Foxx Force Five: Addo-Carr runs amok as Kangaroos crush Cedars to reach semis in 'worst performance' of Cup

HUDDERSFIELD – The fireworks were exploding above the John Smith’s Stadium well before kick-off, but they were no match for those that went off on the field once the game started, with Australia strolling into the semi-finals courtesy of a crushing 48-4 win over Lebanon.

Guy Fawkes Night isn’t until tomorrow, but some guy called Foxx decided it should arrive early, with Josh Addo-Carr running in three tries before 20 minutes were out. He ended up with five to take his tournament tally to 11, a clear leader for the World Cup with Dom Young set to feature for England tomorrow.

Things didn’t start well – Cleary sent his first kick out on the full – but once the Kangaroos got going, they never stopped. Addo-Carr’s haul is the obvious headline, but Cameron Munster did just about everything else.

He terrorised the Lebanese right edge in the first half, picking up three try assists in the process, before switching to fullback in the second after James Tedesco was given his third early mark in as many weeks, this time due to a cork. He is not expected to miss next week.

That experiment was less successful, with Munster making an error from which Josh Mansour scored, but in his natural position, the Melbourne man was the most dominant player on the field.

While the debate over Nathan Cleary and Daly Cherry-Evans has dominated the discourse for the last month – both were perfectly fine, incidentally – the other major switch, that of combining Val Holmes and Jack Wighton on an edge, paid off.

(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

While they were not as spectacular as Addo-Carr – who is? – they were both physically excellent, with Holmes relishing the harder carries that come with a wing spot and Wighton spotting opponents up several times in defence.

Fox League analyst Corey Parker was unimpressed with Australia’s performance, labelling it as “their worst performance of the tournament”.

“Fourteen errors from the Australians. The cohesion, some of the ball movement we saw, some of the basic errors that we saw just wasn’t quite up to standard for the Australians, particularly when it looks like they will go on to play the Kiwis next week.”

Clunky was the word Greg Alexander used to describe their display. “Their second half was as poorly as they’ve played. Some of the errors were basic, it kept the Lebanese team in the game,” he said.

Coach Mal Meninga accepted that it wasn’t the best with ball in hand, but commended his side’s work without the footy.

“I was happy with the way we played, certainly defensively,” he said. “They had plenty of opportunity on our tryline and we defended really well.

(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

“The ruck was really slow and a bit messy and the game didn’t get into any flow, particularly in the second half. We couldn’t play much footy.

“We did turn the ball over a little bit and had to work for our yardage and our kicking game. But overall, really happy with getting the result we were after.”

Lebanon lacked a little of the adventure that has been their calling card in this tournament. They attempted one short kick-off that nearly backfired into a Jack Wighton intercept and sent another out on the full, but beyond that, the invention levels were low.

Coach Michael Cheika has made his mark on rugby league with insightful tactical work, but his side never had chance to enact their plans. Sometimes the gulf is too big. He’ll hope for better at Twickenham on Sunday, where he will coach Argentina against England at rugby union.

“It was below expectations,” he said. “We got blown away at the ruck. They targeted our right and said ‘if you can handle this, you can handle anything’. We couldn’t handle it.

“I wouldn’t say we were intimidated, but they ran hard and you have to run hard back in defence. That’s the battle. Obviously, there’s a difference when you’re coming up against players who are the best in the world.

“Australia were excellent today, they put us in a situation that we haven’t been in and we couldn’t take it.”

Though things did not start perfectly for the Kangaroos – Cleary sent his first kick out on the full – it did not take long for a pattern to set in. Holmes broke through early and, while he was hauled down, Munster created space from which Addo-Carr could dive over.

Tedesco then split the Cedars, with the Foxx flying through in support for his second, before a Munster ball steal – despite Lebanon’s excellence prior in the skill, he remains the master of it – provided the winger with a hat trick. Barely 18 minutes had been played.

There might have been a fourth, but Latrell Mitchell opted to crash over himself, followed by a quickfire double from Cam Murray.

Lebanon did fire late on, with Adam Doueihi smartly putting Charbel Tarsipale through a gap, but the Kangaroos scramble stopped it.

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It continued after the break as Addo-Carr capitalised on a Josh Mansour error, but this time, Munster, now at fullback, repaid it in kind by missing a Mitchell Moses kick to let the Source score.

It was barely a blip. Addo-Carr got a fifth from another kick soon after and Liam Martin barged in from close range. Lebanon finally attempted some flair footy, with Moses attempting to outsmart Munster, but nothing was forthcoming.

They bow out with their heads held high, and Australia march ominously on into the semi-finals.