liam Julian.
Subs (all used)
14Sean Quinn
15John Clarke
16 David Hudson
17 Keith Armstrong
18 Adam Walsh
19 Martin Cormack.

Tries: Luke Garnett(7, 35), Keith Armstrong (17), James Giblin, Paul
O’Connor (62 and 66) Liam Julian (70) Steve Smith (72).
Goals: Gareth Simpson 7, 38,: Walsh 17; Shaw 62, 66, 70, 72.

Pacific Islands:
1 Wil Wilshire
2 Bruno Schwarz
3 John Reese
4 Sam Vauvalau
5 Philip Breslin
6 Sione Fukofuka
7 Josh Stowers
8 David Trunc
9 Luke Srama
10 Peter Pulou
11 Hale Vasa
12 Liu Faamate
13 Kellie Fukofuka

Subs (all used) 14 Helmy Salvanavong
15 Eddie Alia.
16 Regie Peranara
17 Ramon Filiping
18 Bobby Makau
19 Nic Williams
20 Junior Alesina

Tries: Wilshire (2) Reece (10) Makau (13), Faamate (21), Alesani (28) Trunc
(45), Schwartz (53), Sione Fukofuka, (56) 79 Liu Faamate (79).
Goals: Sione Fukofuka (3) 10, 13, 21, Josh Stowers 53, 79.

 

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NEW ZEALAND 46 WALES 0 by Ian Golden in Brisbane

In losing 46-0 to World Champions, New Zealand in their World Cup opener, the Welsh players classed this match as the hardest they have ever played.

“It was tough for the lads today.” said Welsh coach, Wayne Williams. “We were outclassed but not disgraced. We made a few mistakes in the first half especially and this must be ironed out before we face Scotland on Wednesday.”

It’s not as if Wales played a particularly bad game, they were simply outclassed at ever level - fitness, strength, speed and sheer size of the players were all positive qualities that the Kiwis had over the inferior Wales side who became the first Wales open-age side to remain scoreless in a match since 1949.

Man-of-the-match Jimmy O’Brien improved after a poor start – missing a penalty in the fourth minute. He made amends two minutes later by setting up Tim Cahill in the corner before adding a penalty then forcing his way over himself in the 14th minute.
Following an Austin Saunders knock-on in the 32nd minute, O’Brien then set up Andrew Auimatagi under the sticks to make it 20-0.

Wales came close to scoring either side of the break as Neil Davies was held up centimetres from the line on the final tackle while a Ben Smith 50-metre run a few minutes into the second half was brought to a halt by Paul Aitkens.

However, New Zealand were not going to let Wales through and secured the match with five more tries.

Adam Donaldson ran past three Welsh defenders to make it 26-0 in the 58th minute.
Andreas Bayer set up Cahill in the 63rd before scoring a try himself three minutes later. Cahill got his hat-trick five minutes later before a breakaway try from Jamie McDonald completed the rout in the very last minute.

Gamebreaker: Adam Donaldson’s try in the 58th minute started a second half rout to kill off the Welsh.

Gamestar: Jimmy O’Brien who was involved in just about every New Zealand scoring move.

NEW ZEALAND: Paul Aitkens, Sam Jacobsen, Andreas Bayer, Mike Nathan, Tim Cahill, Mike Craig, Jamie McDonald, Chris Tupou, Jimmy O’Brien, Henry Heke, James Kolomantangi, George Taunga, Andrew Auimatagi. Subs (all used): Daniel McGregor, Tala Paleaasini, Aina Masina, Adam Donaldson, Daniel Bell, Sione Taynyn.

Tries: Cahill (6, 63, 72), O'Brien (14), Auimatagi (32), Donaldson (58), Bayer (66), McDonald (80).

Goals: O'Brien 7/10

WALES: Matt Jackson, Ben Smith, Geraint Davies, Dean Scully, Austin Saunders, Phil Carleton, Pete Moore, Dewi Scourfield, Daniel ap Dafydd, Jason Massey, Matt Drew, Gareth Morgan, Neil Davies. Subs (all used): Dennis Pugh, Mark Burke, Mark Dando, Gavin Curry, Neil Hesketh, Gareth Thirsk.

Men of the match - New Zealand - Jimmy O'Brien. Wales - Gareth Morgan.
Referee - Matthew Hawkins (Australia). Half-time: 20-0

 

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AUSTRALIA 66 SCOTLAND 4 by Ian Golden in Brisbane

Australia have shown they are keen to win back the Student Rugby League World Cup after a dominating opening display.

At Griffith University's Nathan Campus in Brisbane, the Australian team went on a rampage against the Scotland, running in 12 tries in a 66-4 victory.

The home side totally overpowered the Scots, taking the lead in the second minute after Clint Lovering set up Luke Hilton to score under the sticks.

It was 12-0 just six minutes later after John Crawley intercepted a wayward Scottish pass and ran 50 metres to score.

Scotland then kept the Aussies scoreless for 20 minutes somehow keeping out the rampant green and gold attack. David Ford saved a try, pushing Aussie winger, Nathan Tolley into touch, while a Dougie Flockhard 70-metre run was stopped just ten metres from the line – the closest the Bravehearts got to a point in the first period.

However, four tries in the last 12 minutes of the match all but sealed the game for the hosts.

Lovering continued his first class performance by setting up two tries – Tolley and Jordan Atkins both running over.

Man-of-the-match Atkins ran through for his second just five minutes later while a Chad Buckby try made the half-time score 34-0.

Scotland entered the arena with a more determined attitude after the break with captain Mark Webster rallying his troops letting them know he wanted them to crunch any Aussie that moved.

But Australia scored from their first set of the half, Fleming running 60-metres to make it 40-0.

Scotland finally got on the board in the 48th minute after Mike Murphy forced his way through but that was their only respite as the Kangaroos ran in a further five tries.

Fleming set up George Ghazal in the 54th minute before getting another try for himself just three minutes later.

The Scots kept Australia out for the next 15 minutes but never looked close to scoring again themselves and it was no surprise when John Crawley made it 54-4 in the 72nd minute.

A Nathan Tolley 50-metre run in the 74th made it 60-4 before Crawley got his hat-trick with three minutes to go.

"It was a pretty good effort," said Australian coach Steve Calder.

"I was a little disappointed with our ball control, but there were a few areas, like defence off our line, that we worked on and came out well."

The Australians now get set for a titanic clash with defending champions New Zealand, a curtain raiser to the Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.

"That will be a very tough clash - I think they will be a little more experienced than Scotland," said Calder.

