Kangaroos thump England in Four Nations final
By Steve Jancetic, 15 Nov 2009 Steve Jancetic is a Roar Pro
Australia's Luke Lewis, left, is tackled by England's Michael Shenton during their Four Nations Final rugby league match at Elland Road Stadium, Leeds, England, Saturday Nov. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Billy Slater atoned for his moment of madness in last year’s World Cup final with a piece of brilliance to secure Australia the Four Nations trophy with a 46-16 win over a gallant England in Leeds on Saturday night.
Slater scored a second half hat-trick but it was the fullback’s effort to set up Melbourne teammate Cameron Smith which defined his match-winning performance.
Slater, whose errant pass infield cost Australia the World Cup last year, juggled and then acrobatically tapped the ball back infield for Smith to pounce on the crumbs and give Australia a 28-16 lead with 12 minutes remaining.
The Kangaroos ran in a further three tries to leave a scoreboard which hardly did England justice, the home side much better than the 30-point margin indicated having deservedly led 16-14 ten minutes into the second half.
As anticipated the match got off to a rugged start with Adrian Morley doing his best to knock Ben Hannant back to Sydney with the first tackle to send the already fever-pitch 31,042 crowd into a frenzy.
The hosts had the better of the opening exchanges but it was Australia who looked like they had scored when Brett Morris went over in the corner, only for the video referee to rule he had lost the ball thanks to a brilliant Shaun Briscoe covering tackle.
If England were rattled they weren’t showing it, especially not Sam Burgess who gave NRL fans a taste of things to come with a barnstorming 40 metre run that made a fool of Slater and produced a 6-0 lead to the home side.
Now it was Australia who were rattled, and Burgess again created havoc only to ignore support runners for what looked a probable try.
Instead a Johnathan Thurston intercept sent Greg Inglis galloping upfield, and two plays later Brett Morris, who ironically had been switched to the right wing to give Jarryd Hayne more ball on the left, went over for his fifth try in just four Tests.
England wasted little time in regaining ascendancy when Peter Fox did what no player had been able to do during the back half of the NRL season as he outjumped Hayne to a Kyle Eastmond bomb to make it 10-6 after 19 minutes.
Typifying the contest Australia came back again, a delicate ruck play putting Hayne in space, and in his first meaningful impact of the tournament, the international footballer of the year kicked ahead for Inglis to score, though there were serious doubts over his grounding of the ball.
A Thurston penalty goal extended the advantage to 14-10 at halftime after he was chopped down after kicking ahead, but that man Burgess came back to haunt the visitors again.
After spending the first ten minutes of the half camped on the Australian line, a cross-field running Gareth Ellis found a straight running Burgess who crashed over in front of a boisterous South Stand to put England back in front 16-14.
Having worked so hard to get back in front, England coach Tony Smith would have been devastated with the ease with which they gave it up – Australia up by a converted try before the hour after a soft dummy half dive over from Slater was backed up by Morris completing his double as he chased down a Thurston kick in the corner.
A serious head injury to England centre Michael Shenton then held up the game for several minutes and took some of the momentum from the game, until a piece of Slater magic sealed the deal with 12 minutes remaining.
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The Link said | November 15th 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment
A Rugby Football masterclass from the Aussies, very impressive 2nd half.
Geez Burgess looks the goods, the footwork for the first try was outstanding.
Pete said | November 15th 2009 @ 3:07pm | Report comment
Slater is an absolute freak. Such a good finisher.
I liked Burgess for England. Wonder if the English/French Union is looking at him
Corey said | December 6th 2009 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Union doesn’t usually buy our forwards cause they won’t stack up in the scrum, but he would be a great second rower (his height is ok) but may be as a flanker to give him more running time (or number 8). In saying all that I am really glad he is coming over here- he will learn how to be a more fit forward (due to our league having only 10 interchange in comparison to 12).
Johnny said | November 15th 2009 @ 4:16pm | Report comment
Was an alright tournament, nothing spectacular, play was at times ordinary, french were absolutely useless, toyota cup teams would give them thrashing. Results very predictable but thought it would be kiwi v Kangaroos final.
A mate of mine pointed out something during the tournament that i agree with him, Slater is awesome on attack, but one of the worst defenders around, he cannot tackle to save his life.
