Kangaroos bounce to 11th world crown

A FIRST-HALF try from Boyd Cordner and desperate defence helped Australia win their 11th World Cup title with a 6-0 victory over England in a bruising final at Lang Park in Brisbane.

All that separated the sides was Cordner’s 15th-minute try as England were left to rue some costly errors.

‘It’s amazing to finally get a World Cup victory on home soil,’ Kangaroos captain Cameron Smith said. ‘It was one of the toughest football games I’ve played in my career. A really pleasing victory for the boys.

‘We spoke about defence winning games and winning tournaments and we just kept turning them (England) around.’

Smith’s team had been virtually unbackable favourites for the final after they romped through the tournament, while England had to overcome the weight of history with a 12-game losing streak to the Kangaroos and not having won the title since 1972 as part of the Britain team.

Australia opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Cordner crashed over during their third successive set of possession.

A superb chase game by England on Luke Gale’s tactical kicks, however, gave Wayne Bennett’s side field position only for errors and penalties to allow Australia to escape.

Kangaroos standoff Michael Morgan crossed early in the second half but video referee Ben Thaler called it back for interference earlier in the play.

Jermaine McGillvary and Kallum Watkins also stormed into open field, only for desperate Australian defence to again snuff out the opportunities.

‘Tough one to take,’ England’s Graham said. ‘Both teams played well. 6-0 doesn’t advertise it as a great game but what a spectacle.’