Gamebreaker: Four tries in 12 minutes before half-time finished off Scotland.

Gamestar: Jordan Atkins – a brace of tries capped off a first class performance.

AUSTRALIA: John Crawley, Nathan Tolley, Jordan Atkins, James Rahme, Kevin Stephenson, Sam Williams, Chad Buckby, George Ghazal, Chris Fleming, Quin Smith, Luke Hilton, Matt McKimmon, Clint Lovering. Subs (all used): Tony Hampson, Shane Wooden, Ben Groves, John Ellis, Ali Kourouche, Mitch Gaal.

Tries: Hilton (2), Crawley (8, 72, 77), Tolley (28, 74), Atkins (31,36), Buckby (40), Fleming (41, 57), Ghazal (54)

Goals: Lovering 6/9, Crawley 2/2, Kourouche 1/1

SCOTLAND: David Ford, Calum Morgan, Mark Webster, Dougie Flockhard, Andy McPhail, Mike Murphy, Lee Spence, Mike Wallace, Bobby Bahadori, Andy Grey, Dave Simm, Stuart Dunbar, Chris Fletcher. Subs (all used): Barry Earl, Tony Williams, Dave Jones, Dave Birchall, Keir Bell, Sam Onions.

Try: Murphy (48). Goals: McPhail 0/1

Men of the match: Australia - Jordan Atkins. Scotland - Mike Murphy.
Referee: Stephane Vincent (France). Half-time: 34-0

 

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Power pays in the end as a battling Ireland side found in their second round Group match of the Student Rugby League World Cup match in Brisbane on Tuesday evening.

Defending like demons the Irish boys were only down 6-4 at the break after a defensive display which drew praise from both England coach Paul Fletcher and Ireland boss Neil Bourke.

The first try came in the 17th minute when England's man of the match, fullback Alex Clemie, touched down to end a spell of sustained pressure. Martin Ainscough missed with the conversion, but added a penalty before halftime.

Danny Shaw kept Ireland in the match with a brace of penalties.

After halftime it was a different story. The English side in general was bigger than the Irish line up and the tackling effort took it's toll on an Ireland side who also lacked a natural playmaker.

Kevin Till shot in for a try seven minutes after the restart with Ainscough adding the conversion and just after the hour Ainscough touched down for a try which he converted to make the score 18-4.

And when Ireland were penalised for their markers not being square Ainscough added the penalty.

And powerhouse prop Alex Benson put the final nail in the Ireland coffin when he rumbled over the line right on the final hooter. Ainscough added the extras and although Tom Sang was sin-binned with some six minutes to go England coach Fletcher was pleased with his side.

"Ireland put us under the cosh in the first half and full credit to them. I thought our defence was superb all the way through the game.

"Our discipline was a bit wayward in the first half when we gave 11 penalties away, whereas we only conceded two after the break. And I thought Alex Clemie and Alex Benson both had big games," said Fletcher.

Said Ireland coach Neil Bourke: "Size was the deciding factor. England were the bigger side all round and that told in the end. We came to this tournament with the aim of gaining some respect and I think we have already done that."

Fulltime: England 26 Ireland 4.

England:
Alex Clemie; Simon Edwards, Matt Mullholland, Ben Cramont, Stu McReynolds; Kevin Till, Mark Ainscough; Alan Robinson, Richard Hulme, Alex Benson, Mark Spurr, Scott Houston, Dave Norcross. Subs (all used)Tom Sang, John Nicholls, Chris Todd, Ryan Robinson, Wayne Parillon.
Tries: Clemie(17), Till (47), Ainscough (62), Benson (79). Goals: Ainscough
5

Ireland:
Keith Armstrong; David Heathwood, Danny Shaw, James Gross, Ste Smith; Phil O'Connor, James Giblin; Dave Hudson, Phil Wood, Gareth Jones, Luke Garnett, Paul Lane, Liam Julian. Subs: (All used) Gareth Simpson, John Clarke, Chris Harwood, David Bulmer, Martin Cormack, Ben Toleman.
Goals: Shaw 2

Scoring sequence: 4-0;4-2;4-4; 6-4; 12-4; 18-4; 20-4; 26-4.

Men of the Match: England - Alex Clemie. Threatened every time he came forward.
Ireland - Luke Garnett. Grafted his socks off to try and stem the English attack.
Referee: Raima Koti (New Zealand).
Gamebreaker: Kevin Till's try just after half time widened the gulf to such an extent the Irish were never going to close it.

 

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France's man of the match Gregory Tiquet took just 13 minutes to open his side's account in their Student Rugby League World Cup match in Brisbane, Australia.

The match, played at the city's Griffiths University's Nathan Campus, saw France bounce back from their opening game defeat by England at the Suncorp Stadium on Sunday as a curtain-raiser to the Brisbane Broncos v Cronulla Sharks match.

Robin Villa converted and the French went on to score their points regularly throughout the match.

Eight minutes later Bruno Pezet touched down with Villa converting again. But seven minutes later Pezet found himself in the bin for persistently being offisde and referee IanMcGregor (GB) lost patience with the Frenchman. And just before the break Danny Villa added a penalty to see his side into a 14-0 lead.

Things got worse for the Islands side on the restart when with only five minutes gone Sylvain Teixido left defenders floundering in his wake as he dodged his way in for a fine solo try. Robin Vila was on target to add the extra points.

Bruno Ormeno turned the screw a little tighter with 12 minutes to go when he shot over the Islanders' line and with Robin Vila converting the try once again before adding a penalty when Tiquet was obstructed by David Tronc there was going to be no way back for the Pacific team.

But 28-0 down they forced their way on to the score-sheet with a converted try from Ramon Filipini with two minutes to go converted by Sione Fukofuka.

Matchfacts:
France 28 Pacific Islands 6

France: Mohamed Chabbi; Bruno Ormeno, Simon Latournerie, Christophe Calegari, Robin Villa; Gregory Tiquet, Sebastien Hascoet; Romaric Bemba, Romain Dintilhac, Nicholas Bouillet, Thomas Valette, Mathieu Almarcha, Guillaume Reffle. Subs (all used) Andrew Bentley, Jonathan Laskowski, Marc Osmont, D.Pelet, Sylvain Teixido, Danny Villa.

