Day 1 Highlights Rugby League World Cup

Hello. This is Melbourne. It is 26

degrees, sunny, lovely, and the

Rugby League World Cup 2017 is about

to get under way. Over the next five

weeks we will have it covered on the

BBC from three countries and 13

venues. It gets under way with one

of the biggest rivalries, Australia

against England. We have a top team

down under to bring it to you. I am

off to the studio here in Salford to

present it.

France have the first try.

Outrageous rugby try.

You just can't stop the kid.

England have the lead.

High fives all round.

And the supporters are going mad.

He has got the ball down.

World

champions again.

14 teams with hopes of winning the

Rugby League World Cup. Welcome to

highlights of the opening match of

this 15th tournament. We will show

you co-hosts Australia against

England in a moment, but first, this

is how the tournament works. There

are four teams in pool a and B. They

play three matches, each playing

their pool opposition once and then

the top three qualify for the

quarterfinals.

Let's take you to Melbourne. The

opening game of the 2017 Rugby

League World Cup, Australia against

England. Your commentator is our rub

the correspondent, Dave Walsh.

England. Your commentator is our rub

the correspondent, Dave Walsh.

This

is the way they are lining up.

It is a very settled look to the

England side.

Here is Aaron Woods. James Graham,

wrapping himself around the knees.

David Klemmer slams his huge body

into the England line.

That was too

big.

England have a tap on the 20.

Cronk will be disappointed because

he had it nails, with the numbers

against England.

A good start from Australia

offensively.

Two different styles.

Australia were keen to get to the

edge, to move away from the ruck

area.

There is a lift for England,

because the penalty for offside and

the chance to settle a funeral is.

Aaron Woods has been penalised. --

the chance to settle a funeral 's.

The last tackle play coming next.

Over the top to McGillvary. And

England will claim the opening try

of this World Cup. No recourse to

the video referee. What a to refix

start for the English side. -- what

a terrific start.

They have asked

questions on both sides of the

field, and O'Loughlin is the key on

both sides. McGillvary just had to

catch it.

It was a good set. They

were prepared to move the ball, play

what was in front of them. Great

vision and it will give them great

confidence early.

From very near the

touchline, not quite close enough.

That is what you need when you are

underdogs in a game.

Asking

questions, outnumbering the

Australians, a great start for

England.

Lomax is causing problems.

What you don't do is give a team

like Australia free possession,

which England did then.

Having

survived one spell, England have two

survive again.

One more opportunity for Australia.

McGillvary took no chances.

He has

just become a wicketkeeper for

England. That is the fourth time he

has cleaned up round the back and

booted the ball out.

A great tackle,

stood his ground and stepped in on

the player. That is what you do,

build confidence with your defence.

Good, flowing movement from England

again.

It was a loose pass, intercepted by

Chambers. Mistakes from both sides

with the handling.

It was loose, the

final pass.

Have we seen an interchange?

No

interchange yet. I don't think we

are far off it, because there are

some big boys blowing out there at

the moment.

England's defence

already back on its own line again.

He made some space for himself and I

think he found a way to get over.

The referee again absolutely

certain. For all the defending that

England have done, they will

consider that a real disappointment

for Matt Gillett to get over from

where he did.

This was fatigue. Too

much defence to do. He stepped off

his right foot and it was the fact

that they could not shape their

line-up. He was too fast and too

strong.

Cameron Smith, kicking to

refix Lee well, right in between the

uprights.

Again, a quick pick-up, carried

forward by Morgan.

They have got time here. Frizzell

has come onto the field, a Welsh

international at the last World Cup.

And he has won a penalty. Right in

front of the sticks. Do they go for

two?

They will play because they

feel they have good possession and

there is wear and tear in the

England team.

They have set

themselves up here.

Slater. It is too easy again, it

seemed. Billy Slater bamboozling the

English defence with a thread of a

pass and then a skip to the line.

Australia have back-to-back tries,

and a lead of 10-4.

Other than when

they scored the try, all of the ball

has been in the England half.

People that wide, so it remains

10-4.

You cannot give Billy Slater

that amount of time.

They need to

take away their time by hustling.

They will have to think about a kick

on the last again. Morgan with the

height.

They start on the ten metre

line, so they are striving to get

over the halfway line. It is a

different ball game for Australia,

kicking 30 metres out every time.

And no mental pressure for Australia

either. There is a concern here for

Burgess. There is a little in

tangled and. Matt Gillett seemed to

be worried about Sam Burgess' health

for a moment. That is where the

injury was. Is it a hamstring?

