27/10/2013 Rugby League World Cup

Game is over in that! He's going to score.

Everybody is saying, "Go, go, go," and he goes!

And a try! Hello, the 2013 Rugby League World

Cup is under way in spectacular style - 14 countries playing for one

prize. Every Sunday nigh we will be bringing you the very best of the

action. Tonight, we have a packed 45 minutes.

Defending champions New Zealand took on Samoa. Fireworks were predicted

and it didn't disappoint. Papua New Guinea took on France. For England

and Wales, we look back on the opening day encounters.

I am delighted to say the former Great Britain coach Brian Noble is

in the studio, along with the side we had to havenot New Zealand for

action, Robbie Hunter Palm. Let's start with Group B. In a moment,

Papua New Guinea against France, but first a mouth watering clash b Samoa

and and New Zealand. Five years ago, of course, the Kiwis

stunned the Australians in the final.

New Zealand, the champions of the world.

And there was a late boost for them this time with the surprise return

of this man. Watch this ball!

Williams who made it! It is another big hit by Sonny.

It was a sell-out crowd at Warrington to see the defending

champions take on Samoa and see the ban billed as the star of the

tournament. The Kiwis! Started by the man with

the three letters SBW! This is one of the reasons why this

stayed grim is full. They want to see this fella. Lovely supply and

middle wall. Their money ball from SBW there.

Boom. Straight through the hole. Now Pritchard, quickly, he pushes

away from him. First time as captain in the test.

He celebrates with a try. What about the skill!

Pushing up on the inside, finishes the movement.

The Warrington Wolves, 15,500 capacity, it is a sensatio

atmosphere. 15 15 metres out from the line up four. Up he goes,

beautiful. I don't know whether he landed the

ball. A challenge for Antonio. He has got that pretty confident,

though. This tackle count shows a two: one

ratio. Sam Cassiano, you wouldn't want to have to pay his grocery

bill. Here is Jobson inside, the captain is over! Johnson shows a

skill that time. Simon Manwaring, again, a grand

occasion for him as captain, celebrates with a try double. How

good is this New Zealand side We have just over two minutes

remaining in this first half. Entertainment plus here tonight. And

then a run! Well done!

This is what they did the first half. Loose ball... There he will

start dancing across field with the show-and-go. 11 from the line. Luke

again on the ten-metre line, last tackle. The kick from him. What a

run here! Well, broke throug 20 metres out a

dummy. They get to flick. Referee Richardson had his back to

him. Luke has gone over. They're going to check it with the video

referee. Still in the air, in the air... .

He gets it down in the end. Maybe a debate on the final pass on forward

or not. They all count now. It's on the score sheet.

Mannering is away, and another one! Quick hands.

Brilliant hands. Manu has scored a trouble here for

for New Zealand. On one stage in the first half, we were concerned he may

well be replaced and his World Cup could be over. He does know his way

to the try line. The crowd gets involved.

They are hungry for a Samoan try. They spread on the left side. It is

just five away from the line. Williams over the top of the tackle.

He slows down the play of the ball, he gets them back. Decides to give

it. You can't question the Samoans' spirit. They're still having a

red-hot day. Samoa threaten to score a third try.

A beautiful ball. Beautifully picked up. He is strong,

he held from the line. He scored! This little wippet is

asking real questions of the New Zealand defence.

Both in the air. The control, he is in control. He's on the ground.

That's a try. You could argue it's a tackle, but

then if it is a tackle, it's a two-on-one - Hear, hear. It's not a

try. Samoa! Held up by the defence. Look

at the army! Look at the Blackwall. There are seven of them there!

They will be forced to play it. He scores again!

Samoa have scored their fourth try. Don't worry about kicking

conversions. He picks him out. What a finish.

Absolutely brilliant. 36-18. Can he possibly have seen

this coming? He comes up with the ball. I think

it was - he lost the ball. Samoa have got another one.

Sonny! He's done it! I don't think he has scored!

I don't think he has scored. The ball went over first.