Tries: Tiquet (13), Pelet (21), Teixido (45), Ormeno (68).
Goals: Robin Villa 5, Danny Villa 1

Pacific Islands: Paul Srama; Helmy Wilshire, Eddie Alia, Ramon Filipine, Sam Vauvalaau; Sione Fukofuka, Josh Stowers; David Tronc, Luke Srama, Peter Pulou, John Reece, Liu Faamate, Reggie Perenama. Subs (all used) Bruno Schwartz, Bobby Makau, Nic Williams, Junior Alesana.

Try: Ramon Filipini. Goal: Sione Fukofuka.

Scoring sequence:6-0; 12-0; 14-0; 20-0; 26-0; 28-0; 28-6.

Men of the match:
France: Greogory Tiquet - non stop display for a second match in succession.
Pacific Islands: Luke Srama - busy player who tried to keep his side going forward and worked hard in defence.
Gamebreaker: Sylvain Teixido's individual try took the French too far away from the Islanders' grasp.
Referee: Ian McGregor (GB)

 

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Wales need to beat Australia on Sunday to qualify for the semi-finals of the Student Rugby League World Cup after defeating Scotland 31-16 earlier today (Wednesday).

The Dragons put in an excellent second half performance after seemingly lacking confidence in their own abilities during the first period, often choosing to kick their way to glory rather than going for the try-line.

Neil Davies was once again the Welsh hero, putting in a solid performance, scoring the first of his two tries in only the fourth minute as he ran beautifully through a pack of defenders to ground. His fellow Aberavon Fighting Irish team-mate, Dean Scully converted.

Davies successfully kicked a fieldgoal just five minutes later before Scully added a penalty to make the score 9-0.

But Dougie Flockhard, who has flown directly from one World Cup to another after representing Scotland in the Rugby Union U21 tournament in Argentina, finished off an excellent move for a well-deserved Scots try.

But Wales went in to the break with a 15-6 lead. Scully and Andy McPhail swapped penalties and Davies scored a debatable second try of the half after it looked like Gareth Thirsk had knocked-on.

Wales started the second half with more confidence and were rewarded with a try as early as the second minute – Scully was given far too much space by the Scottish defence and didn’t need Ben Smith’s support as he ran over.

Phil Carleton was sinbinned for striking in the 47th minute and the Scots took advantage of the extra man just seconds before Carleton was due back on. A nice break from Bobby Bahadori down the left set up Flockhard who ran 30 metres to score.

But Wales wrapped up the match with two tries in seven minutes. First, Cardiff Demons’ Dewi Scourfield ran in under the sticks before a good passing move involving Pete Moore and Matt Jackson set up fellow Demon Andrew Bond in the corner. Mike Murphy’s last minute try for Scotland was just a consolation.

Wales coach Wayne Williams was delighted with his team’s performance highlighting newcomer Jonathan Brinkworth.

“Jon had a great game.” said Williams. “For his first appearance, he excelled, as did Neil Davies and plenty of others. I’m looking forward to seeing the DVD of this match before we take on the Aussies on Sunday.”

Australia play against New Zealand tonight at the Suncorp Stadium before the State of Origin match between Queensland and New South Wales.

Gamebreaker: Andrew Bond’s try with less than ten minutes to go gave Wales a three-try cushion.

Gamestar: Neil Davies, winner of many man-of-the-match awards in the past was once again first class in a good team performance.

WALES: Matt Jackson, Andrew Bond, Geraint Davies, Dean Scully, Ben Smith, Phil Carleton, Pete Moore, Dewi Scourfield, Mark Burke, Jason Massey, Gavin Curry, Gareth Morgan, Neil Davies. Subs (all used): Dennis Pugh, Daniel ap Dafydd, Mark Dando, Jonathan Brinkworth, Neil Hesketh, Gareth Thirsk.

Tries: N.Davies (4, 38), Scully (42), Scourfield (64), Bond (71).
Goals: Scully 5/7. Fieldgoal: N.Davies
Sinbinned: Carleton.

SCOTLAND: David Ford, Calum Morrison, Mark Webster, Dougie Flockhard, Andy McPhail, Mike Murphy, Lee Spence, Mike Wallace, Bobby Bahadori, Dougie Thompson, Dave Simm, Stuart Dunbar, Chris Fletcher. Subs (all used): Barry Earl, Tony Williams, Dave Jones, Dave Birchall, Keir Bell, Sam Onions.

Tries: Flockhard (18, 57), Murphy (79).
Goals: McPhail 2/3, Ford 0/1.

Men of the Match: Wales: Neil Davies. Scotland: Dave Birchall.
Referee: Chris Sutton (Australia). Half-time: 15-6.

WALES 31 SCOTLAND 16 by Ian Golden in Brisbane

 

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Wales face an uphill battle to qualify for the Student Rugby League World Cup semi-finals following Australia’s 32-14 win over New Zealand at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Australia’s win may seem comprehensive but it took them 26 minutes to get any points on the board.

It was the Kiwis who had all the chances in the first 20 minutes but failed to capitalize on them as time after time they were blocked by the resistant Aussie defence. James Koloamantangi came closest to scoring but was held up after crossing the line.

It was Australian winger Jordan Atkins who broke the deadlock scoring after an excellent moving involving Chad Buckby and Clint Lovering.

Following an interception, a 90-metre run from Kevin Stephenson four minutes later made it 10-0 while Atkins ran through for his second in the 35th minute to make it 16-0.

George Taungu got a try back for New Zealand with one second left on the clock before half-time but Australian’s Nathan Tilley forced his way over minutes after the break to regain the home side’s 16-point advantage.

Stephenson ran 50 metres for his second following a Kiwi knock-on and Chris Fleming extended Australia’s lead to 28 after scoring under the sticks with 17 minutes to go.

However the Kiwis got two tries back in the last 13 minutes through Mike Nathan and Paul Aitkens. Aitkens could have had a second but was held up over the line with just seconds remaining.

"The first 20 minutes was what won us the game," said Australian coach Steve Calder. "We didn't make a handling error and our defence was very solid. The only worry was that we started to drop off a few tackles late in the match when we got a bit tired."

Wales face Australia on Sunday knowing that a 56-point win will send the Dragons through to the semi-finals. Anything less and the Welsh will have to rely on Scotland beating New Zealand on the same day.

AUSTRALIA: John Crawley, Nathan Tolley, Jordan Atkins, James Rahme, Kevin Stephenson, Sam Williams, Chad Buckby, George Ghazal, Chris Fleming, Quin Smith, Luke Hilton, Matt McKimmon, Clint Lovering. Subs (all used): Tony Hampson, Shane Wooden, Ben Groves, John Ellis, Ali Kourouche, Mitch Gaal.

