Kear plays down Bati Minnow victory remote

FIJI may have chalked up one of the biggest wins of the Rugby League World Cup to date, but Wales coach John Kear says there is little chance of the Bati going all the way.

Kear’s Welsh side was thumped 72- 6 by Fiji at 1300SMILES Stadium on Saturday night, the largest World Cup defeat suffered by Wales.

But Kear is adamant that no minnow World Cup nation can topple the big three of Australia, New Zealand and England.

When asked if any tier two nations would finally beat a tier one rugby league outfit at this World Cup, Kear’s answer was an emphatic “no”.

“That’s just as it is,” he said. “The tier one count countries are exceptional. Tonga are tier two, that might be the only one ( in their game) against New Zealand.

“It will be Australia v New Zealand or England in the final, I’m pretty certain of that.”

Kear still heaped praise on Fiji, saying they possess the brute physicality of PNG but also the skill of an NRL side.

“They’ve come far in the last two World Cups haven’t they Fiji, so obviously they’re one of those that’s challenging and indeed Tonga are the same, if they play to the maximum of their ability,” he said.

“But I don’t think games like this do them much good to tell you the truth.

“I think the weight of possession was something like 70 per cent to 30 per cent and they didn’t have much defending to do did they.

“We didn’t test them really and it’s a credit to them how they kept the ball and kept us away from their end of the field.

“The better team by far won and the scoreboard doesn’t tell a lie.”

Fiji coach Mick Potter is remaining optimistic and says the minnow nations are on the verge of toppling one of the big three.

“You look at the Tongan team, the Samoan team and the Fijian team, they’re getting more NRL players in their World Cup squads every four years,” he said.

“I’m not saying they’re going to go any better or any worse, but that’s an indicator for you that something’s going to give at some stage.

‘ Whether it’s Fiji, Tonga, Samoa or PNG, one of those teams is going to start pushing through.”

Potter said the Bati still had their eyes on the big prize.

“I want the team to win the World Cup,” he said.

“We’ll just do the old one week at a time and that’s what it is.

“There’s enough quality in this team that can trouble the bigger teams.”