17/11/2017 - Highlights Rugby League World Cup

The 2017 World Cup has reached the

knockout stages as rugby league

takes centre stage. The first

quarterfinal kicked off earlier

today in Darwin, with co-host

Australia looking to maintain their

unbeaten record. Their opponents

Samoa stumbled through the group

stages with defeats to New Zealand

and Tonga, but a tense draw against

Scotland last week ensured their

place in the last eight. They needed

a big improvement to cause an upset

against the reigning world

champions. Your commentators are

Mark Braybrook and Gary Belcher.

COMMENTATOR: Welcome to Darwin. It

is a sell-out for this first

quarterfinal of the 2017 rugby

league World Cup. Australia take on

Samoa. Gary Belcher, plenty of

experience here. Only Jerome Luai

hasn't played.

That's right. Roberts

has played in the Super League. Most

of the other players are in the NRL.

They have a fair bit to live up to

tonight. They will want to be very

tight in the first half.

There is

the Kangaroos 17. Before that, we

have the Samoan cultural challenge.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. The

quarterfinal of the 2017 rugby

league World Cup, the first

quarterfinal, Australia taking on

Samoa. And here we go. Matthew

Wright has the ball placed. The

referee signals time on, and it will

be the Australians through Billy

Slater, without juggle.

Three Samoans in to make the tackle.

The big Samoan Fords are walking

back already.

Conserving their

energy, the Samoan forwards. Matthew

Wright, the right wing of four

Samoa, had not dropped back at all.

He had an easy kick into the corner.

Last tackle here for the Samoans,

Roberts with the kick. Returning at

100 miles an hour, Valentine Holmes.

Not a great first kick from Roberts.

It wasn't. He is known for that. He

is very courageous. They are already

well into the Samoan half.

Good

opportunity here for the Kangaroos.

Once again, they are pinned in their

corner as we had downstairs for the

first time and welcome Brett.

Good

evening. Conditions are unbelievable

down here. It is extremely hot, but

the breeze that was blowing before

the game has totally dropped. It is

not favouring any team, meaning

their kicking game has to be spot

on.

With the breeze disappearing as

well, when we were down there

earlier, I would not say it was a

cooling breeze, but it certainly

made it a little bit more pleasant.

Now an opportunity for Wright. They

are inside the Kangaroos territory.

Much better kick. That was what he

was aiming for the first time,

Roberts. Not too worried about

distance. He just wants to get it

out.

There was a juggle from As You

See Me Now. The thing about the

breeze dropping -- a juggle from As

You See Me Now. It is going to be

slippery. It is going to get tougher

as the game goes on.

Once again, Matthew Wright playing

up, but that was an early kick from

the Kangaroos skipper.

The Kangaroos

are having a word with the referee

about Samoa.

Another set for Samoa,

starting at their end of the field.

Strong defence over the top from

Woods.

Last tackle here for Samoa. A kicked

off the legs. Valentine Holmes

hasn't done well enough. Was he

trying to get it out of the way did

he play it?

Let's have another look

at it. This was him trying to keep

it in.

Can Samoa make the most of

their good fortune? No, they can't.

And now they concede a penalty.

Leilua is the go to man.

He didn't

have his hands ready at all. What a

wasted opportunity for the Samoans.

That is exactly what coach Matt

Parrish was talking about before the

game, the mistakes they have made.

Frank Pritchard taking his time.

This is the game plan, to slow the

game down, get the Aussies out of

their rhythm. It is on the ground,

picked up by Holmes, who dives over

in the corner. Was there a knock-on?

We are checking if it's been knocked

forward, please.

We have no concerns with catching

the ball.

First tried to the

Kangaroos. They lead 4-0.

What a conversion from Cameron

Smith.

The pick-up from Holmes was

unbelievable. In slippery

conditions, that was an amazing

catch.

He is such a talented player,

Holmes. I know he wants to play

full-back. I think his best position

is the wing.