Tries: Atkins (26, 70), Stephenson (30, 58), Tolley (48), Fleming (63)
Goals: Lovering 3/5, Crawley 1/1

NEW ZEALAND: Paul Aitkens, Sam Jacobsen, Andreas Bayer, Mike Nathan, Tim Cahill, Mike Craig, Jamie McDonald, Chris Tupou, Jimmy O’Brien, Henry Heke, James Kolomantangi, George Taunga, Andrew Auimatagi. Subs (all used): Daniel McGregor, Tala Paleaasini, Aina Masina, Adam Donaldson, Daniel Bell, Sione Taynyn.

Tries: Taunga (40), Nathan (67), Aitkins (71)
Goals: O'Brien 1/2, Paleaasini 0/1
Referee: Geoff Hilton (England)
Half-time: 16-4
Men of the match: Australia: Tony Hampson. New Zealand: Paul Aitkens
Gamestar: Tony Hampson for a first class all round performance in attack and defence.
Gamebreaker: Australia’s excellent defensive performance in the first 20 minutes gave them confidence and demoralised the Kiwis who never marshalled a serious attack for an hour afterwards.

AUSTRALIA 32 NEW ZEALAND 14 by Ian Golden at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

 

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England 30 Pacific Islands 24

ENGLAND kept up their unbeaten run in the Student Rugby League World Cup to
book a place in next week's final stages of the competition being held in
Australia.

The scoreline slightly flattered the Islanders as England played with one
eye firmly on the next stage.

But the sunshine men from the Pacific did pull back from 22-6 down at one
stage and that kept up the excitement factor right to the end.

There was a sombre start to the game, being played at Brisbane's Griffith
University Nathan complex, when a minute's silence was held to remember the
victims of the bombings in London.

England did not have all their big guns in the starting line-up but even so
it only took Scott Houston 10 minutes to power his way over the Islanders?
line for the opening try.

John Nicholls added the conversion and it took just six minutes more before
Alex Benson forced his way in for an unconverted try to put England 10-0 up.
The England side was playing in fits and starts, sometimes showing nice
touches, and at other times forcing the ball and losing possession without
any logical reason.

On a hot afternoon the initial conditions appeared to favour the Pacific
Islanders but as the proceedings continued and the skies clouded conditions
appeared to swing the other way a little.

England coped well with the robust approach of the Islanders and produced
some fine touches of their own.

One came in the 23rd minute when Kevin Till made one of his scoots before
finding full-back Alex Clemie in support to score. Nicholls again landed the
conversion to put England 16-0 in the lead.

Undeterred the Islanders pressed on and with 28 minutes gone their man of
the match Josh Stowers found a way through the English defence for a try
which Sione Fukofuka converted.

Then as half-time loomed Clemie and Till produced another piece of magic.
Clemie roared some 40m out of defence and when he was halted it was Till?s
turn to be in support and he went about as far again to touch down.
On from the bench Martin Ainscough added the conversion and England turned
round with a 22-6 lead.

Within three minutes of the restart England were on the march again. Centre
Ben Cramant hit the gas and then instead of trying to score himself, shipped
the ball out to Tom Tsang who cantered in at the corner with Ainscough
converting.

Roman Filipine showed the Islanders were far from finished when his try,
converted by the reliable boot of Sione Fukofuka, took the score to 28-12.
In England?s next raid Benson was help up over the line before the Islanders
were penalised allowing Ainscough to add a couple of more points to the
England tally.

The impressive Stowers then drove England back with the first 40/20 in the
group and this kept the Islanders on the move.

And when Cramant heisted over a kick Bruno Schwartz reacted the quickest and
scooped up the ball to touch down for an unconverted try

Two more unconverted touchdowns in the last four minutes gave the scoreline
a slightly closer look than perhaps it warranted, but try telling that to
Sam Vauvalaau and hooker Luke Srama.

Matchfacts:
England
5 Alex Clemie
7 Simon Edwards
11 Matt Mullholland
6 Ben Cramant
3 Tom Tsang
12 John Nicholls
18 Kevin Till
1 Andrew Ali
9 Richard Hulme
2 Alex Benson
16 Al Robinson
8 Scott Houston
20 Andy Walker
Subs (all used)
19 Chris Todd
15 Ryan Robinson
21 Martin Ainscough
13 David Norcross
14 Wayne Parillon
10 Stu Mc Reynolds

Tries:Houston (10); Benson (16); Clemie (23); Till (39); Tsang (43).
Goals: Nicholls 2, Ainscough 3

Pacific Islands:
20 Junior Alesana
2 Bruno Schwarz
3 John Reece
4 Sam Vauvalaau
5 Phillip Breslin
6 Sione Fukofuka
7 Josh Stowers
8 David Tronc
9 Luke Srama
10 Peter Pulou
15 Ramon Filipine
12 Liu Faamate
13 Kelli Fukofuka
Subs (all used)
14 Helmy Salvanavong
16 Reggie Peranara
18 Bobby Makau
19 Nic Williams


Men of the Match:
England: Alex Benson - the powerhouse forward just kept on working on both
attack and defence, keeping a cool head on a very warm day.
Pacific Islanders - Josh Stowers. Gave the Islanders their main impetus on a
day when determination was needed and never quit the battle.

Gamebreaker:
Till's 39th minute link-up with Clemie to produce a try which seemed to be
one try too many for the Islanders to pull back.

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

France 82 Ireland 18

IRELAND'S dream of a place in the final stages of the Students Rugby League
World Cup were dashed by a mixture of French skill and Irish errors under
a hot Australian winter sun.

In the build-up to the match the Irish were working out how many points they
needed to score to see them through to the knock out stages of the main
competition.

But a mixture of French skill and their own mistakes saw them with little
but defeat to take away from Brisbane's Griffith University Nathan complex.
In the end the Irish lost prop Liam Julian with a shoulder injury, had
Martin Cormack sent off for tripping and man of the match Luke Garnett ended
the match in the sin-bin for lying on.

At the request of the Irish team there was a minute's silence before the
game memory of the victims of the London bombings.

But once the match got under way the French seemed almost able to score at
will.

Guillaume Reffle opened their account in the third minute with an
unconverted try followed by two penalties from Dominique Vidal.
Robin Villa added another try on 13 minutes after livewire halfback Gregory
Tiquet had made the initial break and Vidal's conversion made it 14-0.
Cormack was then given the red card for tripping by New South Wales referee
Matthew Hawkins and almost at once Nicholas Bouillet was over for a try
converted by Robin Villa.

