Scotland v New Zealand

[josie andrews]

Scotland will face NZ at Leeds on Friday in the quarter finals.

Scotland have been confirmed as New Zealand's Rugby League World Cup quarterfinal opponents after Tonga beat Italy 16-0 in Halifax this morning.

Italy needed to defeat the already eliminated Pacific Island nation to top Pool C and progress into the last eight of the tournament.

However, they were unable to cope with the physicality of Tongan centres Konrad Hurrell and Mahe Fonua while the Tongan front rowers also regularly smashed their way through the heart of the Italian defence.

The Kiwis versus Scotland game will be played at Headingley Carnegie Stadium on Saturday morning (NZ Time) in Leeds and it will be the first time the two nations have ever competed against each other in a rugby league game.

As for this game played in front of 10,266 at The Shay, it's one that Italy should be utterly disappointed about.

After 39 minutes of forgettable play, where the only interest was a try disallowed for Italy, the scoreboard operator finally earned his keep when Tonga's Samsoni Langi kicked a penalty in the last act of the half.

Two minutes into the second half Italy came close to scoring again, this time it was ruled out because James Tedesco was held up over the line by Langi and Siosaia Vave.

Finally a try came in the 45th minute, with Tonga going further ahead as Willie Manu crashed over from a few metres out after Fuifui Moimoi had opened opened up space on the wing by making a big charge down the middle of the field.

The final nail went in Italy's coffin came in the 64th minute when Daniel Foster got through five tackles to score Tonga's second try and take the score to 12-0.

The game finished with a try to Peninsula Terepo as the previously unbeaten Italians crashed out.

This result means Tonga finish second in Pool C with two wins from three games, but ultimately it was their shock 26-24 loss to Scotland in Workington that cost them the opportunity of playing the Kiwis in the quarterfinals.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sp ... /9385424/?

[Owd Codger]

Something wrong with a format which sees Tonga in second place of their group with two wins and one defeat but eliminated while Fiji finish third in their group with one win and two defeats but reached the knock out stage.

In my opinion, the competition should have consisted of 16 nations split into 4 groups of 4 with the top 2 in each group going into the knock out stage like it is in the European Nations football competition.

It should not have been designed to have us playing in the same group as Australia for a big opening game and to make sure that we be guaranteed to reach the knock out stage even if we finished up in third place.

A format which no other ball game would do!

[highland convert]

It would have looked even worse if Scotland was out without loosing a game.

[Mike]

So far i think the format has been great. There has been some uncertainty in who would go through, which wouldn't have been the case in a 4x4 group format.

The one modification I woudl have made is that the 2nd placed teams in the groups of 3 should have got to play-off against the 3rd place teams in the groups of 4 for the quarter final spot. That way Tonga would be playing Fiji to see who gets through. Even Wales would have had a shot of getting through right up to the end of the group stages.

[Owd Codger]

So far i think the format has been great. There has been some uncertainty in who would go through, which wouldn't have been the case in a 4x4 group format.

The one modification I woudl have made is that the 2nd placed teams in the groups of 3 should have got to play-off against the 3rd place teams in the groups of 4 for the quarter final spot. That way Tonga would be playing Fiji to see who gets through. Even Wales would have had a shot of getting through right up to the end of the group stages.

No team which finishes third in a group should reach the knock out stage ahead of a team which finishes second in another group, especially when a team eliminated has a better record than one which has progressed.

[Mike]

Not even if they play them and win?

[josie andrews]

Rugby League World Cup: Scotland target upset against New Zealand

Full-back Matthew Russell insists Scotland will not be overawed when they take on defending champions New Zealand at Headingley on Friday.

The 20-year-old, who was born on the outskirts of Glasgow before moving to Wigan, has been one of the heroes of the Bravehearts' remarkable run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Wins over Tonga and the United States, plus a draw against Italy, enabled Steve McCormack's men to top Group C and earn an unlikely tilt at the holders.

And Russell, who has scored tries in every match so far, insists Scotland can continue their giant-killing acts.

"We always knew we could upset teams, right from the start," he said. "We looked at who we were playing and Tonga and Italy especially we thought we could turn over.

"To get to the quarter-finals is great. It will be really good to go up against New Zealand to see how we handle ourselves.

"We know what we can do. We've worked on what we're going to do to maybe win the game.

"Anything can happen. It's 17 men on 17 so we can definitely come up with a win."

Scotland have suffered a blow with the loss of one of their full-time players, second rower Dale Ferguson, who lost his appeal against a two-match suspension imposed for a dangerous tackle, but McCormack was in upbeat mood as he went into camp in Leeds with a virtually full squad.

Self-employed

A full-time teacher, McCormack managed to extend his leave from Warrington College and the squad's Cumbria-based trio of Brett and Callum Phillips and Brett Carter received permission from their employers at Sellafield to remain on World Cup duty.

"Josh Barlow is the only one still to join up with us," McCormack said. "He's self-employed and is still fitting fireplaces but he's on his way.

"All the employers have been good and it's not a bad excuse anyway to give to them. You don't get many chances to play in a World Cup quarter-final. All the employers have been watching the games throughout the tournament."

Scotland's trio of NRL-based players, Peter Wallace, Luke Douglas and Kane Linnett, also managed to prolong their stay in England.

"Their flights were put back and, if we progress, they'll get moved again," McCormack said.

The Bravehearts will be without veteran hooker Ben Fisher, who damaged a calf muscle in the warm-up to the USA game, but Ian Henderson is back from injury to take his place and centre Linnett has recovered from a rib injury that forced him to sit out the final pool match.

"They both trained today with no ill-effects whatsoever so it's great to get them back," McCormack added.

Hull KR forward Rhys Lovegrove would have been an obvious replacement for Ferguson but he failed to link up with the squad due to other commitments.

http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-league/ ... /9023491/?