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.
Man-of-the-match 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 World Cup that has seen improved performances from several Tier 2 nations.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
RLWC Final on ch7 had 1.283m with regionals, which including regionals ie like for like beat the cricket on Saturday.Saturday is not a prime time night.Bearing in mind Adelaide and Perth were on 7 Mate for the RLWC final. I believe England had 1.5m thereabouts in their morning. Don't know about NZ or other countries and it was available to a large number of countries,which of course doesn;t translate to stacks of eyeballs.. ch7 reported 1m streaming minutes,whatever that means in the total scheme of things.
Daniel
Guest
If it makes you feel better, most of the Jillaroos pool games also drew over 100k viewers
Jacko
Guest
The TV figures locally or internationally?
Albo
Guest
Spot on soapit ! Bennett had obviously schooled his defence very well , pinpointing the two major attacking Aussie attacking ploys of Slater coming in as extra man on the right side , and the use of Cordner on the left edge. Slater was well marshalled on the right edge all night and he kept running Chambers & Gagai into touch rather than straightening the play and giving them room. And Whitehead in particular kept the Cordner left edge closed ( except for one time !!). Michael Morgan looked the most likely to cause some damage as the Storm three were well controlled, limiting the Aussie opportunities. On the other hand, the Aussie defence was very good, with Cam Smith once again proving his class with great anticipation to mop up any chinks in the defensive line with couple of try savers.
Drongo
Guest
No, not ‘unlucky to lose’ it. Lucky to have a chance to draw level if they were good enough. Why? England played very strongly in the final 20 minutes and defended well before that. But for the first 60 Australia dominated and should have been at least one try further in front. But even given the chance, England couldn’t score to even up the match, let alone get in front. Australia very good. Less convinced about Dugan. He threw the pass that was intercepted and almost led to a try. And he was always a risk in defence. Yeah, good ankle tap though. That was lucky. Too many NSW players in the team for my liking. Forwards too upright and too slow to get back and poor ball security from the backs (mainly the NSW ones).
chappy
Guest
With all its international muscle Unions Bledisloe could only pull 5000 odd more for their biggest game of the year in Brisbane and RL smashed The Bledisloe on the TV ratings which is the true indicator of support for a code. RL biggest game is SoO and its the biggest game in Australia. Outrates AFL GF and NRL GF.
chris
Guest
So you want to compare a WC final to a friendly fixture? Desperate.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Might be an idea if you checked a little deeper Maestro. .England,France,Png,Australia,NZ for starters,plus locals from Wales/Lebanon/USA/Fiji involved with their countires. No wonder your code is in financial trouble in Oz.Maths not a strong point.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The publicised Tv ratings don't lie.TV stations dump programs that don't rate.Ch7 paid $12m for the tournament .They had the ratings results of the prior 2008 tournament as a guide also. They have openly stated more than once they are delighted with the figures. They would look rather silly if the TV ratings were ordinary,which they were not. The only ones who need to get a grip Maestro are those naysayers,who feel uncomfortable with the figures and any rl positivity. Hell even the usual anti rl nellies on the Offsiders, gave the tournament a rap,as being entertaining.
Greg
Guest
The brutal and absorbing intensity of yesterday’s game is still resonating. Two heavyweights traded blows until they came to a standstill and can be proud of their heroic efforts. I can’t think of any team game where I have seen both sides give so much. Two magnificent defences meant scoring chances were at a premium and England couldn’t quite take the few they got. But playing thousands of miles away from home and with a new half-back partnership plus covering for late injuries to key players made it even more creditable from Engalnd’s perspective. They got better and better as the tournament went on and indeed as the final played out. All in all a fantastic game to end a brilliant World Cup. Bring on the new season and the next World Cup.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Agreed. Private schoolkids hey!
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Lets hope Ch 7 go for RLWC2021 but I think Fox Sports realised their mistake starting a RL dedicated channel & not competing for the perfect content for it over the offseason. Perhaps Murdoch is having money problems lol. Also Channel 10 will be in the mix perhaps or by that time we'll have social media giants entering the fray with lots of sports?
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
Isnt it time you changed ids again? This one is prety boring.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Then why aren't you vesting all your time in rugby union. Honestly is life that short or uninteresting for you? Seriously stop the whinging & be positive in life!
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
Channel 7 are boasting about the ratings success of the tournament today. Check it out maestro. They loved it.
Maestro
Guest
What are Channel 7 going to say - we were really disappointed - get a grip! Surely you have heard of positive spin - its RL
Maestro
Guest
Outrated the Bledisloe - Dreaming..but the Bledilsoe up against the RL and AFL which draw big numbers. However this is the RLWC made up of 3 countries players 40K attendance - oh its not the big game, its been rundown - good grief any other excuses - - international rugby is rugby union...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
TV figures in addition mean overall interest Terry.Or does TV mean zilch re money invested in the game and eye watching? ch7 is more than happy with the figutres.You know ,the non rugby league station.
Jimmmy
Guest
Now that is very funny.
Brainstrust
Guest
I wasn't impressed you had a limited English team, and an Australian team playing too much one out stuff. As usual the Queenslanders were way down on their Origin intensity. They needed to either have Thurston there to work something out wide, or for more runners to give options for Smith and Cronk . Wayne Bennet deserves top marks, Great Britain teams in the old days were a lot more skillful and talented than this mob, he organised them very well for this match.