Australia have opened their Four Nations campaign with a predictable 42-0 flogging of an enthusiastic but outclassed Papua New Guinea at Parramatta Stadium.
On a wet and chilly day in Sydney's west, the Kangaroos led 26-0 at half-time and went on to record a comfortable eight tries to nil victory before a small but vocal crowd of 11,308.
Darren Lockyer's 59th minute four-pointer was his 34th in Australia colours, pushing him past Ken Irvine at the top of the list of all-time try-scorers.
The Kumuls were spirited and tough early, hitting hard in defence and showing plenty of intent.
They needed luck to play a big part if they were to stay competitive but five minutes in it deserted them.
Lockyer's cross-field kick struck the right upright, the ball not only staying in the in-goal but falling into the path of Billy Slater for a fortuitous try.
PNG kept dishing out the big hits but lack of discipline and poor ball control was not aiding their cause.
A spilt ball from a scrum win gave Australia possession and a few plays later the ball went wide for Brent Tate to cross for a simple try.
The Kangaroos had their third try by the 17th minute and it was again the result of some poor play by their opponents.
Fullback Ryan Tongia, signed by Cronulla from the Gold Coast midweek, was way too casual in getting to Cameron Smith's downfield kick and paid a hefty price.
Cooper Cronk gave chase and was rewarded when Tongia toed the sideline-bound ball back into his in-goal for the Australian to plant a hand on the pill.
Still the mistakes – and points - kept coming.
When Michael Mark, who started like a house on fire before burning out, made a hash of cleaning up a kick to present Willie Tonga with a simple try, it was 20-0 after as many minutes.
Brett Morris ensured the Australians kept pace with the clock with his side's fifth try on 25 minutes.
It was looking like a complete avalanche, with the Kangaroos at one stage dominating possession 73 per cent to 23.
But it didn’t immediately translate to points as the Kumuls dug deep and started forcing their hosts into error.
They kept Australia scoreless for the next 15 minutes to claim something of a minor victory.
Growing in confidence, the Kumuls then tackled their hearts out for the opening 15 minutes of the second half to keep the Kangaroos scoreless.
Smith finally snapped PNG's resistance in the 57th minute and Lockyer grabbed his record-breaking try two minutes later as Australia again got the scoreboard ticking over to make it 38-0.
Tonga grabbed his double in the dying stages to complete a comfortable but hardly impressive win for Tim Sheens' team.
In the curtain raiser, Samoa claimed Pacific Islands bragging rights with a four tries to one 22-6 victory.
Australia 42
Tries: Tonga 2, Slater, Tate, Cronk, Morris, Smith, Lockyer
Goals: Smith 5
Papua New Guinea 0
Crowd:11,308
Only if PNG cut down on simple errors, we could have played better. However, the kumuls did some good tackling and hard hitting.
ReplyDeletePNG should win a game against NZ or England.