Spiro Zavos said | November 15th 2009 @ 5:09pm | Report comment
I think Jarryd Hayne can forget about an AFL contract after his pathetic jumping effort to defuse a bomb. Billy slater might not be able to tackle but he is a great attacking and finishing fullback. The occasional tackle he misses is more than compensated fror with his brilliance on the ball.
MyGeneration said | November 15th 2009 @ 8:31pm | Report comment
Apart from the miscue on the bomb, which wasn’t great, but hardly pathetic as Fox always had the drop on him, I thought Hayne had a pretty good game. He was more dangerous than Slater early on when England’s bustling defence was still giving Australia problems. Slater took over as soon as England started dropping off. Still not convinced who’s better value personally, but I think if forced to choose I’d take Hayne as I have seen him shine in teams that were getting beaten all over the park.
Dan said | November 15th 2009 @ 8:35pm | Report comment
Spiro,
To be fair to Hayne, he’s been playing out of position the entire tournament and he’s only just starting out. Slater had his fair share of shockers early on in his career, so I think it may be a bit early to start writing off Hayne’s chances for improvement given his otherwise incredible form throughout most of this year.
Mick from Giralang said | November 16th 2009 @ 6:53am | Report comment
Pete: Sam Burgess has been signed to play for South Sydney in the NRL next season. I thought he was the best forward on the field (though Hannant takes the courage award).
Rabbitohs pack for next season is full of big boppers: Roy Asotasi, Sam Burgess, Dave Taylor, Eddy Pettybourne, Michael Crocker and Ben Ross If John Lang can realise the potential of this squad, they could go all the way.
Corey said | December 6th 2009 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
John Lang is the worst buy in the whole NRL this year- worst decision, should have kept Jason Taylor (even with the ingression).
Paul J said | November 16th 2009 @ 7:09am | Report comment
I genuinely feel sorry for English league fans. After 50 odd minutes they had the lead and you could see the crowd getting excited, after all it has been 30 years since they beat Australia in a series.
They finally have a forward pack that is at least the equal of Australia but then have to run into arguably Australas best ever backline : Lockyer, Thurston, Inglis, slater, Hodges.
I can not believe anyone is bagging Slaters defence. If you watch an NRL season he holds up much bigger men over the line ever game. A great defender.
Tom said | November 16th 2009 @ 3:18pm | Report comment
Slater is good at holding people up over the line, but he is a terrible cover defender. They are two different skills.
jus de couchon said | November 16th 2009 @ 8:50am | Report comment
Unfortunately the finnal should have been a Kangaroo/Kiwi finnal.Instead a result was manufactured to ensure a 2nd rate G.B team would , in the name of P.R and media hype , through fear of a ratings disaster , make it thru. Its not surprising why people dont take International rugby League seriously when Tournaments are manipulated by administrators who synicaly manipulate games in the fantastical beleif that viewers are stupid enough to swallow anything .
Paul J said | November 16th 2009 @ 10:50am | Report comment
Jus
Thank you for your obligatory anti league ranting.
“Instead a result was manufactured”. I didn’t think current RL administrations would be capable enough to achieve such a thing.
Matt S said | November 16th 2009 @ 11:04am | Report comment
Jus, thank you, now goodnight.
King of the Gorganites said | November 16th 2009 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
top effort from the roos. played all over them in the 2nd half.
does anyone know the crowd? i was a bit surprised it wasnt a sell out.
big Kev said | November 16th 2009 @ 3:45pm | Report comment
31,000. I have to ask, what is the deal with crowds in this 4N? Why so pathetic? Some poster’s on here would have us believe League is massive in the UK but let’s be honest, if a 4N decider between the Poms and the Kangaroos at Elland Rd only gets 31,000 clearly there is a problem??
Let’s look at the Union crowds?
England v Argentina (6 v 8 in the world?) = 78,000
Aus v Ireland (3 v 4) – 74,000
Italy v NZ (12 v 2) – 81,000
Scotland v Fiji (v 10) – 60,000
France v SA (1 v 5)- 34,000 (capacity)
Wales v Samoa (7 v 11) – 59,000
Not even in the same stratosphere….. why does it rate so badly? Even in Aus you would have got max 40,000 for Aus v England. What’s the story?