Inside the 30, last tackle. Woods

has got it. Here is a

miscommunication you don't see too

often.

Just didn't quite get hold of

it well enough, Cooper Cronk.

Aaron

Woods had a look on his face - what

am I doing with the ball?

Billy Slater attacking the football.

His first touch, and almost every

touch hey have had in this World Cup

has been fantastic.

Slater taken out on the inside by

Pritchard, but he is going to play

advantage.

Billy Slater was taken

out when he was coming back on the

inside.

The hole was opening up. He

was going to find himself in a big

space. Probably a good play by

Samoa.

All four pass. Leuluai does very

well. -- awful pass.

That was almost over the dead-ball

line. The kicking game of the

Samoans is not up to it at the

moment.

It is the opposite of what

we have seen from the Australians.

Their kicking game has been spot on.

And Samoa, one in four was NOK kick

-- NOK kick.

Slater puts the foot down. Attack

from behind by Lou I. It opened

again for Billy Slater. He may have

lost it as well.

Potential knock-on there.

I think he

may have lost it.

There will be no try. He just lost

it. Terrific cover from the Samoans

to deny Gagao.

Completely contrasting styles of the

moment. The Aussies are going

straight through the middle.

Billy Slater, how did he do that?

You have worn the number one jumper

for the Australians. How did he

manage that? And here they come

back, the Kangaroos. They are going

to go 90 metres. The chase is on.

Has Holmes got the legs? He died so

the corner and gets there, all

because of the great work of Billy

Slater -- he dives for the corner.

Valentine Holmes gets a double.

It

is great play and Slater would not

have lost any marks. It was a very

good kick by Roberts, bouncing into

that area. That was superb. He

doesn't make too many mistakes,

Billy.

Have you seen any better?

No.

And also Cameron Smith. Cameron

Smith does it again to make it 12-0.

Billy Slater is the best full-back I

have ever seen. As a player, when

you played against him, when you

kick the ball, he is the hardest

full-back to play. As a young kid

watching him, he does everything

extremely fast.

Junior Paulo has yet

to get on the bike.

The Kangaroos will be happy so far

with two tries. That is still an

area for the Kangaroos that is a

work in progress.

Gillard was terrific last week

against Lebanon.

And they concede a penalty. It is

like they are playing in the wet,

Gary.

That was all perspiration. It

is not raining here.

A bit disorganised here, the

Australians. McLean is only five

metres away. Jill it to Billy

Slater! Hit at the last one up and

he's caused the third. Clinical from

the Kangaroos. You'll agree that

this cat and pass from Matt Gillett.

Two-handed little basketball pass.

He captures and pops it back inside

the Slater. Great timing by the

Aussie full-back.

Three from three for Cam Smith.

Australia have said they would like

to get their attack a little

crisper, and that is happening

tonight. The one thing Samoa needed

to do was have a great completion

rate. Five from 11, 40 5%, and that

is why there is some fatigue and

that is why Samoa are really going

to struggle with the pace of this

game.

The Kangaroos are on a bit of

a roll here.

Holmes was looking for a hat-trick,

but Matthew Wright was there to tidy

up.

That was a clever play from

Dugan.

Can the Samoans defend this set

here? Inside the final ten minutes

of the first half.

Graham was out there, trying to

continue his try scoring in the

World Cup. Billy Slater is looking

for a double. Morgan puts the foot

to the floor and scores. They held

off Michael Morgan, and Morgan gets

the Australians' try number four.

It

is so difficult when you have a

player dancing around like Billy

Slater. You don't want to curb it --

commit to many defenders. There were

three Samoans there, meaning there

was room out why. Morgan does weaves

a bit of magic, stretches out the

score.

No trouble for Cameron Smith to make

it four from four.

The pace and the

skill they are playing with in the

heat.

Morgan did great footwork to score.

A lack of support players there. I

know there are some tired players

out there for Samoa.

