Australia’s dominance of the Rugby League World Cup continued with a fourth successive title, as the Kangaroos proved far too strong for New Zealand in a one-sided final in Brisbane.
No nation has beaten the Australians in a Rugby League World Cup since the Kiwis in the 2003 final. The expectation pre-match was that the two sides would serve up a keenly-contested decider, not least given the fact the hosts only won the opening match of the tournament against New Zealand by just two points a month ago.
But there have been signs Kevin Walters’ side have been improving every single week throughout the World Cup, and they ultimately went to another level in Brisbane to sweep aside the challenge from New Zealand with absolute ease. It means Australia have now won 10 of the last 11 men’s World Cup titles: and there does not appear to be a nation ready to dethrone them any time soon.
New Zealand did play their part in an entertaining opening 15 minutes. At that stage, the final was level at 6-6 after Casey McLean’s try cancelled out Liam Martin’s opener for the Australians. But by half-time, the Kangaroos had gone through the gears and opened up a commanding lead to move to the verge of the title.
With the outstanding Reece Walsh at the heart of all they did well, tries for Jack Bostock, Bradman Best and a second for Martin capitalised on crucial New Zealand errors made it 24-6 at the break. The Kiwis had no answer for a blistering passage of play from the Kangaroos and even at such an early stage, the final felt a long way towards being decided.
If there were any doubts, they were firmly removed three minutes after the restart when Walsh danced his way around several Kiwi defenders before providing the telling pass for Tom Trbojevic to score in the corner. New Zealand infamously scored 22 unanswered points to win the 2008 final and now 28-6 behind, they had to do the same again just to level the contest.
Unsurprisingly, it was too tall a task. The Kiwis had their moments in the final half-hour, most notably when Isaiah Papalii collected a Jahrome Hughes kick to make it 28-12. But a miracle comeback was never really on the cards, and when Bostock completed his hat-trick with three minutes remaining, the Kangaroos’ celebrations had already begun.
Aaron Bower’s full report to follow …
