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The first round of matches at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup have now been played and boy did we witness something special over the past week.
It was widely predicted this would be the best World Cup the sport has ever produced and it’s fair to say it has certainly lived up to those expectations already.
The seven matches completed thus far have provided rugby league at its finest – played with passion, high intensity and skill – resulting in great entertainment for everyone watching.
The organisers did an exceptional job beforehand and the competing teams are doing much of the same to ensure this tournament is embraced by sport lovers in general.
From the action that took place during the opening week of the RLWC, these are the five points I came away with.
Nothing beats international rugby league
The intensity of the matches played so far have been incredible. The passion on display by the players is second to none, with teams going all out for the cause in every match.
No other level of rugby league seems to provide the same amount of pride, passion and courage from players for their jersey.
Whether it be the celebration of tries, the singing of the anthems or the involvement of the crowd – everything at this World Cup has been bigger and better than anything else rugby league has to offer.
Quality of the NRL is overstated
The NRL is the best and most competitive sporting competition in the world. It certainly provides the highest standard of rugby league within a domestic competition across the globe.
The problem is Australasian rugby league fans heavily overrate the standard of the NRL.
The majority of fans predicted the teams with most NRL players would go better in this tournament, which couldn’t be further from the truth if you happened to watch the matches this week.
The USA, France and Scotland won games with absolute minimal NRL experience, against opposing nations that included plenty.
Comments such as “I think Samoa could beat Parramatta” or “That is a top eight NRL side” are just silly and ignorant.
I even read an article that asked “how many of the English players could make it in the NRL?”
What?
That can’t be a fair dinkum question! Honestly, us Australians heavily overrate our own league.
No doubt, it’s the best in the world, however the standard in quality isn’t as far apart as we think it is.
Debutantes can handle the step up
There were plenty of questions going into the tournament about the two debut nations at this year’s World Cup, however the USA and Italy have emphatically answered those.
Both sides couldn’t care less if they were on debut and produced memorable wins in their opening matches.
The Azzurri were fantastic against Wales, running away with the game in the end after a real tussle and showed their win against England was no fluke.
The Tomahawks were fielding a side with a handful of AMNRL players, yet performed like World Cup veterans in their match, certainly not looking a team making their first appearance.
This might be more related to my second point, however the bookmakers also appear to be judging based on the amount of NRL talent in each side.
How the Americans were paying $5 for a win against the Cook Islanders is astonishing, considering the US defeated France just over a week ago and the Cooks were belted 50-0 by New Zealand.
Surely those results provided a better form guide for the bookies?
England can win it, Australia still the best
The opening game was always going to be one of the most important matches of this World Cup for many reasons.
It turned out to be one for the ages and a glowing endorsement for rugby league.
England threw down the challenge, racing away to an early lead, however they couldn’t contain the class of the Australians in the end.
Steve McNamara’s men managed to do something they haven’t done in the past when Australia have put the foot down and that was stay in the contest. They did exactly that until the very end.
This factor, along with the football displayed is enough to suggest they can win this World Cup.
With world class forwards in James Graham and Sean O’Loughlin still to return to their line-up, it’s safe to say we haven’t seen the best of England yet.
The Kangaroos on the other hand showed why they are the best in the world.
After trailing 10-0 early, the Australians kept their composure and didn’t seem to lose their control of the match and stretched the gap to 12 on two occasions.
The class of their star-studded line-up was the difference in the end.
I wrote in the previews Australia don’t deserve to be such short favourites for the title and I still don’t believe they do, however there’s no disputing the Kangaroos are the best in the world and definitely the team to beat.
Best of the week
When it comes to choosing a game of the week, everyone is going to have a different opinion as every single one was a belter, yet offered something different.
Whether you prefer to see high-scoring matches, low-scoring matches, lots of ball movement, a forwards battle, an open game, a grind, great tries or high intensity matches with big hits – you would have been pleased in some way this week.
It’s hard for me to go past the opener but I’d be happy to choose any of the matches for different reasons.
The best performance of the week in my opinion was from Fiji. The Fijians produced a well-rounded and complete performance in their 32-14 win over Ireland.
This year’s Bati side appear to be even better than the 2008 semi-finalists. A majority of the side played in the last RLWC and that experience, along with the NRL exposure received since, has provided Rick Stone a very good team.
In regards to individual performances, there were a few standouts for me.
Billy Slater took the challenge from Sam Tomkins personally and showed why he is the best number one.
George Burgess made a tremendous debut at international level to go with his rookie season in first grade. In a few more years, George could very well be the best of the Burgess brothers, as well as the premier front rower in the game.
William Barthau and Craig Preistley, the respective halfbacks for France and USA, stamped their mark on the two matches they were involved in and Scotland’s second rower Dale Ferguson didn’t take a backward step against the Tongans and was very impressive during the Group C battle.
Hopefully the 2013 RLWC continues to produce much of the same and the next match kicks off tomorrow morning between New Zealand and France.
With a sold out French crowd on hand for this hopefully we witness another pearler, can’t wait!
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