That was on 19 minutes and by half time Bruno Ormeno had bagged a brace of
tries and fullback Cedric Olieu had also picked up a couple.

Vidal and Robin Villa landed two conversions and although Keith Armstrong
got Ireland on the scoreboard with a touchdown converted by Danny Shaw the
score at the break was 44-6 in France's favour.

And things did not get any better for France's Celtic cousins.

It took the pacey Olieu just two minutes of the second half to complete his
hat-trick with a sensational try. He took a bomb deep in his own half,
bounced through a posse of midfield defenders and then raced the remainder
of the field to touchdown. Robin Villa bagged the extra two points to see
50 points come up for his country.

And the tries continued to come. Bouillet went in for his second try and

Christophe Calegari joined him on the scoresheet. Both were converted by

Robin Villa and the Irish were running themselves to a standstill just to
try and stem the blue tide which was engulfing them.

There was a fleeting spot of encouragement for the Irish when full-back Paul
O'Connor found his way over the line for a try converted by Shaw but that
was scant consolation.

Before the end Thomas Valette, Sebastien Amigas and Tiquet had all rubbed
further salt in the Irish wounds. Fortunately for the Irish only Tiquet?s
try, his second, was converted, this time by Vidal.

If there is any consolation for the last score it did go to the men in green
with Danny Shaw taking advantage of a rare French defensive mix-up on their
own line to score and then add the conversion.

Matchfacts.

Teams:
France:
1 Cedric Olieu
5 Robin Villa
21 Matthieu Almarcha
15 Bruno Ormeno
3 Christophe Calegari
17 Dominique Vidal
7 Gregory Tiquet
8 Sebastien Amigas
19 Sylvain Teixido
16 Marc Osmont
11 Thomas Valette
20 Romaric Bemba
13 Guillaume Reffle
Subs (all used)
10 Nicolas Bouillet
9 Romain Dintilhac
6 Sebastien Hascoet
16 Jonathan Laskowski
4 Simon Latournerie
18 Bruno Pezet

Tries: Reffle (3), R.Villa (13),Bouillet (19,48), Ormeno (20, 24), Olieu(28,
36, 42), Calegari (56), Valette (63), Vidal (67), Amigas (70), Tiquet (76)
Goals: Vidal 7; Robin Villa 6

Ireland:
1 Paul O'Connor
21 David Heathwood
19 Danny Shaw
4 James Gross
5 Ste Smith
6 Gareth Simpson
16 Chris Harwood
17 David Bulmer
9 Phil Wood
13 Liam Julian
11 Luke Garnett
12 Paul Lane
7 James Giblin
Subs (all used)
14 Shaun Quinn
15 John Clarke
8 Martin Cormack
20 Dave Hudson
18 Adam Walsh
3 Keith Armstrong.

Tries: Armstrong (39), O?Connor (52), Shaw (79).
Goals: Shaw 3.

Man of the match.

France - Cedric Olieu. The full-back scored three tries, defended well, and
looked poised and polished all afternoon.
Ireland - Luke Garnett. Garnett, despite his sin-binning, worked his socks
off both in attack and defence trying to keep the side together in the face
of tremendous difficulties.

Gamebreaker: Martin Cormack's sending off midway through the first half left
the Irish with a handicap too big to overcome.

Sent off: Martin Cormack (Ireland) tripping.
Sin-binned: Luke Garnett (Ireland) Holding down.

Score sequence: 6-0; 8-0; 14-0; 20-0; 26-0; 32-0; 38-0; 44-0; 44-6; 50-6;
56-6; 56-12;62-12; 68-12; 72-12; 76-12; 82-12; 82-18.
HT 44-6.

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

Kiwis show class as they rampage England
Thu Jul 14, 9:58am (NSW)
Written by: Chris Leak
Rampaging Kiwi forward George Taunga wrecked England's hopes of a Student Rugby League World Cup victory in Brisbane.

Playing on Wednesday at the Arana Hills ground in the city coach Paul Fletcher saw his men overpowered as the champs marched through to wrap up a final date with Southern hemisphere rivals Australia.

Obviously disappointed Fletcher said he was still very proud of his side and the effort the whole of his squad had put in.

‘But it has been a disappointing end to a very good competition. We only completed 50 per cent of our sets in the first half and gave away five penalties in the first seven minutes and you cannot win matches on that sort of thing.

‘Having said that the Kiwis were a good side. Taking positives from the series I would say I now know we are in the top four teams in the world at this level. And with a little more luck I think we could have finished higher.’

He added: ‘We had three sets after half-time when we could and should have scored and we missed a chance just before the break. Either of those chances would have pulled us back in to the picture.

‘But no matter how you look at it we came here to win and we have not done that,’ he added.

As far as the match went England hooker David Hulme was in the thick of things right from the start making a couple of good probing runs, then falling foul of Aussie referee Chris Sutton.

But already danger was threatening in the shape of some powerhouse runs from the Kiwis.

It took New Zealand just 12 minutes to get on the scoreboard. A bomb hoisted in to the Brisbane sky took a wicked bounce leaving fullback Alex Clemie wrong-footed and Kiwi full-back Jimmy O’Brien touched down and converted his own try.

But England pulled back to within two points within a couple of minutes when prop Alex Benson crossed the Kiwi line, but Martin Ainscough’s conversion attempt was off the target.

O’Brien then combined with full-back Paul Aitkens to send in centre Mike Nathan for an unconverted try on 18 minutes.

Alan Robinson got close for England and then a well-worked miss move saw England full-back Alex Clemie steam on to the ball at speed but he could not hang on to the final pass.

On the half hour that man O’Brien was involved again, taking a pass from Nathan to send in Scott Hurrell. O’Brien was again wide of the mark with the conversion attempt.

As half time approached Jamie McDonald looked to be heading for a touchdown only to be denied by a superb tackle from a determined Alex Clemie to leave the score at the break 4-14.

Just after the restart England put pressure on the Kiwis, but were let off the hook when Benson made a rare fumble and knocked on. And that seemed to be the signal for Taunga to stage his one-way demolition act.

The Kiwis thought they had found a weakness in the England right side defence and hammered it on every possible occasion.

Taunga claimed his first try on 50 minutes when he came up in support of a break and cut back inside to score. Six minutes later he stormed in again and this time O’Brien had found his kicking boots to convert both and add a 58th minute penalty.

England to their credit never gave up trying and were proving equal to the opposition in terms of fitness.

And when they moved the ball across the field just after the hour Andy Walker was on hand to double England’s score.

