Australia are the victors in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, coming away from the final with a 6-0 win over England, and claiming their eleventh title.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Australia 6
England 0
Australia will start as the heavy favourites in the Rugby League World Cup Final against England at Suncorp Stadium. Join The Roar for a live blog of the action from 8pm (AEDT).
The Kangaroos have swept all before them in this tournament so far, conceding only three tries in their five matches. Ironically, England scored the opening try of the World Cup against Australia in the fifth minute of their opening game, before going down 18-4.
Since then, the Australian defence has been a brick wall, and they’ve piled on the points in attack. The Kangaroos are coming off a 54-6 win over Fiji in last week’s semi-final, a match where winger Valentine Holmes scored an incredible six tries. That was on top of his five-try effort in the 46-0 quarter-final win against Samoa the week before.
Mal Meninga has named an unchanged line-up for the third straight week.
England had a late scare last week against the fast-finishing Tongans, before emerging as 20-18 winners. The Tongans scored three tries in the last six minutes and had another disallowed on the full-time hooter to almost snatch a fairytale win.
Sam Burgess will captain England after regular skipper Sean O’Loughlin has been ruled out with a quad injury. Exactly who will start in his place at this stage is unclear.
Wayne Bennett has also been forced to make one other change to England’s starting 13 for this week, after hooker Josh Hodgson suffered a serious knee injury last week. James Roby will take his spot at dummy half, with Chris Heighington likely to come onto the bench.
England haven’t ever won the World Cup as a standalone nation, though they have been involved in three winning Great Britain campaigns. The last was in 1972. Australia are the defending World Cup champions, having won the event ten times.
Prediction
Australia by 13.
Ben Lewis
Roar Pro
Spot on call; clear shepherd.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Get back to bed Zac.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Thought the ref was really good tonight. Only paid the obvious penalties. Don't think anyone could complain about his performance.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Fantastic contest between two very committed sides. Great defensive effort by England - they showed a lot of ticker. The Aussies found it really hard to crack them unlike the opposition in previous games. Players like Slater and Holmes found it much tougher tonight. Unfortunately for England they just made too many errors at crucial times. Tom Burgess had a horror patch. All players looked totally exhausted at the end of the match. Great game. The Aussies just did enough.
Birdy
Guest
Comment of the tournament Sleiman.
Jimmmy
Guest
The defence was sensational, from both sides . The attack was constrained BECAUSE the defense was so good. Australia completed at high 80’s . It was fiercely competed. To use the word mediocre is just ignorant.
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
I don't know what game you were watching but the one I saw wasn't great. The defence from both teams was decent. but it was helped by our poor 5th tackle options and England's terrible 5th tackle options. England's attack was nothing tonight and the only reason they only lost by 6 was because ours wasn't much better...
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Rugby league was the man of the match...
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
It was most definitely a real contest.
Jimmmy
Guest
Insightful and accurate.
Vivalasvegan
Guest
You are right. Fired up... But, bad calls aside, the English refs call different stuff to the NRL. Enjoyed watching the English refs this comp. Need more internationals
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
Insightful comment there, bud...
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Thanks for joining me on tonight’s coverage, hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave your comments on the game.
John Coomer
Roar Guru
Match report AUSTRALIA 6 ENGLAND 0 Australia have beaten a gutsy England 6-0 in a very physical and entertaining World Cup Final at Suncorp Stadium. It was Test match football at its best. Both teams were like heavyweight boxers trading punches, but were unable to land the knockout blow. The first tackle of the match set the tone of things to come, with James Graham emerging very groggy from a head clash with Matt Gillett. Both sides continued to trade heavy hits throughout the match. It was an arm wrestle for field position for most of the game, but the Australians took advantage of more possession to score the only try in the first half. Boyd Cordner ran strongly into a hole and then used his strength to barge his way through the last line of defence. Michael Morgan was disallowed a try in the second half for Australia after a video review revealed some obstruction in the lead-up. Australia generally looked to be the more dangerous of the two teams in attack, but England had their moments. The closest they came was a break by centre Kallum Watkins in the second half, but he was brought down in a desperate Josh Dugan ankle tap. The scrambling defence of both teams out wide was as impressive as the intensity up the middle. Australia’s defence throughout this World Cup has been very hard to break, and it was no different tonight. They have conceded just three tries in six games. If this match is the last time that Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater pull on the green and gold jersey for Australia together, a World Cup victory is a fitting finale. England certainly would have lost no fans though with their performance. Their completion rate was lower than Australia's, but you couldn't fault their effort or commitment. The match was a great way to finish a great World Cup that has seen improved performances from several Tier 2 nations.
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
Definitely, if only the villagers would concede Origin is no longer the pinnacle of rugby league. Excited for New Zealand vs England in the US next June.
Jimmmy
Guest
Mate m England were sensational. I know the game brings out the passion but really the Ref was fine . Have a look at England’s ball control and you might find where they lost the game.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Best defensive display by England in a long time. Crucial errors put paid to a victory
Birdy
Guest
Best game I've ever seen Dugan play. Mal seems to get the best out of players
sham
Guest
Great match. England did extremely well to hold Australia to 6 points. It would have been great for the game overall if England had won. It is unhealthy for the game for Australia to dominate as they do. On the other hand, this match was a real contest not a cakewalk.
Vivalasvegan
Guest
Great game... I am one eyed but did England get very little of the fifty fifties? Just lacked a bit of quality to create something special,,, Must be a help to NRL players to be reffed by an Australian... Gutted! Gee whizz, internationals are great...