Biting claim at women’s World Cup
Australian centre Isabelle Kelly faces being rubbed out for the rest of the women’s Rugby League World Cup after being accused of biting in the Jillaroos’ 38-0 thumping of England.
The Jillaroos sent a resounding message to the rest of the tournament with an eight tries-to-none defeat of the Lionesses in Sydney yesterday.
The emphatic win was marred after England prop Chantelle Crowl accused the Jillaroos outside back of biting her forearm late in the first half.
With the Jillaroos leading 24-0 at the time, Crowl remonstrated with referee Todd Smith after tackling Kelly. The ground manager came onto the pitch and took a photo of Crowl’s arm before the incident was put on report.
It’s the third such incident during this World Cup with Papua New Guinea’s Wellington Albert and England’s Jermaine McGillvary both accused and cleared of biting during the men’s tournament.
England skipper Andrea Dobson was adamant her team-mate had bite marks on her arm.
‘‘I saw it. She had a clear mark on her arm like she had been [bitten],’’ Dobson said. ‘‘They’ll go back and look at it but she certainly wouldn’t say it for nothing at all.’’
Australian coach Brad Donald defended his centre, describing the allegation as out-of-character for the 21-year-old who faces being banned for the rest of the tournament if found guilty.
‘‘I can’t see that she would have done anything intentionally and she’s a really good girl,’’ Donald said.
The Kiwi Ferns have put the rest of the teams hoping for glory at the Women’s Rugby League World Cup on notice with their second dominant win in as many matches.
After beating Canada 50-4 in their opener, the New Zealand side almost managed to beat the clock against Cook Island in Sydney yesterday, running away with a 76-0 win.
Honey Hireme was unstoppable on the left wing, running in six of the team’s 14 tries, while Shontelle Woodman, Krystal Murray and Raecene McGregor grabbed two each.
The Cook Island side showed up with a strong attitude in the opening minutes of the match as they traded set for set with the Ferns.
But after the sides felt each other out for the best part of 10 minutes, a strong run from Lileta Maumau put the New Zealand side in good field position and Hireme crossed in the corner on the following play.
The opening points seemed to wake up the Kiwi side as they picked things up a notch or two, with Maumau and Woodman scoring in quick succession to put the New Zealanders ahead 14-0 in the 24th minute.
Things got more ominous for the Cook Islands when Nita Maynard sliced her way through the defence to set up a try for Murray, who barged over from close range after Maynard was tackled short of the tryline.
With Woodman grabbing another and Hireme completing a first-half hat-trick, the Ferns went into the break 38-0 ahead.
The half-time break didn’t slow things down, as Hireme, McGregor, Maynard and Murray all crossed the stripe in the second stanza to push the score out to 76-0 at the final horn.
Australia were too strong for England, winning 38-0.