After a thrilling opening week to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, the tournament rolls on, with hot favourites Australia set to take on France at GIO Stadium in Canberra, a city recently rated the third best in the world to visit in 2018 by roundabout enthusiasts.
No, really it was Lonely Planet, and having been to Canberra I can confirm it is a dump; freezing cold in winter, stinking hot the rest of the year and little in the way of entertainment.
Back to the footy, and Australia have rested Cooper Cronk and named Tom Trobojevic, Queen frontman Regan Campbell-Gillard and Felise Kaufusi to make their debut in what should be a pretty comfortable win for the Aussies.
New Zealand takes on Scotland in Christchurch and it’s great to see Jason Nightingale back where he belongs.
Predictably, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak did nothing last week. The Bravehearts will be brave and have their moments, but it’s a great opportunity for the Kiwis to get a big win in front of their home fans.
The match of the round sees Tonga take on Samoa at Waikato Stadium. A huge clash in every sense, Tonga is coming off an impressive performance against rugby league heavyweights Scotland, while Samoa were impressive for long periods against New Zealand.
Tonga have a great side led by Jason Taumalolo, and should be good enough for Samoa who have a pretty ordinary halves pairing of Joseph Paulo, not a half, and Ben Roberts, who never reached any great heights during his NRL career.
England versus Lebanon will be an interesting clash given the Cedars’ terrific win over France last week, inspired by Mitch Moses, while England will need a big improvement. They may have scored the tournament’s opening try, but lacked penetration for much of their game against Australia.
The loss of Sam Burgess is significant but they should be good enough to get the job done.
Italy prepared for their match with USA by engaging in some impromptu sparring sessions with James Tedesco versus Shannon Wakeman the main event. Not an ideal preparation, and an unwanted distraction ahead of a tricky game against a team that may not quite know what they are doing, but will have plenty of fun doing it.
Tedesco was very quiet last week and needs to lift.
Papua New Guinea versus Ireland pits two first week winners against each other, with the Kumuls putting on a clinic in beating Wales 50-4, while the Irish were super impressive in beating Italy 36-12.
With the likes of David Mead and Nene Macdonald, the Kumuls have plenty of strike power, while Irish halfback Liam Finn was fantastic against Italy last week.
Fiji and Wales round out the games and how good was it to see the emotion on Kevin Naiqama’s face in the lead up to Fiji’s match last week, a stark contrast to the awkward build-up to the Australia versus England match.
What were they thinking with that war dance and hastily produced presentation? It was just awkward.
Wales were hammered 50-4 by Papua New Guinea last week and don’t have any real notables in their line-up. Fiji are stacked with talent and should rack up a score against the Welsh.
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