What happened. This stadium has been waiting for him to do that as well.

This game has got it all. Rugby League test football, Sonny

Williams. 36-24, New Zealan//Samoa. Manu!

He delivered a pass and then was hammered by the defence.

But Manu has got a hat trick here. That was a good Rugby League try by

the Kiwi. When you get your line cross for five tries, you know, we

definitely focused on our defence this week, but again, I thought the

Samoan side played with a great deal of energy and had a real drive about

them, so full credit to them. The crowd was amazing there. You know,

they got a good battle there on the second half, but the boys are good

enough to hold on. We've got some things we need to work on, the

defensive structures, but obviously we can take confidence from that. If

we can improve on that performance, I think we can win that game from

the beginning. It was a pretty special game. Before

we get to the action, it started pretty specially. You're the expert,

Robbie. The hacker versus the Sivitau. A new haka for New Zealand.

And absolutely brilliant. They were set up in an arrow shape really

challenging them. It is a homage to all the ancestors that go before,

wherever they come from in New Zealand. If you're staring down the

end of that, it's not the most comfortable day out. What is it like

to be opposite that? It puts up the hairs on the back of your neck. We

like to see the spectators and the fans, and players like to be

involved in this. There are traditions of cultures and different

plans and it just gets you ready to play. What did the crowd make of it?

They loved it. You couldn't hear a penny drop as they were going

through it. The applause afterwards was sensational. The game was pretty

special as well. Do you think we've seen already one of the stars of

this tournament in the winger? I think we've seen a few, but this kid

could be a freak and a bit special for people to watch right throughout

these five weeks if they go this far. He is a superb young man. Two

weeks ago, he played in a grand final, and that finished as good as

anything we see. We've seen wingers do this all year. The actual skill

of this has got it in wrong hand in essence, and terrific finish from

him is a brilliant athlete and well worth watching. We expected it to be

a very, very physical game. It took them a little while but once they

got into the physicality they left nothing behind? I agree with you 100

per cent there. It was very, very physical. The big grams there, when

he came on, he changed the game. He came from a long way away to make

that head. From that point onwards, it ramped up. This didn't stop. I've

seen all these a going, "What is he doing?" It was a privilege to be at

the game because it was one of the most physical, skilful games I've

seen for a long while. It reinforces why we've retired. From every single

kick-off, it was what are these guys doing to each other? Did the

physicality get them back in the game? For Samor definitely. The

Warrington supporters lifted them. After the Laylor try, they grew, and

grew, and grew, and it just got stronger and stronger. It was

certainly the physicality and the fact they took the game to New

Zealand. In essence, it was dead and buried because New Zealand here have

a three-on-three, and they thought I will have the good win of the New

Zealand centre, see how much it meant to him. Watch - off his right

foot. There are four Kiwi defenders that he takes with him in the

process as well. That is all with intent. There was nothing stopping

him, was there? Exactly. He got him on the edge, he knew he had them and

he taut I am going over Toppia. After that, the whole Samoan team

rose. After that is the Warrington supporters that went with them and

it grew and grew, and, for the next 30 minutes, theyletered one another.

Brilliant stuff. So, to Sonny bill Williams. He was billed as the star

of the show, there's been so much talk about him, he wasn't going to

the squad and then not. It created all the headlines, he played

tonight. What did you make of him? People have got to this fellow. His

first piece of skill here, the little softball, the soft touch to

finish the play along with the fullback Hoffman is one of the

reasons is why he's such a great player. That's a great skill. He

copped them on the hips at the same time. He is there to finish the

play. This is the game breaking play that took New Zealand away from

Samoa. He does everything right, a brilliant run. It's nice to know

he's human! He's truly embarrassed, he's done the good thing, beaten

five defenders and slipped over. He is thinking, "I don't want to look

at the camera because I know what is coming - no try." Yes, I will put

the ball down when I want. You can bet your bottom dollar anywhere near

the front chalk next time, he will get it right down. When you compare

him to yesterday, what do you make of his stats versus Ben Westward's?