I

would not be surprised if it is his

knee. Having said that, I failed

when I tried to become a doctor.

If

it is a medial in his knee, we are

talking tournament.

I wonder if he

carried that in with him. They are

not prodding and poking, so they

might have an idea what it is.

It is the triumvirate that strikes

and puts Australia in this position.

Maguire is held up short, but

brilliance down the middle by the

Melbourne three. McGillvary with the

interception and a clearing run. He

might not go the distance, but how

many times has he been the last

ditch defender who has come out with

something special?

What a save that

was, McGillvary to the rescue. They

were done and dusted with England

right hand side defence and he

picked it out of the air.

What about the gamebreaker up the

middle. They have broken them up the

middle a couple of times with that

inside pass to Slater.

Graham and

the parser ways, a quick closing

down job on Widdop. Nothing he could

do. Roby to Graham. Looking for some

honest endeavour to give England a

platform on the last play. Might

this be a good time to score? It is

punched out of play from an

Australian hand. They'll take that

and they'll take this, a lead at

half-time 10-4. England start a set

in an excellent attacking position.

Roby.

England encouraged for the moment.

Great footwork by Hill again. He's

got our hands and feet and the

power, but the Australians have the

answers. In defence, Graham, quickly

away... Gale! Lomax caught that and

put it away. England were in for a

try, and I think Jonny Lomax knows

that.

They just need a bit of

composure, to ease back.

Hodgson to O'Loughlin. His head

snapped back at a challenge from

Klemmer. Hodgson again. Widdop

caught it. Fantastic juggling effort

from Gareth Widdop. That was

important. That is a good carry from

Hill and the off-load, a bit scruffy

but it did its job. Good footwork on

Cameron Smith. Last play looms. 30

metres out. Widdop sticking it high.

Slater. Great kick, but he's lost

it! Billy Slater lost it! We've seen

him make a mistake or two down his

career, just one or two, and

sometimes costly, harking back to

the 2008 World Cup when he gave New

Zealand a chance to win. Is this an

early chance for England to get

level?

England's performers in this

second half desert that element of

luck and deserved this attacking

opportunity now. Desperate deserved

that element of luck. He was more

worried about getting his foot in.

It would have been a 20 metre

restart. All of those things in his

mind, and the first thing was to

catch the ball, which he forgot.

Obviously his foot slipped, and a

big opportunity for England. Even if

you are not going to score, build

pressure, build pressure.

It's Gale,

and now Bateman. They could do with

a set without any mistakes. At the

very least. Roby is going to go from

dummy half, and bounced into the

in-goal area, but he's held up. The

referee doesn't need the video

referee. He is having a quiet night

tonight, so far, sitting in the box

to our left. The referee made the

calls.

Nose down, backside up.

Slater is underneath the ball, for

sure.

He rarely makes more than one

mistake per game. O'Loughlin dancing

into the dummy half position.

Hodgson, Hill. Hill tried to push

himself through the gap, but it

closes. James Roby stand and wait.

Back it goes to Gale again. Lomax!

Graham puts his nose through as

well. Bateman, six tackle, what's

Bateman doing? Trying to go for the

line. Lomax got there as well. Carry

across to Gale and it's with Hodgson

puts the kick to the in-goal area.

Australia getaway with one. Morgan

wraps it up.

Hodgson inside to O'Loughlin.

There is Graham. Look at this for a

position. England, 12 away, they've

still got tackled in the bag, Roby

with the dummy, and now to Lomax,

who steps away from the defender.

There are more coming. His ambitions

are suffocated eventually.

O'Loughlin, Widdop. Hodgson to Gale.

They go wide. Bateman on the edge!

The flag from the touch judge said

that the ball was lost. It's

Australia who get it back with a tap

on the 20.

You back him every day of

the week. England have been the

better team in this second half.

Wayne Bennett watching on will be in

courage. He was saying that night

was all about performance, not

necessarily outcome. -- that tonight

was all about performance.

35 away from where he wants to be.

It's Cronk. Now Wade Graham. Penalty

to Australia.

Australia going for goal to try and

win the game in this moment.

Definitely go for the goal. But both

teams are tired looking and this

break the deadlock and gives them a

chance to suck them in, to get some

air but also, if he misses it, they

get the ball back from a drop out.

So a chance to potentially win the

game here for Cameron Smith. But

this over, England have to score

twice. The second half so far has

yielded no points. This could be the

first of them. He has kicked one

from two so far tonight, Cameron

Smith. Make that two out of three,

and an 8-point lead now for the

Australians. It will take something

rather special for England to rescue

anything points wise from this game.