Trying to be

aggressive and play quickly. Matt

Parrish is not particularly happy in

the coaches' box. I get the feeling

that the heads are down for the

Samoans.

Cooper Cronk was taken out, but it

doesn't matter. Morgan is there to

score the try! Cooper Cronk was

odds-on. He was taken out, and

Michael Morgan gladly takes it.

It's

amazing to see the combination

between Smith and Cronk. Smith goes

to dummy half, Cronk is on the

openside of the field and Tonumaipea

comes in.

There is another one from

Cam Smith.

A dominant first half

performance.

Can they get some

points on the board, Samoa? Can they

test the Australians in the second

half? And can the Australians

continue the way they played the

first 40? Seccombe 40 minutes of the

first Test match to be played in

Darwin -- the second 40 minutes. It

is the Australians in control.

Terrific defence.

It doesn't look like a massive

error. He has wasted 12 or 15

metres, which means a lot when the

Aussies quickly get into Samoan

territory.

It wasn't a mistake. This

is something they did in the first

half. They made a mistake and then

conceded a penalty.

The 20-metre line, just in front of

him. Smith, now Brown over the top.

Morgan, back to Dugan on the angle.

Josh Dugan is only a metre away.

Tevaga making the tackle. Now

Cordner looking for a try.

Pritchard is there. Slater around

the back. Slater with the

acceleration. The pass has been

picked up here by Lafai. Samoa

survive.

Slater, held in the tackle, could

see if he could get the pass away

early enough to a team-mate. Just

got delayed, fractionally. Samoa

hanging in.

Let's find out what the coaches had

to say at half time, as we head

downstairs.

They spoke about starting extremely

fast. Played some quality football.

The big word in their changing room

about pride. For Australia they

spoke about expects Samoa to play

fast. Certainly lock up the defence,

keep punching through the middle and

the completion rate is a huge focus

the second half.

Leilua with the kick.

One of the better kicks in the game

from the Samoans. There's some body

contact Pritchard with the shot.

Up again they come with the shoulder

charge, forcing the error and he's

hurt his shoulder as well.

Was this

a shoulder charge? That was the

first tackle. That was first contact

by the winger.

It is a shoulder charge.

He's got

his arm out. It's not locked into

his side there.

It came from nowhere.

It came from Wright, the kick chase.

Decided to make a couple of big

hits. He's a winger and he's

inspired the big man.

Can they make the most of it here -

Samoa? A real opportunity with a

full set. Inside the 30, and the

Kangaroos.

In each other's way, is Paulo's

tackle inside the 20.

Brown, Roberts... Leilua. Up out of

the line was Holmes, but Wright, the

touchline was too close.

Their best

chance of the night Joey Leilua is

to dangerous when you give him the

room. They slide him across the

line.

Promising play there by Samoa.

Cronk... Graham... ...Ed haven't had

too many opportunities in this half

so far.

Away from one. Can it get away from

another? The ten-metre line in front

of him. Everyone stopped. Can Smith

play it on? Runs into Pritchard.

Keeps going. Has he got it down? I'm

not sure.

REFEREE... Trackle three.

I cannot see the ball at the moment.

The balls always up, it's always up.

We need to make sure he's got

possession as well. That left-hand

came off the ball. Definitely in the

left-hand.

OK, there's no shipping action, his

right-hand is still there around the

ball. OK we have a decision, we are

going to the ball.

THE COMMENTATOR: Good defence. Can

they hold out for another two?

Now it's Slater with the pass to

Holmes. He gets himself a hat-trick.

Valentine Holmes, once again - the

delivery from Billy Slater.

What about the pass from Billy

Slater?

It's fantastic. The catch

and pass, to catch the right man. He

does it so well, Billy Slater and

the recipient of that, Valentine

Holmes, well, he couldn't have done

any better.

It's coming back. It is straight

over the dot. 36-0.

Certainly wonderful play here. Billy

Slater sums it up. They create a

three-on-two. It was about execution

from Holmes, catching and grounding

that ball. It is Smith 's ability to

catch the ball early. Australia's

patience of kick, chase, kick,

chase, and that is what you will see

from them this tournament.

