International Rugby League thread.

Tom Mann Centuria

England v New Zealand are playing in Denver, USA tomorrow. Should be a good game live on BBC Two at 21:10. I'm really looking forward to it anyhoo.

There's a good preview here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/rugby-league/44578720

Pauliedragon

Should be interesting, I wonder if altitude will be a factor? NZ generally have a poor record in mid year tests. Is this game being locked in as an annual fixture or is it a once off see how we go?

Tom Mann Centuria

Pauliedragon wrote: »

Should be interesting, I wonder if altitude will be a factor? NZ generally have a poor record in mid year tests. Is this game being locked in as an annual fixture or is it a once off see how we go?

I think they just saw the origin weekend idea as a window to try it. If they decide to keep the origin weekend, it'd be nice to think the club's would allow their English and Kiwi players to take part in this test again, even if it was in Australia.

I'd say the altitude might gas players pretty quickly, the benches will be much more important than usual and the Kiwis are in transition since players committed to Pacific nations, so I'd hope England have enough, but it should be a good game.

Tom Mann Centuria

Actually just read, if its successful this year, there's an agreement to do it again in 2019 and 2020 in the US again.

They are hopeful to get 20,000 at tomorrows game, which would be pretty good.

Pauliedragon

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Actually just read, if its successful this year, there's an agreement to do it again in 2019 and 2020 in the US again.

They are hopeful to get 20,000 at tomorrows game, which would be pretty good.

That's a good attendance. I knew it was on but with the world cup my entire sporting world is consumed by that but I'll ceck it out for sure.. Hopefully they can fit it in every year league needs new concepts.

Tom Mann Centuria

Just a heads up there's 2 live games this morning on Sky Sports Arena

PNG v Fiji from 7am

Samoa v Tonga 10am

The Pacific Islands were a breath of fresh air last World Cup, so hopefully these games will help then keep the upward path going.

Pauliedragon

I didn't see the match but apparantly PNG were good value for the win over Fiji.

Tom Mann Centuria

Pauliedragon wrote: »

I didn't see the match but apparantly PNG were good value for the win over Fiji.

Fiji were missing a few up front and Hayne was terrible, but PNG absolutely deserved the win.

Tonga look the real deal these days, pretty comfortable against Samoa and I think they'll show they are consistently at the same level as England/NZ now.

Pauliedragon

Just noticed England V NZ isn't on BBC in Ireland. That's no good.

Tom Mann Centuria

Pauliedragon wrote: »

Just noticed England V NZ isn't on BBC in Ireland. That's no good.

If you have sky satellite TV you could tune UK BBC Two on "other channels"

Tom Mann Centuria

Wasn't 20000 there, an ok crowd though, would have been better in a smaller ground. An entertaining game none the less, New Zealand have a bit of a way to go but England played pretty well and deserved win.

The Lost Sheep

Rugby League Ireland have announced Stuart Littler has accepted the role as coach for the European Championships. They have also announced Ireland will take on Scotland on October 28th in Morton Stadium Santry

swiftman

Was having a look at Ticketek here in NZ and had a look at the 2 games coming up at Mt Smart.
13/10/18 Kiwi vs Kangaroos
20/10/18 Tonga vs Kangaroos
I was at the Tonga vs England semi final and I couldn't let this pass. Atmosphere will be something else. Reason I left it so late because unsure if i'll be in the country.
Tonga game nearly sold out with over 4 weeks to go, very different story with the other game with week less to go.
At Mt Smart there is the embankment and 50 blocks, 17 in the west, 18 in the east and 15 in the south (7 lower,8 upper).
Only tickets left for Tonga are behind both posts, 2 blocks in the south upper and the embankment behind the other post. I took the embankment.
With Kiwi's, they sold 4/17 in west, 4/18 in east. None sold out in south but they haven't put upper on sale, also haven't put the embankment on sale (no demand).
Can't compare all prices but Adult south: Kiwi's $36, Tonga $30.
Category A tickets, upper west & east are Kiwi's $56, Tonga $60.
Kiwi lower west and east is priced $46.
Home game for the Kiwi's will be lucky to sell half the ground where as a country with population 107,000 and 2,400km away will sell out the same ground vs the same team, a week apart.