They carry the ball on the same amount of metres. Metres. Westward

looked stronger with him in the team. Sonny bill's handling stats

will be better. I think we're going to see fantastic styles right

throughout this tournament from all the teams. Sonny Bill is one of the

reasons why a lot of people will show up. By the end of this

tournament, we've seen another one tonight, and there are so many

players out there that it's just mouth watering. Tonight was a

privilege. That was the late game and game B. He recallers Papua New

Guinea played France at a windy Hull.

Papua New Guinea were always offered a warm welcome.

Home fans were offered an early glimpse of what they could accept.

Both sides struggled to adapt to conditions.

Is that out on a full? It is. Bosc - gives a try. First to draw

blood in this. PNG battled gamely to get back into the game. He fires the

ball out. The runners are there. The ball is down the back. He bounces it

off the head, and into the arms on the far side. He slams the ball

down. He's a lot to - there's a lot to

look at here. That's off the head. It's the knocked forward by - and

that is a try. A decent crowd of nearly 7,500 were

enjoying a keenly fought contest. Transcribing to make the most of the

final few minutes. The referee - is he down there? We're going to have a

look at this. We're going to see if France have got their second try of

the game. Video referee. Yes, it looks a second movement to me. No

try. PNG's coach is being assisted by Malmaninga. Whatever they said at

half-time, it seemed to have the effect. That is their fifth tackle

of the set used up. A squeeze on his left-hand side. And they're in the

corner. His first try for Papua New Guinea.

They know what they want. They got themselves into the lead.

The South Sea Islanders suddenly had a spring in their step. Is he there?

France, made up almost entirely of Catalan Dragons stood firm, and won

a penalty to draw level. He has lost the ball, though. It has

gone forward. A penalty though to the French. The ball wasn't steady

on the tee. But it is straight between the two, and we're all

square. The Papuans rallied again but lacked composure.

The gap opens up, the off-load is away. It's picked up by David Mead.

Is the kick too strong? It is. It goes straight into touch. France

seized their opportunity. He has had a drop goal attempt. He

has kicked it. There it is. France lead by nine points to eight.

For their opponents, renowned for their ferocious physicality,

frustration began to creep in. That was a high shot. It wasn't

intentional I don't think. There is his, he certainly hooked him round

the neck, hasn't he? PNG's David Mead has valuable experience from

Gold Titans in Australia's N R L. He had a shot at redemption with the

clock ticking. A penalty to Papua New Guinea. David Mead for PNG but

they trailed by a point. He pulled it in front of the sticks from 25

metres ou Three conversions, three shots at goal, all missed, and there

is the opportunity for Papua New Guinea. The pressure is just too

much. The French have weathered the Samoan

storm, won this game by a spindle point. I thought we got really

messy. Both teams played better into the wind. I thought our kicking game

let us down in the second half, and we found it difficult to get too

much field position and play too much football, so we scrapped away.

You can argue that probably the best side lost. I thought we were the

better team tonight. The second half, the wind was a courageous

effort, we hung in there and couldn't convert our opportunities.

Pretty honest assessment there from both coaches but you see Adrian

Lam's face as sat there and watched that kick go. Definitely a case of

missed opportunities. They had a couple of run-in players that they

botched in the second half. The focus will be on David Mead,

unfortunately, because of his missed attempts. There was a howling gale

at Craven Park. The one in front with stick with him a little bit. I

think the better team did lose in relation to how they played the game

in the en, a this will be the focus for most people's media attention

tomorrow. How do you pick him up after that. He's going to be

distraught. They've got a long way to go yet. They've got some more

games to play, so he's got to be on fire. I think the coach was honest

enough to say he was a big part of our team. David Mead played really

well, probably that one kicking attempt. It is really difficult, I

know we do as headline-makers and things like that, but he's had a

terrific game. He will be fine. Robbie, when you look at France,

they looked disjointed. It didn't happen for them because many of the

players come from the same club side in Catalan? Yes, it seemed at no

point in this game did they get a strong foot hold in the game itself.

