Australia’s men and women live up to expectations with comfortable double
And so the two favourites were crowned champions again. It wasn’t the result the partisan local crowd wanted, nor one prominent Hollywood star, but it was the expected result.
Sport doesn’t always trade in fairytales, nor cinematic moments, despite the common belief. Most often the best teams with the best players, who are used to winning, win. And that was the tale at the home of Manchester United.
The Kangaroos claimed a hat-trick of consecutive World Cup wins and their 12th Paul Barriere trophy. The Jillaroos notched their own hat-trick with their third world title. In both male and female rugby league, Australia remain the kings, and queens, of the globe.
How that changes in the future might be like finding the Holy Grail. The hope is that the emergence of Samoa and Tonga, and the rise of Polynesian talent in the NRL, would bridge the gap between Australia and the rest of the world.
While there are now certainly more competitive matches at the top end of international rugby league, and more genuine contenders in the Pacific, Australia still has a stranglehold over ultimate glory in the 13-man code.
Under the fading autumn sun it was the women who kicked off proceedings, a repeat of the 2017 World Cup final.
In just the fourth minute Jessica Sergis crashed over to score.
It was all too easy for the Jillaroos, and was an omen of what was to come.
Eleven minutes later Isabelle Kelly touched, before Julia Robinson pounced.
At 14-0 ahead with more than 50 minutes left, the match was as good as decided already. Australia tightened the screws and 10 minutes later Kelly powered through for her second of the afternoon, as the score ticked over to 20-0 at half-time.
In the second half the green and gold continued their onslaught, Emma Tonegato stepping her way to the line and then Sergis grabbing her second try, before Tarryn Aiken finished off a sweeping move on the left edge. It was a massacre in Greater Manchester.
New Zealand finally managed to break through with 16 minutes left, thanks to Madison Bartlett, but it was too little too late. There was still time for Kennedy Cherrington to get on the scoresheet twice in just three minutes, and for Evania Pelite to cross to emphatically finish their neighbours off.
Then it was time for the men to shine, and an eerily similar script unfolded. Samoa started strongly and showed early they would not die wondering.
However, with the crowd booing them at every turn though, it was the green and gold who unsurprisingly struck first. Latrell Mitchell’s Mal Meninga impersonation saw him steamroll his way past two defenders.
It was remarkably easy and four minutes later they were in again. Josh Addo-Carr exploited a lazy defensive line and went straight through the middle, finding James Tedesco in support for the try.
At 10-0 ahead after just 18 minutes and you could smell, to borrow a Dwayne Johnson line, what was cooking. There was no lack of work-rate or effort from Toa Samoa, but they were being taught a lesson in rugby league perfection.
Desperate defence then stopped Addo-Carr from scoring, while Mitchell was prevented from a second with a double movement. In the 27th minute Australia had to do some defending of their own, holding up Chanel HarrisTavita over the line.
The green and gold then marched them down the field and Liam Martin barged over on the right wing. It remained only 14-0 at half-time, thanks to Nathan Cleary’s poor goal-kicking, giving the Pacific nation some hope.
In the second half a further chance was offered when Angus Crichton was sin-binned in the 46th minute, for an elbow to the head of Harris-Tevita.
Samoa had 10 minutes to make Australia pay.
But gritty tackling and poor execution hampered them. When it mattered most, the brave Samoans felt short. To add insult to injury, with just 12 men on the field the Kangaroos scored again, this time through Cam Murray.
Samoa wouldn’t give up the fight though, and with 20 minutes left they had their reward when Brian To’o dived over in the corner. But the Aussies, with glory within their grasp, weren’t going to let this slip. In the 67th minute Cam Munster spun the ball inside and Tedesco had his brace.
With the clock winding down Stephen Crichton intercepted a pass to score, and the crowd erupted, though it was a mere consolation, with Mitchell’s second try the icing on the Antipodean cake.
Australia might have slipped at cricket. The Wallabies might have suffered an embarrassing loss to Italy, and the Socceroos might be headed for a tough time in Qatar. But once again the Kangaroos and Jillaroos have salvaged the nation’s pride and brought home the bacon.