Mr.Nice Guy

Heads up that Sky Sports Arena is showing New Zealand vs Australia tomorrow with kick-off at 7:45am.

Ferns vs Jillaros women's test will also be shown from 5am but I think that's too early for me.

Mr.Nice Guy

I recorded NZ vs Australia and it was really enjoyable. I was worrying that Australia would snatch it at the end. Joseph Manu was immense.

England are playing New Zealand later this month which should be interesting. Sky Sports are showing Tonga vs Australia next Saturday.

Tom Mann Centuria

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I recorded NZ vs Australia and it was really enjoyable. I was worrying that Australia would snatch it at the end. Joseph Manu was immense.

England are playing New Zealand later this month which should be interesting. Sky Sports are showing Tonga vs Australia next Saturday.

Great win for the Kiwis, an excellent game too, thought they might have blown it after having so much of the play first half and still trailing. Both teams rebooting though, so it'll be fun seeing how they get on. The Kiwis, if they play like that against England should have enough to win it, and get back to 2nd best team in the world. Looking forward to that game, Kangaroos should comfortably beat Tonga, though it's going to be a great atmosphere.

Tom Mann Centuria

Easy win for England over France, reading the interview with Wayne Bennett after is gold, he clearly hasn't got a clue what half his players names are! :pac:

Tom Mann Centuria

What a crowd for the Tonga v the Aussies game. Sea of red and white.

swiftman

Just in the door and after swallowing a double whopper burger.
What can I say, it was as good as the semi final vs England.
Crowd was fantastic. I think score line was reflecting of game. I could go and say I thought the better team didn’t win.
Australia got few easy try’s from mistakes. Took there chances.
Tonga were killing them in tackles and running into them.
Tonga could do with a better full back, I know RTS is Samoan but wonder does he have any Tongan in him. Andrew Fifita didn’t look fit in second half. Was fairly injured but managed to carry well.
For half time till Tonga’s try at 52 mins, Australia didn’t touch the ball. Amazing.
Did anyone else think Tonga could been the better team? Maybe I’m one eyed.

Love the Tongan games, the supporters don’t show up expecting to win and if it’s not a win then it’s the end of the world like the way most kiwis are. Tonga come to support there country. The big cheer at full time, was as if they won. The proudness they get from that team. NZ is fantastic at sports, but if a team isn’t winning, people ask why waste your time go to games. People are embarrassed to admit they go to warriors games.

Lastly, credit to Australia who took a pay cut to play this game. NZ rugby league did everything try stop the games because it showed how badly the national team is supported. 12,000 kiwi vs OZ, 35,000 Tonga vs OZ.

Mr.Nice Guy

I had this game taped and finally got round to watching it. Amazing atmosphere. You could see how moved the players were during the anthems.

Pity about the result but thought Australia were very clinical.

Tom Mann Centuria

Great video from an Irish young lad who's just signed academy forms with the Giants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os9KiEG3PWo

Mr.Nice Guy

Really impressed by his attitude. He seems a good guy. Hope it works out well for him.

Rugby League Ireland will be streaming the game with Scotland on Saturday:

https://twitter.com/Irelandrl/status/1055916726326624257

Tom Mann Centuria

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Really impressed by his attitude. He seems a good guy. Hope it works out well for him.

Rugby League Ireland will be streaming the game with Scotland on Saturday:

https://twitter.com/Irelandrl/status/1055916726326624257

Great stuff, good to see Rugby League Ireland being proactive in promoting the game. I'll be watching anyway.