Five of their six tries, on this

left side have been fantastic

tonight. Billy Slater scored the

other.

That is what it was like too.

Went and got his fourth.

The crowd would love to see more

action on the right side with Will

Chamberlain, their favourite son.

Not seeing a lot of football.

It has been a terrific night and

still half an hour to go.

Smith again with the kick.

And one bounce.

Tackle from his own line.

Nice off-load, Tonumaipea. The

Aussies weren't expecting that. Good

work from Samoa.

All a little bit tired. Trying to

come out and help out for the

Samoans.

Inside the 30. A good run from

Paulo.

Roberts...

Good kick.

Was that a Samoan knock-on? The

referee says, play on. Now a knock

down by the Kangaroos.

REFEREE: IT

WAS A HAND OVER THE BALL.

I suppose the Kangaroos have come up

with possession.

Chamberlain... The crowd would love

to see him score.

I am sure he'd

love to score as well.

Great contact.

McGuire...

Cronk... Slater... Nowhere through

this time, but he's able to off-load

to Morgan. Gets away from Paulo.

Cronk's on the inside. The cover

comes and there's the pass back to

Valentine Holmes. He's got himself

four.

Billion the first to congratulate

Valentine Holmes, who joins the four

try club at the World Cup.

Slater

fights and fights until he gets an

off-load away.

Morgan does the damage. Finds his

half's partner in support and Val

Holmes wants to be around the footy.

He's there again - number four.

Smith from right in front.

It is now seven from seven for the

Australian captain and the lead is

now 42-0.

We see the try through the

middle of the field. Yes, off-loads.

The message at half time was keep

punching through the middle. Val

Holmes rarely he scores hat-tricks.

He only has one at club level as

well.

McGuire... A bit of a stumble. Lost

the momentum.

Brown, the tackler. Dugan, great

tackle.

Matthew Wright coming down his wing

to shut it down.

Morgan, Smith... Aaron Woods.

To the right, Chamberlain - the

tackle made.

A good tackle too

too... Can Samoa come one it? That

would have been spectacular for a

front row to come through and take

the kick.

Samoa survive and work their way out

of the end with a good run.

That's Tevaga...

You see, Woods' arm

is just there. He's making no effort

to play the footy. Tevaga's trying

to get the ball free.

Slater is there as well.

Smith... Morgan. No Holmes over

here, he's the other side of the

field. He's come over now. And the

kick not played out. Not a great

kick. Chamberlain is there. They let

it bounce. Still on the ground,

still going, Chamberlain cham can't

get there and then he knocked it on.

Thought it was a knock-on against

the Australians.

They cannot take a trick, can they,

the Samoans. Chamberlain coming

through and the referee spotted a

little knock on in there. So once

again they are defending their own

goal line.

Slater, they come towards Valentine

Holmes and he can't get the ball

there.

An important tackle made by

Ben Roberts.

Dugan out of half... Back to Slater.

He keeps it alive to Morgan. Now

McGuire.

That's the ten-metre line. Australia

lead 42-0. Smith... Valentine Holmes

was unmarked. Two men wide. Couldn't

quite get it there. Back to the

accept tefrmt Woods. There's no way

through at the moment. The Samoan

defence is holding.

The off load to Slater. Now Cooper

Cronk. A chase from Chamberlain. He

can't get there. He makes the

tackle. The fans love that.

This is

what sets them apart at times, the

Aussies, their half, their hooker.

Seven minutes away from the end of

the game and then the very important

part for the Kangaroos in this World

Cup, how they recover from tonight

and the amount of fluid they would

have lost to get ready for the

semifinal. How important is full

time and what they do in the next

hour or two after this.

Klemmer... Oh, the pass to Holmes.

