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COVENTRY – If this was the audition, Nathan Cleary passed. The halfback jersey discussion has rumbled in the background for weeks, but when the boy wonder finally got on the field, he made the debate look more than a little silly.
Granted, the opposition wasn’t up to much, and the scoreline of 84-0 tells that story. But the manner with which Cleary, ably assisted by clubmate and fellow debutant Isaah Yeo, dictated proceedings was impressive.
Cleary was robbed of Andrew Johns’ record of 30 points on debut by a forward pass call and a missed sideline conversion in the final moments, but managed 28. It was, by any standards and against any opposition, an excellent start.
“He feels like part of the team now,” said Mal Meninga of Cleary. “He’s in there now, talking and joking, he certainly had a great game tonight. He controlled the game really well and that’s what we want from our key guys.”
The coach refused to be drawn on who will get the nod next week in the halfback role, or whether Daly Cherry-Evans might play alongside Cleary in the halves against Italy.
The defensive cohesion was massively improved and the line speed, which did not give Scotland an inch. The minnows crossed halfway for just 10 play-the-balls in the whole game and got their first inside the 20m with 30 seconds to play, thanks to a Kangaroos error.
“We excelled tonight, you’ve got to be happy with that,” said Meninga. “We came with a clear plan, and our ball control was excellent in those conditions. All those little things we did really well. We were relentless with it through the 80 minutes.
“I’m very happy with the performance. It’s early yet so we’re not going to get carried away but I can’t criticise any of it. I thought we were very good.
“The boys are working very hard for each other and they kept it going for the 80 minutes, that’s what pleases me, our attitude and mindset is really good.”
Australia have had harder training sessions than this. The gulf between the Kangaroos and Scotland was evident from the first whistle, with the Bravehearts needing all their famed fortitude to keep enthusiasm up.
(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images for RLWC)
They tried to play expansive footy, but it seemed foolhardy: every mistake they made, and there were plenty of them, presented attacking opportunity to the Kangaroos.
Kane Linnett, one of their few names that would be recognisable to Australian fans, was binned in the second half for a professional foul on a night where they were overmatched and didn’t need to give the Kangaroos any encouragement.
Josh Addo-Carr scored four, Campbell Graham got a hat-trick, Jack Wighton grabed two and Matt Burton, Ben Hunt, James Tedesco, Angus Crichton, Yeo and Cleary also made the scoresheet.
(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Beyond the long list of scorers, Pat Carrigan and Reagan Campbell-Gillard took countless carries and dominated the metres.
For Carrigan, a friend of Luke Hampson, who died tragically in a Barcelona nightclub this week, getting out on the field and playing for his country must have been cathartic.
The scoring started early, with Cleary throwing a trademark cutout for the Foxx, and through to halftime, the scoreline outpaced the clock. The Scots couldn’t keep the ball, with just eight sets all half. It would have been enough to lose to much worse sides than the Kangaroos.
Some of the tries were excellent – mostly Addo-Carr, who gave Lachlan Walmsley a torrid night – while others, such as Cleary’s, were the result of very poor defence. When you have to make that many tackles, these things will happen.
The second half was even worse. It took Scotland seven minutes to get the ball after the break. In that time, James Tedesco had scored and so had Ben Hunt. Tedesco was withdrawn within two minutes of the resumption of play, the cue firmly in the rack.
The scoring continued, and the Kangaroos saved the best for last: Burton chased a bouncing ball well over the sideline, flicked it back through his legs and found Addo-Carr, who kicked and chased for some late razzle dazzle to send the 10,000-strong crowd home happy.