New Zealand beat Australia to win World Cup

On November 26, 2008 by

This weekend saw an impressive New Zealand side beat a strong Australian team to win the final of the Rugby League World Cup for the very first time in their history. Australia were widely expected to beat the Kiwis in the match.

After all, they had held the World Cup trophy since the mid-1970s and had not been defeated throughout the entire tournament. Furthermore, the opposition they were set to face in the final, New Zealand, had been heavily crushed by the Australian side earlier in the tournament. Australia’s opening game saw the Kiwis defeated 30-6.

However, although Australia led at half time, impressive play from Lance Hohaia and Benji Marshall saw New Zealand quickly open up a 22-16 lead. Adam Blair confirmed the victory after Australia made a series of unforced, and extremely uncharacteristic, errors.

The strength and aggression which ran throughout the New Zealand side proved too much for the Australians, who seemed surprised by the Kiwis’ attitude. The Australian team should have taken advantage of the early lead but the side became complacent and allowed New Zealand to grow in confidence.

The captain of New Zealand, Nathan Cayless, believed that the victory was one of the finest moments of his career. He was ecstatic that the team had managed to take advantage of some sloppy play by Australia, since he has painful experiences of being in situations where the team has failed to build on leads and good play. He revealed that the team were looking forward to celebrating the win after working so hard to achieve success.

Stuart reveals anxiety over England future

On November 20, 2008 by

After New Zealand thrashed and truly humiliated the English rugby league team in the semi-finals of the Rugby League World Cup, the last thing that fans of the team needed was an anxious message concerning the national side’s future from the coach of Australia, Ricky Stuart.

England rugby fans have had to watch their side suffer humbling defeats during three out of their four World Cup matches and the loss to New Zealand was only surpassed, in terms of humiliation, by the defeat at the hands of an impressive Australian team.

Ricky Stuart’s team beat England 52-4 in Melbourne and the coach has since spoken of his shock at what he has

Billy Slater named player of the year

On November 18, 2008 by

Billy Slater, the Australian full-back who currently plays for Melbourne, has been awarded the honour of being the Rugby League International Federation’s world player of the year.

The recipients of the numerous awards were chosen by the media as well as former rugby players from Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain. The rugby players in contention for the honours were judged on their performances since October of last year.

England rugby fans will be all too aware of the talent possessed by Slater, who scored a hat-trick against the national side during the recent World Cup. The full-back, who is only twenty-five years of age, also scored a hat-trick against Fiji and has been invaluable to the Australian team throughout their World Cup campaign.

The news of Slater’s success is yet another blow for English rugby fans. After watching their team stumble at the World Cup, they have now seen several English players beaten to the award by Slater. Leon Pryce, Jamie Peacock, and Rob Burrow were short-listed for the honour but it was decided that the Australian full-back’s recent efforts on the international stage deserved to be recognised.

Australian rugby fans had further cause for celebration after it was revealed that several other members of the national team had been handed awards. Israel Folau was named the Young Player of the Year and the Centre of the Year. Folau became the country’s youngest ever international earlier this year, making his debut at the age of just 18 years and 194 days.

England humbled by Australia

On November 3, 2008 by

The coach of the national Rugby League side, Tony Smith, has spoken of his embarrassment at England’s record World Cup defeat.

Defending champions Australia humbled England during the match at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, winning 52-4. The Kangaroos managed to score an impressive total of nine tries, with Greg Inglis and Billy Slater both scoring fantastic hat-tricks.

Tony Smith has stated that England have been left feeling hurt and embarrassed and he believes the team needs to improve quickly.

Smith was quick to praise the Australian team, stating that the