They ripped into the French right from the beginning of the game, and

they had him on the back foot and a good kicking game. They took it to

the French forward pack once again. You saw quite a few times the French

were trying to move the ball arou the Comos and it didn't work for

them. This is something that Richard Agar will want to address. He said

we need to earn it and then play off the back of it as opposed to run

around, push passes and create mistakes. Do you think it is a

different France in France? I think absolutely think that. I think Samoa

showed a which where you can intimidate the New Zealanders

tonight and they play them up next and Avignon. If the French have got

the muscle and can muscle up in effect and stick it to the New

Zealanders, in France with ten, 15,000 fans there, real partisan

French people, it is going to be a difficult environment for New

Zealand, and I think France do need to lift the game. I think that he

will play a whole letter better than that next week. Where do you think

PNG can get to in this tournament? They've got to pull their heads out

the cloud first. Understanding PNG, it is not a sport, it is a religion,

so they need to grow once again and find that energy and move forward.

With both group A and Group B under way, it seems a per weak opportunity

to explain how the tournament works. Eight This year's competition sees

14 teams split into four groups, two of four teams, and two of three.

Group A Group

B: Group C is:

Group D sees former semi-finalists Wales,

the cook island in their second World Cup and first timers, the USA

Tomahawks. In groups A and B, each team plays each other, but fixtures

for the three team groups are made up of each team playing a nation

from the other smaller group, so teams from Group C will play one

match from teams of group D. Beyond the group stage the competition is a

straight knockout. As the four team groups A and B contain many of the

higher seeded nations, the quarterfinal line-up is made up of

the top three teams from those stronger groups and just the winners

of Group C and D. Those last eig meetings will

determine the four semi-finalists who will face off in their big hit,

a double header at Wembley one team's rugby fantasy will be

fulfilled in the final on 30 November.

You're absolutely clear on that? You were shaking your head on the C and

D bit. England took on Australia after a week marred by squad

indiscipline. No doubt Gareth Hock was watching from his sofa, and what

an opening game it turned out to be. It begins with a bang. What better

than the old foes, Australia against England? There is such a difference

between test rugby and normal club rugby. Basics and composure. First

real test here. Brilliant. Great play. Now it's

Tomkins who is looking to find a gap in the middle here. A penalty for

England. Back it goes to - and he choices.

They've got a bit of a gap here! The first try of the World Cup 2013.

England are up and running! Don't you just love this game?

Inside now, George Burgess with a big hit forward. Still going,

Burgess, still going. He might have got it overt line.

No try. Here comes the six. He goes with the

reverse. It is an awkward bounce. It is picked up and touched down. Leroy

-- England are into double figures. Given a glimmer back to Australia

here. Inglis was up there. Inglis runs it

off him and Thurston scores the try. A big arm from Sam Burgess. The

crowd are nervous, intense, into this.

Cameron Smith across to Thurston and into the gap, flies. Australia have

pegged England back. It's a forward pass.

A little show and up he goes. It is the England defences chasing.

Slater with an absolute smash-and-grab moment. England

looking to make some big indentations on this Australian line

in the opening moments. It is a thorny 20, Billy Slater has done

fantastically well to keep it in play.

Just like Slater at the other end but he's not got it in.

This is massive here now for England, isn't it? The opening

stages of this second half. Here comes Brett mollis for the corner.

He does find a way to touch it down. But it is still England ten,

Australia 22. Burgess comes on with power and

pace. Australia deal with that but they've been bloodid maybe here.

The score, the try from George Burgess.

It's back on, boys. It's going off here. Westwood is

getting involved. Friday has gone down. He stayed

down. Eight points points difference. Here

we go. Five tackles to Australia to have a go again. Thurston done his -

and Slater and over it goes with Darius Boyd.

It is gone to ground. He tries the pitch, and Josh, it's a gift. Has he

kicked it? He has not. Disappointing in terms of result for England but

very, very encouraging in terms of performance.

