Australia have complete the group stage of the Rugby League World Cup with a dominant performance against Lebanon.
Final score
Australia 34
Lebanon 0
Australia will be looking to complete their preparation for the Rugby League World Cup finals when they take on a spirited Lebanon in Sydney. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 8pm (AEDT).
While the Kangaroos would need something bordering on a miracle of results going against them to lose top spot in Group A, the truth of the matter is, it doesn’t matter a great deal.
Regardless of the result, they are playing their quarter-final in Darwin next Friday, against either Samoa, Scotland or – if they lose here and England hammer France – Fiji.
Then, it’s a semi-final against either New Zealand or Tonga. Again, the difference is minimal. Australia will want to keep their form going though and put the Cedars to the side.
More changes headline their side, with Billy Slater having a rest and Cooper Cronk returning alongside James Maloney in the halves.
Cameron Smith will play his 37th straight Test and the combination of Aaron Woods and David Klemmer return up front as Mal Meninga tries to sort out his best 17 heading into the pointy end of proceedings.
The Cedars, on the other hand, only need to not get blown out here to lock in a historic quarter-final appearance. Their first match of the tournament was a virtual knockout against France, and they came away with victory.
For them to now be knocked out, France would have to beat England by a considerable margin, while Lebanon would also have to lose to Australia by a decent margin – the second of those scenarios, of course, is not out of the question.
Yet, Lebanon played a solid game last week against England. They could have rolled over and conceded plenty of points, but time and time again they continued to show up and defend strongly on their own line.
While the scoreboard ended a less than flattering 29-10, it could have been much worse. Robbie Farah, Michael Lichaa and Mitchell Moses all showed plenty in attack, and they get first choice fullback Anthony Layoun back this week.
Scoring a try would be a minor victory for Lebanon, but one thing we do know is that they will give it everything for 80 minutes, regardless of what the scoreboard looks like. The for and against situation should be enough motivation to ensure that happens.
Fitness issues for Lebanon hurt them shortly before halftime last week against England, and if that happens against Australia, the scoreboard could run away in a hurry.
Prediction
Australia should win and win well, but I’m not sure they will put on as many points as they did against France last week. The equation of not getting injured with finals around the corner and a desperate Lebanon team might come into play.
Australia by 32.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this Rugby League World Cup Group A match from 8pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment below.
Goerge
Guest
Couldn’t agree more regarding the Slater brain snap. IMO it’s the reason why he will never be acknowledged as an immortal. That said he is undoubtedly the fullback who changed the way modern fullbacks trained and played. It’s a shame his career is slightly tarnished by salary cap rorting and brain fades. I’ve tried to like him throughout his career but with the cap rorting and brain fades, plus that ridiculous habit he had a while back at kicking at the ball as a try is being scored- well it’s just too hard to think favourably about Billy.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Slater is good for one brain snap per big game, me thinks. But even a brain snap was not going to save Lebanon. Still, the Cedars did well. Good on them too.
Raugeee
Guest
My hope is that the judiciary do the Kangaroos a favour and rub Woods out for the tournament. At best he is a passenger, but his display tonight makes him a liability as well.
Goerge
Guest
I spent the whole game hoping that Lebanon would get a sympathy try. But sadly Billy Slater was unavailable to supply such a moment as he did in the 2008 final. Good effort though by the Lebanon boys- They deserve applause.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Australia with just too much class but yeesh, Lebanon actually made it almost a hassle for Australia to win. Really good crowd too.
Scott Pryde
Expert
That'll wrap up The Roar's live coverage of tonight's 2017 Rugby League World Cup action, with Australia rounding it out against Lebanon after Tonga beat New Zealand and Samoa drew with Scotland earlier in the day. Hopefully you enjoyed the call. We have three more games to come tomorrow. It starts with Papua New Guinea vs the USA from 4pm (AEDT) with Sam Ashton. At 6:30pm, you can join Stuart Thomas for that one. I'll be back for the final game of the group stage with England taking on France from 9pm. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
France need to win by 16 points against England tomorrow if they are to change the quarter-final scenario of the two Group A teams. Ireland would need to belt Wales and hope the USA beat Papua New Guinea if they are to advance as the C1 team to play what is likely to be England next week in Melbourne.
Scott Pryde
Expert
So, this is now what the quarter-finals look like - all times are listed in AEDT. Quarter-final 1: Australia (A1) vs Samoa (C3) at Darwin Stadium (Friday, 8:30pm) Quarter-final 3: Tonga (B1) vs Lebanon/England/France (A3) at Christchurch Stadium (Saturday, 3pm) Quarter-final 2: New Zealand (B2) vs Fiji (D1) at Wellington Stadium (Saturday, 5:30pm) Quarter-final 4: England/France (A2) vs Papua New Guinea/Ireland (C1) at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium (Sunday, 4pm) - Most likely team
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thoughts on the game Roarers?
Scott Pryde
Expert
FULLTIME So then, Australia with a big win over Lebanon in the end. They were anything but convincing really, making a lot of errors and only skipping the score out with a couple of tries during the final minutes of the game. Plenty to work on ahead of their quarter-final in Darwin against Samoa next week. Lebanon will more than likely be travelling to Christchurch to face Tonga. They will, however, have to watch France and England tomorrow night, hoping the result is as expected. With the scoreboard getting away from them at the end there, an 16-point win for France will send them to Christchurch and Lebanon out of the Cup. Australia 34 Lebanon 0
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Australia now slicing and dicing. Not much at stake anymore, not that there really was for this particular match other than pride. Well done Lebanon for making it difficult for Australia.
Scott Pryde
Expert
CONVERSION SUCCESSFUL by JAMES MALONEY Australia 34 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
79' - TRY AUSTRALIA, TOM TRBOJEVIC The kick-off is a deep one and it's Woods to bring it back. Down the short side now through Gillett who takes the line on and is upended. Now Maloney goes to Holmes and he is through the line, into all sorts of space and passes - maybe a little suspect - back on the inside to Tom Trbojevic who will race away to score under the posts. All of a sudden, the scoreboard is blowing out and Lebanon will just be a little nervous watching the England vs France game tomorrow night. Australia 32 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
CONVERSION SUCCESSFUL by JAMES MALONEY Australia 28 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
76' - TRY AUSTRALIA, DANE GAGAI Hunt starts this set for the Kangaroos from 25 out, then it's Kaufusi back towards the posts. The next is through Woods who is tackled in front of the sticks before Cronk kicks early in the count for the corner. The chip kick looked for all money like it was heading over the sideline, but with the defence rushing up and in, Gagai flies through the air, takes it above his head and touches down in the corner! Australia 26 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
75' - Trbojevic with a bit of fancy footwork on the right now and a quick play the ball catches the Lebanese defence offside on the next. Australia 22 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
75' - Lebanon get to halfway and then the kick goes down to Gagai from Farah, with the Aussie winger almost back to halfway. Australia 22 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
74' - Klemmer starts this set from 20 out, then it's Woods running at the posts. Hunt turns Gillett back on the inside now and he throws a pass straight to Miski. Australia 22 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
73' - Penalty for Australia. Australia 22 Lebanon 0
Scott Pryde
Expert
72' - Miski brings it away from the scrum for Lebanon before they spread left and Doueihi is tackled near the sideline. Barakat back to the middle before Mannah goes to Mamary with an offload and that looked forward. Mannah now takes a charge back to the middle before Farah kicks down the field and Gagai brings it back. Australia 22 Lebanon 0