He's got one to beat. Valentine

Holmes is the first pla Ier in

history to score five tries at a

Rugby League World Cup. It came from

David Klemmer and Valentine Holmes

has five tries in a World Cup match.

A big day for Klemmer. Clever

thinking. Everyone is on him on that

left-hand side. He's got a little

bit of work to do, but he does it

beautifully. Five of your best,

Valentine.

46-0 with a kick to come.

He's missed one. He doesn't like it

either. He's a hard task master.

Obviously Valentine Holmes is rare

to score five tries in a World Cup.

Seven others have scored four since

1975. Very rare company.

Unbelievable effort from a player. I

think he's a winger. I think that is

the best position for him. We saw

him do well for Queensland, now

Australia.

Near the touchline and

Morgan last week was Morgan who put

his foot on the touchline at the

start of the game against Lebanon.

I think he was the man of the

moment, Val Holmes who did that.

In agreement that his best position

is on the wing, Holmes.

Falling slightly as he came to the

defence.

Oh, there's a good take. It could

have been a dangerous take as well.

Cronk gets the kick away. After he

kicked it to Tevaga.

Tonumaipea on his own goal line.

Inside the final four into three

minutes to go and the off-load. Did

that go four? Three said no, as

Tonumaipea plays it.

Pritchard off-load.

To halfway.

Last tackle.

Roberts...

Dugan is back there.

The chase is not great here from the

Samoans.

Holmes has gone over the right

looking for try number six. Two

minutes remain.

Slater has earned a

rest. Josh Dugan playing. Slater has

had a fantastic game.

Been many occasions where I haven't

said that during this World Cup.

Chamberlain near the touchline. Was

he well to stay in? He can't.

I don't think either team, the

Samoans will be that interested in

packing the scrum too quickly.

Valentine Holmes, five tries. There

he is. Billy Slater.

Can they fin wish a -- finish with a

try here, the Samoans?

Just over the halfway line. Last set

for Samoa for the game.

Tonumaipea has had a busy night.

Tried hard. Looks like the

Australians are going to keep that

record in tack of no points conceded

in the second half and back-to-back

matches when no points are

conseizeded. Maybe I have spoken too

soon. Here comes Samoa. Down the

touchline. Couldn't keep his feet.

That was off the ground. Surely the

pass. Only a couple of metres away.

He was on the ground. Now the

penalty conceded by Will

Chamberlain. Can

Can they finish

with the try?

Hitting a solid tackle. Only five

metres away.

The clock winds down. Another

penalty.

They are a bit tired.

Last play of the game. Samoa. The

ball is in the open and touched over

the goal and touchline. The

Australians are through to the semi

finals. Full time, Australia, 46.

Samoa, 0.

Valentine Holmes the first to score

five try for Australia in a World

Cup. Can you describe that?

I am

speechless at the moment. I didn't

believe them. I thought someone had

scored five before. I am very

honoured to be named that. It's

awesome.

Obviously a great

performance from Australia as well.

On the high completion rate, just

patience?

That was our main goal

this week. We knew it would be wet

and hot and sweaty. Our main goal

was to try and complete and turn the

big forwards around.

Still plenty of

love in the team but a tough night

for you guys?

It was always going to

be a tough night playing against

Australia. A tough test tonight.

Gave it the best shot. Boys can hold

their heads high and look forward to

next year.

You didn't win a game at

the World Cup and 50% today. So

probably not the greatest

appearance?

It wasn't the greatest

Tour, but we are a young squad. We

have to show faith in them and build

towards the future.

You must be

proud for your country?

It is an

honour to lead my country and these

boys into battle. All the fans is

come out tonight. Much love to them.

We will build on that.

Tough

conditions, but very clinical,

Australia had a great completion

rate and were patient.

We knew we

would have to be up here in this

heat and that the ball would be

slippery. If we didn't hold the ball

it would be a tough night for us. We

completed our sets and made it hard

for the Samoans.

Mel thought there

were signs of improvement - you

obviously feel happy with that end

result?

