The final matches in Pools A and B were played yesterday (October 29th) and saw England, Fiji and Australia comfortably through, although the Scots didn't make it easy for Fiji in the game between those two sides. Scotland did manage to score three tries against the Fijians, but unfortunately the Fijians managed five in return, and all converted by the boot of Wakeham. Scotland can hold their heads up high though as they made a real fist of the game. Some indiscipline may have also caaused their undoing though, but all in all, Fiji were good value for their win, and they meet New Zealand in the quarter final next Saturday (November 5th).
Australia strolled through their match with Italy and registered a 66-6 victory against an Italian side who have played some good football in this tournament, including their victory over Scotland on day two. It took the Kangaroos some time to find their feet though, but in the end they proved far too strong for the Italians.
But the first game of the day took place at 3 pm and involved England against a Greek side who have been playing in their first World Cup. It would be easy to concentrate on the statistics of this game as England demolished the Greeks by 94 points to 4 in a 17 try jamboree. But for 20 minutes, the Greeks held their own, and although England raced ahead with a converted try to open the scoring at 6-0 within the first 90 seconds, Greece both stunned and delighted the Bramall Lane crowd, including the English supporters, with a try by Taukamo before 15 minutes had passed, to peg England back to 6-4. After 25 minutes Greece were still only 16-4 down and were by no stretch of the imagination out of the game. But then England clicked into gear and went into the break at 44 points to 4, with a further 50 unanswered points arriving in the second half. But this particular game was, and is, about more than statistics. It was, and is, about a side making their first appearance on the world stage after overcoming all the odds, not least the fact that rugby league was illegal in Greece until a few months ago. They even had to play some of their qualifying matches clandestinely, and often switched their games at the last moment to alternative venues, since the police were always ready to arrest any player or team actually caught playing the game. So, Greece may not have set this tournament on fire by way of results, but they board the plane home having made a lot of friends for their courage and determination. England now play either Papua New Guinea or Wales in the quarter finals - probably PNG, as they look too strong for a Wales side who in any case have to win by at least 43 points tomorrow to take the quarter final spot at the Kumuls expense.
Sunday 30th October saw Lebanon seal the Pool C runners up spot by crushing Jamaica by 74 points to 12 to set up a quarter final spot against Australia next weekend, whilst Tonga demolished the Cook Islands by 92 points to 10 in their Pool D game. The Cook Islands have disappointed somewhat as they were the favourites to win the group but credit to Tonga who thoroughly deserve their shot at Samoa in the quarters. Samoa gave an excellent showing in their 62 points to 4 against a French side who barely managed to make it into the Samoan 20 or 40 metre areas for long swathes of the game. The Samoan tackling was very strong and their attacking game was at times exquisite. Half time saw the Samoans take a 28-0 lead, and although France did manage a second half consolation try, they had no answer to a Samoan side which looked very different indeed to the side that was beaten by England 60 points to 6 on the opening day of the tournament.
Full quarter final line up :- Australia v Lebanon; England v Papua New Guinea or Wales; Fiji v New Zealand and Samoa v Tonga. Quarter finals commence on Friday November 4th, and first up is Australia v Lebanon.
