The 2013 Rugby League World Cup kicks off with a blockbuster as Australia takes on traditional rivals England at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Join us for live scores and commentary from 12.30am AEDT.
Australia once again approaches another Rugby League World Cup as the raging-hot favourite, given the amount of class they possess at their disposal.
England however represents one of two major threats to Australia’s chances of securing another world cup trophy, the other of course being reigning champions New Zealand.
England’s preparation for tonight’s contest however has been far from ideal, with a loss to Italy and player misconduct threatening to derail their world cup campaign before it even begins.
Key players James Graham, Gareth Hock and Michael Mcllorum have all been controversially omitted from the squad to face the Kangaroos.
Graham’s omission in particular is startling to say the least. He has become a key cornerstone of the Bulldogs pack in the NRL and is rightfully rated as one of the best props in the world.
Given Australia’s strength in the forwards, England really need to start their best forwards if they hope to keep the Kangaroos from establishing territorial dominance.
Thankfully, England do possess South Sydney quartet the Burgess brothers, with Sam, Tom, George in particular all in line to play against Australia.
If the Burgess brothers and Kevin Sinfield in particular can play strongly tonight, then England do possess the muscle upfront to challenge Australia.
New Dragons recruit Gareth Widdop will also need to fire in attack if England hope to post enough points to secure victory tonight.
The key to England’s chances of victory tonight will revolve around their ability to maintain discipline.
England can ill-afford to give away cheap penalties against a Kangaroos outfit that possesses an infinite amount of firepower across the park.
Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith, Johnathon Thurston, Greg Inglis, Darius Boyd and Brent Tate will put England to the sword if they are gifted opportunities to attack close to the line.
A fast start from the Kangaroos must also be avoided if England hope to cause the upset.
If Australia races out to a 10 point lead or so, then the Kangaroos will most likely go on and register a convincing victory.
An opening try to England however could very well see this match turn into a real arm wrestle.
While a competitive contest should be expected, the class of Australia’s backline should see the Kangaroos start their world cup campaign with a win.
Australia by 12.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Seeing Cardiff City Council put some of their hard earned to get the Opening Ceremony there,and the Welsh rl team was hardly expected to set the world on fire,and the fact the game was on Tv ,couple with the fact the exposure it engendered,I doubt one could call it,not a smart move.It was more a brave move,which has paid off financially for the RLWC. What the November Internationals for ru in a ru dominated area ,has to do with a decent crowd of 45,000 in a rl event, is beyond me.Other than to do another ru code spin.
In Brief
Guest
- 100. Mate your credibility is shot
junior_hupigo
Guest
Missed the opening ceremony on local EMTV in PNG. But thanks for telecasting of the opening game. I thought Aussies were lucky to win this game. I thought they played one of their worse games in RLWC.
The High Shot
Roar Pro
Too right I would have
Adsa
Guest
The only thing Guerra would do with a blue jersey Johnno is use it if the toilet paper ran out.
Bigjohn
Guest
Guerra was born in Cairns and went to school in Townsville according to his player history, so he is more likely to be seen in a Queensland guernsey. And Tate may have his off days, but he would still be the first one I would pick for any team.
Raugeee
Guest
+1 what a joke. No offence to Farrah but momentum just stopped when he came on. Smith is an 80 minute player and the Captain/. DCE is a perfect replacement player who would be fine at dummy half if Smith is injured. We should've blown England off the pitch.
russell johnson
Guest
Couldn't agree more, not too sure about some of the decisions but these rarely make the difference in a game despite the beliefs of the logically challenged! Enjoyed the second game too!
maximillian
Guest
I agree. I havent seen alot of Tomkins but he is widely regarded as the best player in superleague. As a warriors fan im excited for next year.
James P
Guest
Given England beat NZ last year ...
killaku
Guest
And league only has one ...The Mighty Kiwi's
JP
Guest
It annoys me that Sheen's is tinkering with the spine. (Slater,Smith,Cronk ,Thurston) These guys know how to win games and have played around each other for nearly a decade.Why introduce some sort of super play with Farah? Keep it simple right? If it isn't broken don't fix it. I agree also with Johno, It bothers me that this queensland dominance in origin is creating this necessity of nsw players having to be involved in every aspect unnecessarily. It's asif they are trying to prove that their is no factions within the squad...
Johnno
Guest
Aiden Guerra is good, roosters player grabbed 2 tries , good runner he's better than Brett Tate, he'll be in a roo jersey and blues jersey next year.
Colin McCann
Guest
Yes, that was a pretty big crowd but far from the hype. Most of the third tier, maybe half of the second tier was empty. Even the first tier seemed a little sparse. If we're being honest it was probably to trying and get Welsh fans to care. With the November internationals coming up that stadium will be full for those games and most of the public will have forgotten this game though, so I'm not sure that was such a smart move
james
Guest
wales and England bid for the RLWC together so Wales needed one of the big games. also it was never rumored to be sold out. I only ever hear sales in the 40-45k range.
eszkal
Guest
Someone said that Millenium Stadium would be sold out. I think it was not, it was only a 3/4 full stadium. I don't understand why they had moved this match to Wales, Manchester or London could have been better location for the opening England match
Colin McCann
Guest
You're comparing the top two Rl teams and calling it close?
james
Guest
I'm a massive Tigers fan but I agree. it's unnecessary and he is taking the spot of a forward which is really needed.
Johnno
Guest
bring back the shoulder charge then game is perfect
Dan
Guest
I agree. But similarly we shouldn't put guys like Tate in just because of his Origin appearances. Jennings has been a far better player all year and deserves to show how effective he came be on the next games