Especially how slippery the

ball is with the sweat. We didn't

think we would play that much footy.

Got a bit more fluency in attack and

hopefully we can take that into next

week.

It looks like the rest is not

dissimilar to club football?

You can

get away with more with the one ref.

In the heat it is hard to slow the

ball down because you are tired.

Working well off Smith, our big boys

are. Creating momentum. Playing off

the back of that. We knew it would

open up around the middle.

I

the back of that. We knew it would

open up around the middle.

I think,

unfortunately, Our performances on

the field didn't reflect the way we

have trained and the way we have

carried ourselves as a team. The

boys have done a great job, the way

they have represented Samoa. Again

obviously the results haven't gone

our way. As I said, our performances

have not been as good as we would

have hoped. There's lots of effort,

respect. Again, I think we have done

a wonderful job representing Samoa.

I am very happy, obviously

defensively, once again, holding to

zero, which is fantastic. I thought,

given the conditions we had a bit of

a plan around carrying the footy and

I think we implement that really

well, too. And it is an area we are

concentrating on around our

completions. We achieved that.

A big

night for Val?

A big night for Val.

Five tries, it's fantastic. He runs

hard. Every time he gets an

opportunity, his support well was

good. He deserved it. He deserved

the reward that he gets by putting

all the effort in.

This is how the quarter final is

looking.

Australia are through to the

semi-finals and will play the

winners of New Zealand verses Fiji.

England are looking to overcome

Papua New Guinea in the final on

Sunday. Ahead of the game,

confidence is high in the England

camp.

Really excited. The boys are

excited. A great side - they have

been fantastic. A great story for

them. Over the past couple of weeks

have got great results. It should be

a tough challenge. Something to look

forward to.

The boys are looking

forward to it. The first session

back today. Nice intense session.

The boys are ready.

Papua New Guinea

brings a lot of emotion - does that

bring a different approach from

England?

We have a lot of emotion

too. Our stats have been good.

Playing well as a group. Plenty of

passion amongst those guys.

What do

you make of Papua New Guinea?

They

are very physical and have had very

good results.

It will be tight,

tough and intense. Especially from

that start I think it will be a huge

impact in the tournament. I think

PNG have that passion and love of

the game as well. I think the fans

will love that.

They've had great

results this World Cup - three good

wins. They will come and play tough.

We just focus on ourselves really.

That is what we have done all

tournament and what we will continue

to do.

A lot of English fans have

arrivered in Perth. How important --

arrived in Perth. How important are

they?

It is fantastic to see a lot

of fans who have travelled the other

side of the world to support us and

the love of rugby league as well.

That is great. A huge example was in

Perth. We mentioned it a couple of

times, them watching. It was a great

turnout. Especially for both games

on that day. That shows the pride

and the love of our team. Hopefully

we can get more support coming up

through the next couple of weeks.

You have done a lot of travelling,

Perth to Melbourne - does that shake

you up at all?

Keeps us on our toes.

We never settled a week in each

place. The boys like it. It keeps it

nice and fresh. We have visited some

lovely places. I reckon the boys

like that.

Sam is back this week -

how much of a boost is that? . Sam's

a world-class player. We are pleased

to have him back. The boys have done

the job without him, so... How

pleased were you with who u the boys

combined?

I thought they were really

good.

Cassidy hasn't played fullback for a

while. He was excellent there. He

fits in there seamlessly. A smooth,

easy transition.

Is there a an

different approach because it is

trap door football?

No, we try and

approach everything in the same

manner. Nothing really changes. We

understand that it's no fallback

position after the weekend. Two

teams will be pretty desperate.

This

is how you can keep across all the

World Cup action this weekend. I

will be back tomorrow with

highlights of New Zealand verses

Fiji and Tonga verses Lebanon. That

is on BBC One at 1. 15pm. On Sunday

Mark Chapman will bring you the game

on Sunday from 4. 30am. Yes, 4. 30!

That's all for now. Goodbye.

Music