Gale, Currie, great introduction for

him to this World Cup. Getting up to

speed. James Graham again, the big

body of his swaying and surging

one-way and the other, and slips to

the ground in the tackle, and Roby

Calexico. It comes the six, Hodgson,

slinging it back to Widdop, who get

away from a couple of defenders. He

is going wide. Currie. Widdop with a

kick. It goes into the hands of Josh

Dugan, who is away, and this will be

a dagger in the heart of England.

Josh Dugan is a meter past. The runs

80 metres to score the try that

makes absolutely certain of an

Australia victory. England were

going for it, but it's the

Australians who get it, 16-4. And

it's going to be an opening night

victory for this World Cup for the

green and gold.

I'm not sure they

deserve this, but they're trying to

catch the game. If you don't attack

those type of clicks, you leave it

open to do what Josh Dugan does. You

get the bounce, and he'll be caught

from there. Against the run of play,

England chasing the game.

The

passion and attitude by this play,

Graham. Look at the front row but he

turns and chases.

I think the carrot

is intact. You can see that

exemplified by James Graham.

-- the

character is intact. I don't think

we are going to get every start, and

Cameron Smith knows that, in all

likelihood, this will be his last

kick. In all likelihood, his last

game in a green and gold shirt on

this ground. It comes, left footed.

He has just put it in. The fireworks

go up in celebration of that, and

it's 18- for now, and Australia, on

the balance of the game, a fair

scoreline? Or did England deserve a

bit more?

They probably think they

deserved the win, but England were

the better team in the second half,

exemplified by the way they've

played. A number of opportunities

with Lomax and other players in the

team.

The hooter sounds and the last

tackle the night is John Bateman,

which might be a memory they take

throughout the tournament. That's

the first byte opener of this World

Cup 2017. -- first night.

Disappointment for England but does

it end here. These two might yet be

involved in the final in Brisbane,

but it's Australia and take the

spoils tonight. They beat the

English 18-4.

You had to fight hard for the

victory.

We were prepared for a

tough battle and we certainly got

it. A bit scratchy in attack but we

got a bit of improvement to do

there. All in all, a tough effort

and a good start.

What did you think

of England's performers and their

strengths?

I thought their strengths

were their back three. Their wingers

are hard to handle, their full-backs

play very well and they shift the

ball, making you defend from

sideline to sideline. They're going

to go a long way.

I also have Sean

O'Loughlin, so close, you got off to

a wonderful lead and you now

appreciate how great Australia are

and how close you are.

They are a

good side that we came up against.

Both sides still a bit rusty and if

you every to improve on for both

sides, so disappointing, but it's

Australia and not a bad place to

start. Not pleased with a loss but

we can take a lot from it.

Positives

and negatives, but was -- positives

from the performance.

It's the start

of the tournament and we need a

performance. We got lads that

haven't played for a number of

weeks. Fatigue showed a big part

tonight. I don't think I've seen a

Test match like that in a number of

years. That was a real test. To

start this tournament, it was a

fantastic game exhibition.

Toulouse

Sam Burgess in the manner you did,

what is the news? We are hearing it

could be out in three or four weeks.

Three or four weeks, it's a

ligament. We got some good medical

people and we'll be looking at Sam.

He's a good healer, so we are

looking at maybe 74 hours.

He seemed

determined to stay on.

He did, he

was like, struck me up and I'll get

back out there, but it's a

tournament and we want get him back.

Wood so you're confident you'll have

him back. Yes, he's going to play a

big part.

Australia have their 12th

successive win over England, putting

themselves on top of Pool A. He will

be helping that Sam Burgess will be

fit later in the tournament,

hopefully for the semifinals. Coming

your way across the BBC, tomorrow

lunchtime, 1:15pm, highlights Papua

New Guinea against Wales, New

Zealand against Samoa and Fiji

against the USA. On Sunday,

highlights of Ireland against Italy,

Scotland against Tonga and France

against Lebanon. And you can follow

the Rugby League World Cup on the

BBC over the next five weeks across

TV, Radio 5 Live, a website, the BBC

sport app, and you can get

notifications on your phone or

tablet. You'll get updates,

half-time scores etc. Just sign up.

That's it. The Rugby League World

Cup 2017 is up and running. The

battle passes from England to Wales,

and you'll be able to see they get

on at 1:15am -- 1:15pm on BBC One in

our highlights show. Good night.