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Neighbours' clash should be best



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Published Date: 30 October 2008
IT won't be for those of a squeamish disposition.
But it promises to be one of the best games of the World Cup.
England against Australia? Nah, I'm talking about tomorrow's South Pacific face-off between Tonga and Samoa.
Think of the great derby rivalries in sport: AC v Inter, Rangers against Celtic, Liverpool and Manchester United, Queensland versus New South Wales and, er, Fax v Keighley.
Then incorporate that kind of antipathy into a contest between two teams of big-hitting giants who like to shift the ball at every opportunity and you have a recipe for some classic rugby league.
The highlight of the competition so far came on Monday, when Ireland and Tonga served up a supremely entertaining contest at Parramatta Stadium.
Yes, you could pick holes in the quality of the play at times.
But you could hardly have wished for a more compelling, and at times brutal, spectacle, typified by the unpredictable brilliance of Tonga's giant stand off Feleti Mateo.
Mateo had a largely anonymous stint in Super League with London a couple of years ago but has blossomed into one of the NRL's most skilful players in 2008.
Whatever he learnt on these shores though, he has clearly forgotten the number one rule of the English game: don't bandy words with Steve Ganson.
The St Helens official was in a typically prickly mood all evening and finally brandished the yellow card in Mateo's direction after the Tonga number six questioned one decision too many.
To be fair, Ganson had his work cut out as Tonga's discipline was highly questionable throughout, which should make tomorrow's encounter between them and their island neighbours a real powderkeg encounter.
Mateo's already said he "doesn't know" what will happen if someone oversteps the mark in a game both teams are happy to predict will be "physical".
I reckon I can make an educated guess though.

GETTING back to England, I'm personally not convinced their performance against Papua New Guinea at the weekend was the disaster it's been made out to be in some quarters.
Historically, PNG have always given Great Britain a torrid workout when they have met on foreign soil.
And hosting the match in the heat of Townsville played into the hands of Adrian Lam's side, although it admittedly lacked the tear gas and riot police that used to define the atmosphere in places like Port Moresby and Goroka.
PNG's overwhelming energy and enthusiasm, typified by the six players who piled into the first challenge of the night, was good for the game, if not for Tony Smith's side.
Rugby league badly needed a competitive performance from PNG, a rugby league mad nation whose opportunities to compete at Test level have been far too limited in recent years, and it got it.
As for the English, they certainly lacked intensity.
But the sheer sense of occasion should ensure that is not a problem against Australia in Melbourne on Saturday morning.

The full article contains 498 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 30 October 2008 8:42 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Halifax
 
 

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