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!
Renegade
Roar Guru
Agree mate and that's really the point I'm making. The best players in the world are likely to come from the NRL however that doesn't mean that quality extends to everyone that plays in the NRL. The fact you are part of the top 17 of an NRL club doesn't guarantee that you are a better player than someone on the other side of the world. That's really the reason behind my 'the quality of the NRL is overstated' point.
The eye
Guest
There's no doubt that Tonga were disappointing..I guess the sticky point is what you have pointed out as being NRL 'standard'. What makes the NRL peerless is the great number of upper echelon contemporary living legends of the game that are still in competition and grind out 6 months of weekly high performances.The Fishiiahis,Likilikis,Aronas,Newtons and Takarangis with due respect ,aren't a true indicator of what attracts the greater talents to challenge themselves here from around the world..a simple comparison of the Parra and any top 4 side roster will illustrate the vast difference of abilities within the league.
Col Quinn
Guest
I did say "about"
steven connolly
Guest
What a great start,ausies were rusty look out here comes DC evans and papali with Inglis at fullback to line up against Fiji OMG USA looked geat samoa were brutal then poor.ITaly was impresive all the Qld cup players involved have been awesome the standard has been set ,bring it on go the minows ,All top 4 sides will have to lift in order to avoid getting smashed by the bottom teams,This should be every 3 years with a system like soccer for minows to play chance to play top 4 every year,
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
aren't the winners of the Superbowl classed as World Champions? So, you only need one country involved to make it a world cup :)
Epiquin
Guest
Good read, renegade. I think the RLWC haters are too hung up on the phrase "world cup." Usually when a sport has a world cup there's a good handful of genuine contenders, while in Rugby League, its no secret that people see it as a two horse race between England and NZ to see who plays Australia in the final. And thats okay! If they simply changed the name of the tournament to "Festival of International Rugby League" I think people would have nothing to complain about.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
I must confess that I haven't but I have been thinking about it due to some positive coverage The time slot is also a killer as I get up early
Renegade
Roar Guru
On a further point mate... Tonga and Cook Island were perfect examples of being heavy favourites due to the large number of NRL "standard" of players in the side. One was beaten by Scotland - a side containing 3 NRL players and a majority were ESL and english lower division players. The other was beaten by USA made up of American domestic league players, a couple from the lower divisions of England and Australia and only 3 NRL players. France was a team made up of entirely French players through either the Catalans Dragons or the Elite One Championship. So is the NRL, the be all and end all of rugby league like most of the people down under think it is?
Renegade
Roar Guru
Craig, Have you watched many of the pool games thus far?
Renegade
Roar Guru
Cheers Mantis.... I actually submitted that paragrah with "in my opinion" at the front... looks like its been edited out ;)
Renegade
Roar Guru
Col, I don't believe it's played at the exact same standard, i just don't think its as far behind as some Australasian NRL fans and media make it out to be.
Mantis
Roar Guru
Good read. "The NRL is the best and most competitive sporting competition in the world" - thats the only thing i have a question with. apart from that, good article
cowelly
Guest
Great article mate. A real reflection of why we're all getting excited about expansion and thinking of ideas on how to make the next world cup even better!
Col Quinn
Guest
The NZ Samoa game was one of the hardest internationals I have seen in many many years. Talk about Polynesian power. I understand that SBW’s withdrawal from the international from France is not a smoke screen. He was genuinely knocked around in the NZ Samoa game. The other games has been to a very high standard and as you has suggested in your article, the other competition, SL, is played at about the same standard as the NRL
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
good article renegade it is refreshing to read an article about the positive side of the RLWC rather than one compalining that some people are knocking it or about what the TV commentators are saying. I look forward to a week 2 update
Renegade
Roar Guru
Eye, I get the feeling that NRL fans - myself included, the RL media, etc believe the NRL and all its players are light years ahead of anything else in this world. As i said in the piece, it's the best competition in the world however a lot of people predicted teams would go well simply because they had NRL players in the team... including the expert bookmakers. The results so far have shown that to be different. The message i'm pointing out is that yes it is the best competition and the highest standard but it's not as high compared to the ESL as we try to make out.... some of the quotes in the article are great examples of that.
Renegade
Roar Guru
DMW, I know i didn't touch on the NZ-Samoa game during the piece however it was a great game. The game this monday between PNG and Samoa is most likely to decide who progresses to the quarter finals. It's a must win game. I thought NZ struggled during stages of the match, i didn't find their performance to be as good as Australia or England.... long way to go though and we all know what the Kiwis are capable of and usually get better as the tournament progresses.
The eye
Guest
Not clear about your comment on the NRL's standardbeing lower than we think.I love league and will watch just about anything so I'm not a cup criticiser and think its wonderful that people can reach Renegades level of excitement over it.But,I don't think the cup's main contenders were going to be decided by the number of NRL players in the team as much as by the quality of those NRLers.The Kangaroos and Kiwis have the cream and will fight it out,the others just don't have the depth in crucial positions and are mainly pivoted there,England excepted,by NRL players who couldnt make the A team,that in itself is testament to the quality of our competition.So,the NRL is over rated or the standard isn't as high as we believe..compared to what ?
Renegade
Roar Guru
You're right about the memorable moments Matt, there has already been plenty!
Renegade
Roar Guru
Johnno, I tipped France as the 4th team in the semi finals before the tournament started however I was really impressed by Fiji. I'm keen to see how they go against the big guns in Australia and England.