However Taunga brought any hopes of a revival to an abrupt end with his hat-trick try on 64 minutes, again converted by O’Brien.

England’s man of the match Kevin Till buzzed around trying to get his men on the move and also worked his socks off defensively, while for the Kiwis it was hooker O’Brien who stepped up to receive his Kiwi man of the match shirt from RL legend Mal Meninga.

England 4 New Zealand 34

England:
Tries: Benson(14), Walker (61).
New Zealand: Tries: O’Brien (12), Nathan (20), Hurrell (30), Taunga (50, 56, 64).
Goals: O’Brien 5.
HT 4-14

Man of the Match:
England : Kevin Till. Never stopped working and urging his fellow players on to battle harder.
New Zealand : Jimmy O’Brien. The Kiwi hooker seemed to have a hand in everything his side did.

Gamebreaker: George Taunga’s first try which took the score to 18-4 in the Kiwis’ favour. At that point it seemed as if the gap was going to prove too big for England to close.

England: 5 Alex Clemie; 7 Simon Edwards, 11 Matt Mulholland, 6 Ben Cramant, 3 Tom Tsang; 18 Kevin Till, 21 Martin Ainscough; 16 Al Robinson, 9 Richard Hulme, 2 Alex Benson, 17 Mark Spurr, 8 Scott Houston, 4 Jon Chamberlain. Subs (all used): 12 Jon Nicholls, 20 Andy Walker, 13 Dave Norcross, 1 Andrew Ali.

New Zealand: 1 Paul Aitkins; 5 Tim Carhill, 15 Tala Paleaasina, 4 Mike Natthan, 26 Scott Hurrell; 6 Mike Craig, 7 Jamie McDonald; 21 Adam Donaldson, 9 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Chris Tupou, 11 James Koloamatangi, 16 George Taunga, 12 Andrew Auimatagi. Subs (all used): 14 Daniel McGregor, 13 Daniel Bell, 8 Aina Massina, 17 Henry Heke.

Referee: Chris Sutton (New South Wales)

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

Australia fight for their Student World Cup Final place
Thu Jul 14, 10:03am (QLD)
Written by: Chris Leak
A plucky French team made Australia graft to take their place in the final against holders New Zealand.

When prop George Ghazal, who went on to pick up the Aussie man of the match award, breached the French tryline after only four minutes and Clint Lovering added the conversion, one feared for them.

When French full-back Cedric Olieu misjudged a towering kick under the light four minutes later centre Jordan Atkins zoomed in to touch down. Lovering was again on target with the goal and it looked as if the floodgates were about to open.

The Toowoomba centre struck again on the 12th minute and Lovering made the conversion look easy as the lead shot up to 18 points without reply. Robin Villa had a chance to increase the lead just before the half hour but his penalty was off the mark.

On the half-hour France almost conceded another try but referee Father Geoff Hilton had spotted a knock-on in the build-up.

So the score remained 18-0 at the break and the home supporters were wondering just how many points their men would clock up in the second half. Even when Ali Karouche knocked on with the line beckoning with five minutes of the second half gone, it looked as if the points would continue to flow.

But France tightened up their defence and got stuck in to their task with relish, going close to the Aussie line on several occasions. Indeed on another day and with more luck they may have scored a try or two.

However the outcome was probably sealed on the hour when the normally reliable Robin Villa spilled another steepler and this time home fullback Jonathan Crawley lost no time in snapping up the chance to make the score 22-0.

Lovering was just wide with the conversion and although the French never gave up the fight the match fizzled out in to a very scrappy last quarter. So Australia got what they wanted and the French were handed a chance to gain revenge for their first round defeat by England as they will meet in the play off for third and fourth place.

Australia 22 France 0

Australia;
Tries: Ghazal (4), Atkins (8,12), Crawley (60)
Goals: Lovering 3.
HT 18-0.

Man of the match
Australia : George Ghazal. Apart from his early try the front-row man was a tower of strength to his side all the way through.
France : Romaric Bemba. The French second-row man must have covered every blade of grass as he tried to put the brakes on Australia and also get his side on the move.

Referee: Fr Geoff Hilton (England).

Australia.
1 John Crawley; 5 Kevin Stephenson, 3 Jordan Atkins, 2 Nathan Tolloy, 19 Ali Kourouche; 6 Sam Williams, 11 Luke Hilton; 10 Quin Smith, 9 Chris Fleming, 8 George Ghazal, 18 John Ellis, 13 Clint Lovering, 12 Matt McKinnon. Subs (all used) 20 Mitchell Gaal, 4 James Rahme, 16 Ben Groves, 15 Shane Wooden.

France: 4 Cedric Olieu; 5 Robin Villa, 21 Mathieu Almarcha, 12 Andrew Bailey, 3 Christophe Calegari; 7 Gregory Tiquet, 6 Sebastien Hascoet; 16 Marc Osmont, 19 Sylvain Teixido,8 Sebastien Amigas, 20 Romaric Bemba, 10 Nicolas Bouillet, 11 Thomas Valette. Subs (all used) 13 Guillaume Reffle, 9 Romain Dintilhac, 2 Mohamed Chaabi, 16 Jonathan Laskowski.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I'm happy that this tournament is being played, just seems a real shame that fox sports and the rest have decided to hide it away and not even put out the scores and let people know it's on.

Any idea if we are going to see the final?
(they put highlights on of the RU u21 comp on)

 

[Hicham]

Just heard that NZ beat us 17-8 in the Final.

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

Sinbinning costs Ireland in Student World Cup
Fri Jul 15, 11:47pm (QLD)
Written by: Ian Golden
It was only the sinbinning of Ireland’s Matt Clarke that gave Scotland an extra man and the winning try in a well-matched encounter in Brisbane.

Dave Ford kicked two early penalties to give Scotland a 4-0 lead before Paul O’Connor skillfully caught and grounded a bomb in the same move to make it 4-4.

That was how it stayed until half-time after both sides missed chances to go in with a lead. Ireland’s Martin Cormack just failed to latch onto a grubber kick before it went over the dead-ball line, while Ford’s attempt at a penalty hat-trick went centimetres wide.

But in a second-half with few chances, Dave Simm’s try and Ford’s conversion gave Scotland a six-point lead with 12 minutes remaining.

The Irish eyes were well and truly not smiling in this game after Lian Julian’s late try was ruled out for a forward pass and Dougie Thompson finally settled the match with a fieldgoal two minutes from time.

Ford’s last second penalty cemented a 13-4 win for Scotland and seventh place in the World Cup.