From 2pm on BBC One its the first of the three game series between England and New Zealand. Fancy the visitors to win that seeing as England are slightly understrength and the Kiwis reinvigorated.

Tom Mann Centuria

Rugby league Ireland feed lasted less than a minute before it stopped working!

Wonder if there's something in the air though, because Northampton Town online feed was knackered for a while and boards was also down.

Oh, and England New Zealand is poor stuff so far, loads of errors.

Tom Mann Centuria

Good second half, Kiwis will be kicking themselves, the better team, but England did enough and great defence near the end. Whitehead well worth MotM.

swiftman

A piece here about Ed O'Keeffe. As a Galway Tribesmen supporter, very surprised that Ed and Murray Kinsella only had this much to say about his time with The Tribesmen. Could of added about him winning the Republic and All Ireland rugby league.

'However, when O’Keeffe returned to Ireland after the Italian season, he got involved in the summer domestic league programme, initially hoping to stay fit and match-sharp before realising he enjoyed the other code.'

https://www.the42.ie/ed-okeeffe-rugby-league-ireland-limerick-4308131-Oct2018

Mr.Nice Guy

I managed to catch a stream on Youtube of the Ireland/Scotland game but the audio and visual quality was poor and to make matters worse the stream ended at the first half. :pac:

Good result though with Ireland winning 36-10. Next Saturday they play France who just beat Wales 54-18 so it could be a good game.

charkee

RE The Ireland international.

Rugby league no interest in promoting in Ireland.

I live not too far from Morton stadium and there was not even a sign up in advance,

I would have gone ,had I known

Tom Mann Centuria

charkee wrote: »

RE The Ireland international.

Rugby league no interest in promoting in Ireland.

I live not too far from Morton stadium and there was not even a sign up in advance,

I would have gone ,had I known

Frustrating to hear, I suppose their funds mean they just don't have any money for any kind of advertising? Not sure how much a few signs dotted around the vicinity would have cost though.

Mr.Nice Guy

The BBC website is showing Ireland vs France apparently.

https://twitter.com/Irelandrl/status/1058412295917891585

Tom Mann Centuria

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

The BBC website is showing Ireland vs France apparently.

https://twitter.com/Irelandrl/status/1058412295917891585

Did it work okay? Looked like France were comfortable winners, only going by the final score though.

Mr.Nice Guy

Yeah, the stream was very good. It was night and day compared to the one I saw on Youtube last week. Fair play to the BBC for showing it. Pity no Irish station took it on considering there's the likes of RTE News Now and a bunch of Virgin Media channels that could have done so.

Ireland were outclassed really and I was expecting a rout as France led 18-0 at the break, but in the end it was 24-10 so it wasn't a humiliation. France definitely deserved it though.

Wales beat Scotland 50-12 so Ireland's visit to Wrexham next weekend will determine who joins France as an automatic World Cup qualifier. Hopefully the BBC will stream that one too.

Tom Mann Centuria

2nd game of the England NZ series today, starts at 2.30pm on BBC Two, coverage begins at 2pm.


Edited channel, got the wrong BBC.

Tom Mann Centuria

Good first half at Anfield. Decent crowd in for it.

Edit: good win for England, so they've won the series, final game still to play in Leeds.

Mr.Nice Guy

Seems the Wales vs Ireland qualifier will be on the BBC website on Sunday afternoon from 3pm.

https://twitter.com/rugbyleagueontv/status/1060470150988787712

Mr.Nice Guy

Wales are dominating this. 32-4 at the time of writing. Fifteen minutes to go. I expected a Welsh win but hoped it would be a closer contest.

Tom Mann Centuria

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Wales are dominating this. 32-4 at the time of writing. Fifteen minutes to go. I expected a Welsh win but hoped it would be a closer contest.

Yeah, real shame that.

New Zealand comfortable against England 22 nil with 20 minutest to go and England with man in the bin.

