Australia have got off to a brilliant start with a 42-point victory in their tournament opener against Scotland.
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The Kangaroos started strong, blowing the Scots out of the water early on with Blake Ferguson scoring after only five minutes after Cooper Cronk spread it wide for the Roosters winger.
Cronk grabbed one of his own just four minutes later following a Cameron Smith grubber.
James Maloney was next to score, Cronk again appearing in the play. The Dally M Medallist passed inside for Matt Moylan who drew defenders to send Maloney over.
Cronk brought up a two-try haul after only 15 minutes with James Maloney putting Tyson Frizell in space, the Dragons big man looking for Cronk to go the rest of the way.
Josh Mansour then followed ten minutes later linking up with Matt Moylan after a strong run from Justin O’Neill off the dropout.
Mansour scored a brace with five minutes left in the first half, Moylan again sending him over after James Maloney broke the line.
Scotland stayed in the game with Ryan Brierley scoring off a Danny Brough grubber.
The Bravehearts came close to scoring another after the siren with Matthew Russell offloading for Lachlan Coote, the enigmatic fullback putting in a chip with Ryan Brierley beaten to the ball by Blake Ferguson, running it dead and shutting down the hail mary.
It gave Australia a 30-6 lead at the break after a very good start to the game.
Josh Dugan was the first over for the Aussies in the second half, Cooper Cronk cutting out to the New South Welshman to run 75m and score under the sticks.
Ben Kavanagh stormed over the line following a Danny Brough intercept with twenty minutes remaining, bringing up the Bravehearts’ second try of the evening.
In a similar scoring play to Kavanagh’s try, Tyson Frizell steamrolled Sheldon Powe-Hobbs shifting momentum back in favour of the Kangaroos.
James Maloney and Matt Moylan combined to help Michael Morgan over before Jake Trbojevic scored on the siren after Trent Merrin broke the line giving the Aussies a 42-point win.
Australia face a much sterner test against New Zealand in Coventry while Scotland have a British rivalry on the cards with England.
Matt Moylan, James Maloney and Tyson Frizell were all outstanding for the Kangaroos while Danny Brough and Liam Hood stood out for Scotland despite a bitter loss.
Final score:
Australia Kangaroos 54
Scotland Bravehearts 12
You can find Riley on Twitter @rileypettigrew.
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