SCOTLAND 13 IRELAND 4

SCOTLAND: Dave Ford, Mark Webster, Calum Morrison, Dougie Flockhart, Andy McPhail, Mike Murphy, Lee Spence, Ryan Black, Bobby Bahadori, Chris Fletcher, Dave Simm, Ross Marshall, Stuart Dunbar, Andy Grey. Subs: Dougie Thompson, Tony Williams, Barry Earl, Sam Onions, Dave Jones, Dave Birchall.

Tries: Simm (68)
Goals: Ford 4/5
Fieldgoal: Thompson

IRELAND: Dave Heathwood, Ben Tolman, Keith Armstrong, Danny Shaw, Ste Smith, Gaz Simpson, Jimmy Giblin, Matt Clarke, Martin Cormack, Dave Bulmer, Luke Garnett, Paul Lane, Lian Julian. Subs (all used): Paul O’Connor, Adam Walsh, Dave Hudson, Chris Harwood, James Gross, Shaun Quinn.

Tries: O’Connor (17)

Gamestar: Stuart Dunbar who set up Simm’s winning try to cap off an excellent game.

Gamebreaker: Dougie Thompson’s fieldgoal.

Men of the Match: Scotland – Stuart Dunbar. Ireland – Paul O’Connor
Referee: Riam Koti (New Zealand). Half-time: 4-4

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

Pacific Islands show superior strength, size and skill over Wales
Fri Jul 15, 11:48pm (QLD)
Written by: Ian Golden
Pacific Islands slammed 46 unanswered second-half points on Wales in Brisbane on Friday night to clinch the Student Rugby League World Cup Shield trophy. Dean Scully’s missed penalty was the nearest Wales got to scoring after half-time.

It took just two minutes for Ramon Filipine to break the deadlock for the Islanders first try. Liu Faamate made it 10-0 in the sixth minute and Filipine’s 50-metre run made it 16-0 after only 12 minutes.

It was 22-0 just seven minutes later. Keli Fukofuka’s kick was picked up by Filipine who laid the ball nicely off to Josh Stowers who scored under the sticks.

Wales finally got some points on the board in the 27th minute after an excellent Pete Moore run led to a Jon Brinkworth try, but Stowers responded almost immediately with his second try of the evening.

Wales fought back with two tries in the last five minutes of the first half. First Neil Davies ran straight through the defence to ground, then after the referee controversially didn’t award a penalty after Brinkworth was kicked in the head, Phil Carleton finished off a 60-metre move starting with Davies at dummy half and an excellent pass to Carleton from Matt Jackson.

Phillip Breslin won the man of the match award after scoring the first two and final two tries of the Islanders’ eight try second half feast. His penultimate being a length of the field move involving Liu Faamate as well as Reggie Peranara, who got two tries for himself in the second period. Filipine and Keli Fukofuka also each added another try to the match tally.

Wales’ sixth place in the World Cup is a fair reflection of their performance in the tournament as a whole but as the Islanders showed superior strength, size and skill and one can only wonder why they didn’t go further.

WALES 18 PACIFIC ISLANDS 74

WALES: Matt Jackson, Andrew Bond, Gavin Curry, Dean Scully, Ben Smith, Phil Carleton, Pete Moore, Dewi Scourfield, Dan ap Dafydd, Matt Drew, Gareth Morgan, Neil Davies, Dennis Pugh. Subs (all used): Austin Saunders, Jason Massey, Mark Burke, Neil Hesketh, Jon Brinkworth, Ross Olney.

Tries: Brinkworth (27), Davies (36), Carleton (38).
Goals: Scully 3/4

PACIFIC ISLANDS: Wil Wishere, Bruno Schwartz, John Rece, Sam Valaau, Phillip Breslin, Sione Fukofuka, Josh Stowers, David Trone, Luke Srama, Peter Pilou, Junior Alesano, Liu Faamate, Keli Fukofuka. Subs (all used): Helmy Souvannvone, Eddie Aila, Reggie Peranara, Ramon Filipine, Bobby Makau, Nic Williams.

Tries: Filipine (2, 12, 72), Faamate (6), Stowers (19, 29, 58), Breslin (42, 56, 75, 77), K.Fukofuka (66).
Goals: Stowers 5/6, Faamate 3/3, Pilou 1/1, Peranara 1/1, Rece 1/1, K.Fukofuka 1/1

Gamestar: The skilful Phillip Breslin with four tries.

Gamebreaker: The half-time interval. Wales were on top just before half-time with their confidence growing but were never in the game after that.

Men of the Match: Wales – Ben Smith. Pacific Islands – Phillip Breslin.
Referee: Matt Hawkins (Australia). Half-time 18-28

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

France win contreversial third-place play-off
Sun Jul 17, 10:53am (QLD)
Written by: Chris Leak
THERE was a sensational start to England?s bid for third place in the
Student Rugby League World Cup in Australia with prop Alan Robinson being
sent off in the opening seconds of a 31-12 defeat.

Aussie referee Chris Sutton gave Robinson his marching orders for an alleged
kick at another player in the third-fourth play off at Easts Langlands Park
ground in Brisbane, Australia.

Worse was to follow as sub Scott Houston was later sin-binned and then sent
off along with French full-back Mohammad Chaabi after a melee with 15
minutes to go.

Yet as a game it was never really a dirty one and the referee spoiled it as
a spectacle.

When the incidents are forgotten France were leading 19-0 at the break with
tries from Romaric Bemba, Bruno Ormeno and Gregory Tiquet, along with three
conversions and a field goal from Dominique Vidal.

But England despite their handicap battled back well and scored tries
through Ryan Robinson and Mark Spurr. Martin Ainscough and Andy Walker
claimed a conversion each, while Tiquet got a second try for France
converted by Vidal and Thomas Valette ended the match by crossing the
England line in the dying seconds for an unconverted try.

England?s man of the match was full-back Alex Clemie and for the French
Bemba was their star man.

Afterwards England coach Paul Fletcher said: ?We had to make a tremendous
effort against a very good side with at least one player off the field for
79 minutes.

?We never gave up and I am very proud of the way they never gave up. But the
match was spoiled by that early sending off,? he added.

Fletcher would not comment further on the refereeing of the match but
privately he was not a happy man.