MyGeneration said | November 16th 2009 @ 3:57pm | Report comment
I expect the crowd’s a reflection of England getting regularly thumped for 30-odd years. You could see that feeling of “here we go again” on the faces in the crowd in the last 15 minutes. Who’s been leading you to believe that League is “massive” in the UK?
big Kev said | November 16th 2009 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
One of the guys here keeps on going on how it’s the ‘fastest growing sport in the UK” etc. Cant remember who…
MyGeneration said | November 16th 2009 @ 4:05pm | Report comment
you’re probably thinking of oikee. One of a kind.
MyGeneration said | November 16th 2009 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
Oh, according to other thread, stand was closed for safety reasons, so it was a sell-out. Still, I expect they might have booked another ground if they expected to fill it, but were probably expecting a Roos-Kiwis final (another nail in the coffin for jus’ conspiracy theory, anyway)
big Kev said | November 17th 2009 @ 8:38am | Report comment
no way mate, Leeds Utd get bigger crowds than that week in week out in the 3rd tier of English football!
MyGeneration said | November 18th 2009 @ 2:54pm | Report comment
They only got a bigger crowd this year when Liverpool visited for the League Cup. The crowd was about 7,000 greater, which is the size of the upper tier of the stand that was closed. So, yes way. I don’t know the reasons for the closure of the tier in the stand other than what was reported in the other thread. As I said above, for whatever reason, they didn’t anticipate needing a ground with bigger capacity. I’m not speaking for whether or not they should have.
M1tch said | November 17th 2009 @ 8:45am | Report comment
okay lets go through this together..
Rugby Union – played in London where rah rah is big
ireland – rah rah is big
all blacks are like harlem globe trotters – they sell themselves – 81k is amazing
scotland – 21k i hear..but rah rah is a big sport
france -rah rah is a big sport
wales – rah rah is a big sport
31k at elland was a sell out of the available seats..
big Kev said | November 17th 2009 @ 10:33am | Report comment
Micth, you have not added anything to the conversation. Why does international league draw such poor crowds, even in it’s heartland? Don’t give me global financial crisis, or reduced stadium capacity or “expecting to lose” or any such thing. The top team in the world should draw a far bigger crowd in a decider against the home team.
M1tch said | November 17th 2009 @ 10:41am | Report comment
lol cheers for the shoutout..
its quite simple, the perception and sometime reality of Australia are always going to win and win by plenty – that is the total truth.
The quality of international teams is obviously not as strong as rugby union. Its taken until now to get more competitions going.
Nations will only get better with more games, Rugby has done well with italy by having them in 6 nations, talks of Argentina joining tri nations to make them better.
The standards of France with their lower competition and only 1 pro team.
Many factors, I didnt think the crowds were all too bad, of course comparing with rugby union, then yeh it doesnt look good.
My point in my other post, was rugby union is bigger than league!
Id expect them to get big crowds.
The man said | November 17th 2009 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
big Kev,
The dominance of Australia does have to have an impact.
More importantly the uncertainity of a cup format, where a Aus v NZ would have been the predicted final would have made it risky to go for a larger venue (even if one were available in the middle of the soccer season) Previous experience – in particular the 2000 RLWC between Aus & NZ that was played at Old Trafford – tells you that the smaller venue makes more sense from a financial perspective.
Corey said | December 6th 2009 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
Internationals will get there with more competitive games coming through. But I remember the commentators saying that it is full- the stadium was under some construction. But I reckon the next 4 nations in Australia will sell more than 40k in the final- especially if it is played at Suncorp I would be expecting a sell-out. I know my mates are more interested in internationals than probably 5 years ago (this is probably due to the world cup and the kiwis winning it).
M1tch said | December 6th 2009 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
Final at Suncorp with Aussies playing will be a near 50k, the issue is having 1 game in Sydney and thats against PNG. The Aus v Eng game in Melb should be a 30k at new stadium so that SFS game is the big problem. hence why i wrote a roar peice about bringing back the ashes
…
Agree about people more interested in international league too..Aussies losing is a good thing
Dogs Of War said | December 6th 2009 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
If PNG have a test like they normally do against the Australian PM XIII (made up of those not in the final series or exited round 1), it should allow them to hit the ground running in that first match, and if promoted right, should be able to sell out.