Tom Mann Centuria

Ireland's most capped player, and current captain, is retiring from international Rugby. Fair play to Liam Finn, featured in 3 World Cup campaigns.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/liam-finn-proud-of-his-international-career-with-ireland

Mr.Nice Guy

Finn's been a great servant and performed very well at last year's World Cup. Most capped player and most points scored as well. I hope RTE acknowledge his contribution at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards coming up.

Tom Mann Centuria

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Finn's been a great servant and performed very well at last year's World Cup. Most capped player and most points scored as well. I hope RTE acknowledge his contribution at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards coming up.

It'd be nice, but doubt very much they will.

Mr.Nice Guy

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

It'd be nice, but doubt very much they will.

I'm going to send RTE an email suggesting they acknowledge his efforts. It mightn't do any good but it's worth a shot!

Tom Mann Centuria

Nice interview with Liam Finn about Irish Rugby League going forward.
https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/liam-finn-trusts-new-ireland-board-to-grow-the-game-after-stalled-progress

I hope his optimism is right, there's great potential with the growing player base for kick and clap rugby in Ireland, and some of those will realise Union isn't for them, or vice versa. Plenty of players in the making if structures could be put in place and if the wider RL governing bodies helped more.

Tom Mann Centuria

Sounds like the Ireland team had an absolute 'mare with their Spain qualifier.

https://www.totalrl.com/ireland-stars-disgust-at-shambolic-and-dangerous-spain-trip/

Beasty

Hope you guys were watching Australia lose for the first time in 41 years against a team other than England, GB or NZ...

Australia 12-16 Tonga

Tom Mann Centuria

Beasty wrote: »

Hope you guys were watching Australia lose for the first time in 41 years against a team other than England, GB or NZ...

Australia 12-16 Tonga

Fantastic result, and brilliant for international Rugby league they've backed up their win over GB with a win over the Aussies.

GB played the first test against New Zealand today, replay half nine on the BBC Red Button.

Tom Mann Centuria

Some Haka from the Kiwis.

Tom Mann Centuria

Kiwis beat GB in first of two Test matches. Poor first half from both teams, took zero risks and made for grim viewing, quality picked up a bit in the second half but GB still look poor and lost to a not much better New Zealand. Hastings who was a revelation for Salford was very ordinary for the Lions.

Still, better than the snore fest that was the Union World Cup final :pac:

ednwireland

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Still, better than the snore fest that was the Union World Cup final :pac:

you think - not convinced

Wayne Bennett

i dont think we lost that game we just ran out of time. another 5 minutes and we would have scored

:rolleyes::rolleyes::D:D

next game live bbc 2 6.30am

highlights bbc 1 13:15

Tom Mann Centuria

ednwireland wrote: »

you think - not convinced

Wayne Bennett


:rolleyes::rolleyes::D:D

next game live bbc 2 6.30am

highlights bbc 1 13:15

Re point one, it was a poor game, can't argue with that, but personally speaking still a better spectacle than kick n clap.

Re point two, I know Wayne Bennett never exactly looks brimming with enthusiasm, but he really looks totally disinterested in his well paid side line coaching England and GB lions (in effect the same team :pac:) He's going through the motions, and doesn't seem to want to look outside of the Australians "qualified" to play for England, or English players in the NRL.

I'm working all weekend so I'll have to record the game, although if its like the first test the BBC Red Button had multiple replays. I think it'll be a better game than last week, saying that, the bar is set pretty low after the first one.

ednwireland

gb lions were very poor against Tonga as well

Tom Mann Centuria

ednwireland wrote: »

gb lions were very poor against Tonga as well

They were, but Tonga beating the Kangaroos made GB look slightly less average.

I fear the only win they'll get on this tour will be against PNG next weekend, but Port Moresby will be rocking so I'm not even that confident of that.

Maybe they'll show up tomorrow and prove me wrong, if both teams went a bit more expansive I'm sure the viewers would appreciate it!