The start to the week was challenging, like I said, we've got

a really fantastic group, and the players, the staff, are completely

united, and we wanted to go out there and respond and do our very

best. We started off great but unfortunately like I said, it is a

simple game, Rugby League. If you spill ball and give penalties away,

the opposition will hurt you, we will be better for that, and you

know, I think people will be against that at - again sat at home thinking

England have lost the opportunity for an easy route to the final. I

don't think there was ever an easy route in this competition. Hopefully

we can pick up some momentum now and hopefully down the track we will get

another shot against Australia. I know you want to pick out some

fairly key turning points in this match? Yes, I thought the game

changed just before half-time, and for our viewers here, they conceded

a Billy Slater try. The chase is - chase is going to the blind side.

He's brought the referee to the open side. He can be at the base of the

scrum. We see Burgess has to go through but he goes late. Slater has

already got the run on him, and Burgess can't physically get there.

That's just before half-time. You don't agree with this, do you

Robbie? I don't think he the whitewash. It might be the Kiwi

blood in him. It's me and the linesman more importantly. The best

point Robbie makes there was the next play from the scrum it's really

close, isn't it? It? Australia scores. In essence, they could have

defended that play from the scrum. Two elements of concentration we

will be talking about before half-time with an assist from

referee to Australia, he doesn't have to stand by the open side

there. Is that ones of the keys that England have got to do that full 80

minutes if they're going to beat New Zealand, beat Australia. Three

things: that element of concentration, and exactly what

Steve himself, Steve McNamara said, we have to concentrate for long

periods, look after the ball a little bit better in certain times

of the game, and be cleaner discipline-wise because you can't

give a good team like Australia or any of the good teams that he is

going to come against free field position and free time in their own

half. Coming into this tournament, there was so much talk about the

three Burgess brothers. Probably going into this tournament, most

people will have known a lot about Sam, maybe a little bit about Thomas

because he played at Bradford but probably hasn't seen George because

unless you watched the NRL that's where he has been making moves we.

He had a huge impact on this game? He's been impressive in the NRL for

Australia. To play as many games as he did on his second season over

there, he has done some great things. Scored a lot of tries on the

back of what he does. What he does really well is stop-me-if-you-can.

He find his front and plays the ball really quickly for a big man. It is

a long time since we have had a number of players that could trouble

the top teams in the world like Australia and New Zealand with

players like this. He's just a big, strong boy, and he's great to watch,

complemented by others. I would argue we've uncovered one of this

tournament's stars. He was every time he carried the ball forward, he

got his nose forward, and he got a quick play to the ball. The NRL has

the second quick player of the ball competition, and he's only young.

He's only going to get better and better. If you are Steve McNamara,

disappointed about the result, but what maybe what would you change

looking ahead to the Ireland game? I think James Graham will come back

into the mix because Sam Burgess has to go before the judiciary for a

slight misdemeanour. I wouldn't be too disappointed. I think that he

will be disappointed themselves. They can play a whole lot better.

You look at the balance of who is coming on when and how they're doing

it but that element of basics that we have seen from most of the top

teams this weekend, what is excite exciting is the three top teams have

got giant men and stars, and the other teams have got stars for a

mouth watering four or five weeks. They really took it too England,

took it to Australia and put them on the back foot. What he will want to

do is show him that 20 minutes and make it roll over the in connection

for the full 80. Two more England games remain, both live on BBC one.

Next week, it is Ireland at a sold-out John Smith Stadium in

Huddersfield, and the Saturday after, it is England against Fiji at

the KC Stadium in Hull. Back to the Millennium Stadium where

Australia against England was the appetiser for the Welch as Iestyn

Harris's side took on Italy. It was the last live match commentary for

the legendary Rae French. This is his last tournament commentating for

television, but won't worry, he will still be part of our coverage.

A powerful move. Looking for support. It wasn't there.

But it's Italy on the attack again. Ten metres now from that line.

Dummy. Here's a chance. He's getting down.

