Scotland upset by criticism of venue
GETTY IMAGES GETTY IMAGES NEW Zealand five-eighth Thomas Leuluai suffered a broken jaw in two places during the game and the Kiwis were accused of disrespect after it.
For the first time in five Four Nations tournaments, the qualifier stole a point from one of the sport’s ‘top three’, Steve McCormack’s Bravehearts snatching an 18-18 draw with a late conversion by needled-up captain Danny Brough.
England now need to beat or draw with Australia at London Olympic Stadium tomorrow to eliminate the Kiwis from the tournament and progress to the final.
But if David Kidwell’s platers survives their afternoon in front of the television, they will be looking for a new halves partner for yesterday’s man of the match, Shaun Johnson.
‘‘Thomas Leuluai has broken his jaw in two places,’’ said the coach. ‘‘We’ve got a duty of care to make sure everything is all right with him and his family.’’
Kidwell also answered a question about the quality of the rough-hewn Cumbrian venue, with its ragged pitch and cramped dressing rooms, by admitting he had concerns.
‘‘We’re always looking to grow the game and we want to be part of that,’’ said Kidwell. ‘‘But I really think the rugby league federation needs to look at . . . We’ve got some world class players out there and we need some world class fields to make sure this game and this test match football stays where it wants to be and that’s at the pinnacle . . . with pinnacle fields.’’
Kidwell declined to expand on his thoughts. Scotland coach Steve McCormack’s side has an unbeaten four-match record at the ground and told a media conference: ‘‘That’s a bit disrespectful.
‘‘This venue and this area is a fantastic hotbed for rugby league. If anybody had seen how hard the people had worked to get this game on, sometimes it’s a bit of a forgotten area. We couldn’t have been treated any better.
‘‘We played in the World Cup at Rockhampton in 2008. What do you call a world-class stadium? You’ve got passionate fans and a great atmosphere. There’s no better place to play rugby league.’’
Bravehearts replacement Brett Phillips, a local who had to take time off work to play, added: ‘‘The support we get for internationals is great in west Cumbria.
‘‘You see a lot of investment that goes down south. Everyone in Cumbria is rugby league mad.’’
Kidwell said he had not had time to think about where the Kiwis would watch EnglandAustralia.
Back-rower Tohu Harris commented: ‘‘It’s not an ideal situation. We’ve left the outcome in someone else’s hands, which is what we wanted to avoid but we just have to hope and pray.
‘‘. . . cheer for the Aussies, which hurts inside. But we want to be in that final so if cheering for the Aussies gets us there, so be it.
‘‘Right from the start we lacked the ruthlessness that the Aussies have. That’s what separates us right now from them and probably England. Putting teams under pressure and keeping the foot on the throat.’’
Meanwhile, Euan Aitken has dedicated his historic try in Scotland’s shock draw with New Zealand to the grandfather who died when the St George Illawarra centre’s own dad was just two.
Aitken’s try in the final two minutes allowed captain Brough, playing with multiple painkilling injections in a heel, to boot a momentous conversion despite a rain squall at the wild west Cumbrian ground.
Andrew Aitken snr died at the age of just 36, from cancer, when his son was still a toddler. It was left to his widowed wife to remind Andrew jnr he had Scottish blood when the family moved to Australia.
‘‘I’m thinking about my grandpa up there – he’s probably watching over me,’’ Andrew jnr’s son, 21-year-old Euan, said on the Scottish team bus after a result that proved international rugby league really is progressing.
‘‘He probably helped us through that game there. A bit of inspiration and I’m very proud to represent my heritage and I got that try at the end . . . it’s history really.’’ The Sun-Herald