Teams:
England:
5 Alex Clemie; 24 Phil Murphy,11 Matt Mulholland, 14 Chris Todd, 10 Stu
McReynolds; 18 Kevin Till, 21 Martin Ainscough; 16 Alan Robinson, 15 Ryan
Robinson, 2 Alex Benson, 4 Jon Chamberlain, 13 David Norcross, 20 Andy
Walker. Subs (All used) 12 Jon Nicholls, 17 Mark Spurr, 8 Scott Houston, 14
Wayne Parillon.
France: 1 Mohamed Chaabi; 4 Cedric Olieu, 15 Bruno Ormeno, 12 Andrew
Bentley, 19 Sylvain Teixido; 7 Gregory Tiquet, 17 Dominique Vidal; 21 Bruno
Pezet, 9 Romain Dintilhac, 10 Sebastien Amigas, 11 Thomas Valette,20 Romaric
Bemba, 13 Guillame Reffle. Subs (all used) 14 Marc Osmont, 4 Simon
Latournerie, 6 Sebastien Hascoet, 5 Robin Villa.

Referee: Chris Sutton (New South Wales)
Man of the match
England: Alex Clemie. The full-back put in another sterling performance and
was also later named in the world select side, but on the wing,
France: Romaric Bemba. Another hard to fault display from the non-stop
second-row man.

Gamebreaker: The sending off inside 90 seconds of Alan Robinson for what
seemed to be a pretty innocuous offence. This prevented the game from
developing as a contest and kept England on the back foot.

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

New Zealand beat Australia to win Student World Cup
Sun Jul 17, 10:55am (QLD)
Written by: Nadene Conlon
Superb defence and a willing attitude to not back down except at the very start and at the very end resulted in the New Zealand Universities side beating Australia 17-8 to win the Student Rugby League Cup final at Langlands Park in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon.

The win allowed the New Zealanders to claim its second successive Student World Cup following its win over England in England in 1999, which was also coached by the current NZU coach Trevor McLeod.

The win was the icing on the cake after the buildup to the final got off to a shaky start when the left centre Mike Nathan fainted while getting strapped back at the team residential base at Griffith University’s Nathan Campus, causing him to generously opt out of the final and give his position up to Sam Jacobson.

The travel to Langlands Park also strongly tested the patience of the NZU side after the bus driver got lost in trying to find the ground that resulted in a limited build-up to its most important game of the tournament.

The effect was seen early on when NZU conceded an early unconverted try to right wing Kevin Stephenson in the second minute of play after being forced to defend its second successive set of six tackles.

However with some excellent covering defence by Tala Paleaasina, Tim Cahill and Scott Hurrell and Jacobson out wide in the backs and by Adam Donaldson, James Koloamatangi, Chris Tupou and George Taunga in the forwards, NZU began to get their rhythm going to literally send the Australians to the sideline from some bruising defence.

New Zealand Universities got its first points of the game in the 22nd minute when its hooker Jimmy O’Brien successfully kicked a penalty over after the Australians had been found guilty of holding back their opposition clearers.

After having played at wing in the first two pool matches and being dropped for the last two, the Otago University environmental science major, Jacobson relished his new position by scoring NZU’s first try after being slipped a pass near the line from a successful winning scrum.

O’Brien failed to convert to put NZU ahead 6-4, before his side had another set back when Tupou was given a ten-minute sinbin eight minutes from halftime from an alleged high tackle that looked to be only around the chest region.

NZU however managed to hold on with a player short to lead by a slender 6-4 halftime margin.

It did not take long for NZU to put on further points when its strong running second-row George Taunga again hung out wide in the centres to go over for an unconverted try in the 44th minute.

A strong run and a bump off through two defenders saw Taunga pick up his second try in the 69th minute, which this time was nailed by O’Brien.

It was the fifth try of the tournament for the final year University of Otago physical education student and more importantly his fifth in two games after scoring a hat-trick against England in the semi-final earlier in the week.

NZU continued to put the Australians under pressure by not only showing some huge sliding defence, but by also having a better conversion rate at sets of six tackles on offence.

The World Cup was essentially in the NZU kitbag with five minutes remaining when O’Brien coolly slotted over a field goal to send the many ex patriot Kiwis in the crowd into a happy rapture.

A 95m chip kick and run to the line by Stephenson with just 43 seconds remaining resulted in Australia regaining some lost dignity right at the end with an unconverted try.

A delighted NZU coach Trevor McLeod felt there was “no bad player” in his side as all contributed well to the overall cause.

“We showed good support under the high ball and our support play was more impressive than the first half when we took a while to get into the game,” he said.

NZU captain Andrew Auimatagi felt his side was the more dominant of the two sides on possession, while the Australian coach Steve Calder offered no excuses as his side gave away too many turnovers during the game.

“They (NZU) were more a physical side than what we have played, while I was also disappointed that our conversion rate of tackles was only around 50%, when at this level you need to be much higher.”

The Canterbury Bulls hooker O’Brien was named player of the tournament after collecting his third New Zealand player of the day award from the series at the conclusion of the final and was later named along side his fellow New Zealanders Paul Atkins (who was injured in the first quarter and never returned to the field during the final), Scott Hurrell, Mike Craig, George Taunga, Aina Masina and James Koloamatangi in a paper World XIII side.

Australia: 1 Jonathan Crawley; 2 Nathan Tolley, 3 Jordan Atkins, 6 Sam
Williams, 5 Kevin Stephenson; 11 Luke Hilton, 14 Tony Hampson; 8 George
Ghazal, 9 Chris Fleming, 10 Quin Smith, 13 Chris Lovering, 18 John Ellis,,
12 Matt Mckinnon. Subs (all used) 15 Shane Wooden, 16 Ben Groves, 19 Ali
Kourouche, 21 Barrett Wherry.

New Zealand: 1 Paul Aitkens; 2 Sam Jacobsen, 20 Scott Hurrell, 21 Adam
Donaldson,5 Tim Carhill; 6 Mike Craig, 7 Jamie McDonald, 8 Aina Massina, 9
Jimmy O'Brien, 10 Chris Tupou, 11 James Koloamatangi, 12 Andrew Auimatagi,
13 Daniel Bell. Subs (all used) 14 Daniel McGregor, 15 Tala Paleaasina, 16
George Taunga, 17 Henry Heke.

Referee: Stephane Vincent (France)

Man of the Match: Australia: Chris Fleming. Hooker Fleming never gave up on
attack or defence and was in the thick of the action all the way through.
New Zealand: Jimmy O'Brien. Another non-stop action show from this
goal-kicking hooker who picked up the player of the tournament award along
the way.

Gamebreaker: George Taunga's 43rd minute try which always looked as if it
was going to put the game beyond the Australian's reach.