I think Oh, that's dangerous. Has he got

hold of it? Yes. I think he scores. I think Evans is in!

A chance here. Can he get it down? Now, then, has he got that down? He

is confident it's going to be a try but what does Mr Hain think? He also

thinks it is a try. Got to keep it moving. An overlap

here. Can he get the ball away? Yes, he can. Inside, inside.

That's a good try, that is. A beautiful try! He puts his arm in

the air. Ten metres from the line. A nice kick to the corner. It's the

anybody's ball. He has got it. I think Elliott Kier has got that ball

down. Nasso. He got the ball away

beautifully. He's in at the corner. The kick. Has he got it? He has

flicked it out beautifully. He flicked it out beautifully and

Tedesco touched it down. A good flick wide out here now.

Still a beautiful ball. A try and Centrone scores in the left-hand

corner. He wants the ball. Switches to the

blind side. He did it again. Italy of course beat England in that

warm-up game. Could they be the surprise package of this World Cup?

I think they already are. Nobody expected Italy to come over to beat

England and then beat Wales in the end convincingly. They were the

better team by a little bit of a distance, and they've got terrific

players, grand finalists. It is important they understand they've

got quality in their team. Will Wales be tough here on in for them

them? Yes, Iestyn needs to pull them together. They need to be strong in

the forward pack. They leaked a couple of easy breaks and tries.

They've got talent and Super League experience in their team and they

need to work on that and move it forward. There are plenty more great

games to come this week. Tonight, an eagerly awaited clash between Fiji

and Ireland clash in Rochdale. Tomorrow, Scotland start their

campaign against a formidable looking Tonga.

What can Scotland achieve in this tournament? I hope we achieve a bit

of support. We know we're not going to win the World Cup but we will

tell how it is, keep our feet on the ground, finish top of the group and

get a quarterfinal spot. I think that will be a pretty successful

World Cup for Scotland. There are a lot of quality teams in the World

Cup, we've got a bit of known and unknown qualities. So pretty

unpredictable at times. We will be going out looking forward to it. If

we re, there, we're if we're not, we've gone out fighting.

What can your side achieve? We came fourth in the 2008 World Cup which

was an amazing achievement for Fiji. Hopefully we can emulate that again.

You know, we find ourselves in a very tough pool against Ireland

first up, Australia and then England. So, hopefully, we can be

one of those three sides. Put in a good showing, and you never know, we

can definitely emulate what we did in 2008. Rochdale, there is a strong

Fijian community. We're thousands of kilometres away from the Pacific,

and the tiny island of Fiji, but there is a strong linkage there. We

have had players that went there in the 1960s and created a bit of

history there within the town. It was a very humbling experience to go

to Rochdale and play there on the weekend. Hopefully, the Rochdale

fans will be there to support us against Ireland.

Wonderful story, that. You can see the action from all the games on the

Rugby League section of the BBC sport website as well as highlights

of yesterday's opening ceremony. Some great games in prospect, and,

by the way, we want you to Tweet us pictures of when you go to these

World Cup games. Send them to: Yes,

it's been quite some opening weekend, hasn't it? Breathtaking.

Everything we expected. The three big teams, if I am allowed to call

them that, England, Australia, New Zealand, have shown their wares and

shown the superstars right throughout and we've seen superstars

making in the other teams. What are you looking forward to? I am working

with BBC Radio tomorrow with Rochdale, looking forward to see

what Fiji can offer this World Cup competition. We've seen Italy as

dark horses. Who else? I think Fiji have to be mentioned. They've got a

host of NRL players that go throughout their team, so I think

they're ones to look at, and obviously we highlighted there

Scotland, keep your eye there as well. If we can keep up with the

quality, we're in for a fair few weeks. We've not mentioned the

Tongan is who have a terrific team. If it is anything like the game

we've seen this afternoon over at Warrington, wow, watch out. We will

be back with highlights each Sunday night of the tournament. Don't

forget there is a rather tasty looking match live this Saturday.

Let's hope they can keep it up like this. See you next week.