M1tch said | December 6th 2009 @ 1:50pm | Report comment
sell out at SFS?
Even if they are playing well, and its marketed and everything done well, it will get 20 000 at the most.
Dogs Of War said | December 6th 2009 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
With more club members being available each season. Things such as offering deals to those season ticket supporters (the most likely to attend these sorts of things), could see it being sold out. 30-50% OFF normal price tickets for those people is a good reward for supporting the game, while the game itself benefits from the likelyhood of a full house.
big Kev said | December 6th 2009 @ 3:48pm | Report comment
Stadium holds 37,000. There was no construction or any such thing. The interest was low so they blocked off one stand and said it was “closed for safety reasons” or some other porky pie. Simple fact is that in the league heartland, a final between Aus and England could not sell 30,000 tickets, however cheap they were.
Very sad and I don’t share you views that “internationals will get there” how many false dawns have there been? World Cup in Aus was hailed as a success with crowds averaging about 12,000. You can say what you like about Union but a much bigger World Cup in Aus got over 40,000 average. I have grave fears for International league. The next world cup will be a disaster….
M1tch said | December 6th 2009 @ 3:52pm | Report comment
why do league supporters who want international to grow, get slammed so much?
its strange really?
perhaps its the only thing rugby union has over league…
Bay35Pablo said | December 6th 2009 @ 3:56pm | Report comment
Mitch, I have been surprised by the low crowds for league internationals. It seems to have reached a limit even for big games. I suspect it is less able to call on that mass of cross code supporters, who will pay for a “big game” ticket. They’ll go to a Bledisloe, or big league club game, but not necessarily to a league iternational. Interesting issue to think about. Perhaps it is because Australia is seen as too dominant, and thus less spectacle? A bit like cricket at times over the last decade.
big Kev said | December 6th 2009 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
Dude it shows clearly the level of interest in the sport.
League is a domestic, tribal sport played in a few (3?) corners of the world. That is what it’s good at. It must not get ideas above it’s station. It cannot compete with Union at any level except domestically in Aus.
You live in cookoo land if you think any differently.
Clearly internationals are the pinnacle of any err International sport! When Scotland v Argentina in Union can outsell the top 2 in the world in league by a very considerable margin, there is a problem.
big Kev said | December 6th 2009 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
And sorry Mitch but your comment ” perhaps its the only thing rugby union has over league…” has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever read on here….
“the only thing” meaning the small matter of having literally millions more people interested in the game around the world? trivial really!
King of the Gorganites said | December 6th 2009 @ 4:14pm | Report comment
the crowds for the RL internetaions were poor. there is no other way to say it. the RU autum internationals had record crowds. these crowds will onyl get bigger now that coaches are realising that to win u need to keep ball in hand.
sell outs in milan, dublin, london, toulouse, marseille, cardiff.
hue crowds in edinburgy, italy, paris
crowds in RL were poor. 6K in paris says it all!
these crowds are not going to improve so stop deluding yourself that they will. the 4 natinos was a financial disaster for the IRFL. the dream for internation RL is over
Springs said | December 6th 2009 @ 8:18pm | Report comment
The crowd average for the World Cup was just under 17,000. I see the next WC will be a disaster, just because big kev says so. The capacity for the Final was 31,000, notice that one stand was empty and the other stands were packed? It was closed, the stadium would not let them open it. And did the RL world cup last year have to average 40,000 to be a success?
And according to King International RL has again gotten worse in the time between now and his last post. 6K in Paris says it all? Yeah, it even covers the 50K in Brisbane last year, a record for a League Test in Brisbane. Crowds aren’t going to improve, the dream is over etc etc. King has obviously been around the world to see all the new League playing nations that have just been introduced in the last 5 years and has been to every League test ever. Union has been in hundreds of countries for more than a hundred years, longer than soccer, but isn’t the number one sport. League has been in about 5 countries for a hundred years, banned in some, discriminated against, not allowed to expand etc. And whose fault? Rugby Unions.
You still haven’t shown the proof that the 4 Nations was a financial disaster.
Norm said | December 6th 2009 @ 9:00pm | Report comment
If I thought dud Kev and King of the clowns had anything remotely intelligent to contribute I might seek their views. However as it stands I can continue to rate them behind Scientology members.