PNG Kumuls v England sadly saw the end of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup campaign for PNG, as England won a scrappy affair 36-6 in Melbourne.
The Kumuls battled hard, but made a few too many critical errors and gave away a few too many penalties, and the English made them pay.
We’ve covered the game with the Who, What, Where, When and How of the final Quarter Final match up for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
If you want to know about how the teams have made it to this stage, then visit our 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP MATCH CENTRE
Now onto the PNG Kumuls v England game.
PNG KUMULS v ENGLAND MATCH REVIEW
RESULT – Who Won?
ENGLAND 36
Tries: J. McGillvary (13), J. McGillvary (19), A. Walmsley (33), B. Currie (56), K. Watkins (68), K. Watkins (72), R. Hall (79)
Goals: G. Widdop 4 Conv
PNG KUMULS 6
Tries: G. Lo (60)
Goals: R. Martin 1 Conv
How Did They Win?
England just did a little better with the ball, and always looked the more dangerous of the sides throughout the Quarter Final at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
PNG looked slightly the better side early, but once the errors and penalties set in, a side as good as England made them pay, although by not as much as you think. It took until the 13th minute when the impressive Jermaine McGillvary scored his first try in the right corner, a little too easily after the PNG defence rushed at the wrong player. It was almost an action replay six minutes later when England and McGillvary scored again on the back of a penalty again.
England scored way too easily next in the 33rd minute as forward Alex Walmsley crashed over not long after PNG excitement machine Garry Lo dropped the ball on the kick return of a run of the mill English last play kick. Refer to our key moment below, but it could have been 14-6 at the break, and who knows what confidence that would have given the Kumuls, especially given the 75% conversion rate in the NRL for sides who score in the last five minutes before half time.
The second half saw the game descend into a lot more errors, at one stage in the second half the two sides combined had completed 3 sets of 13. PNG tried hard, and had some decent attacking positions, one of the back of a fine Watson Boas run, but they just couldn’t get that score.
Sure enough England were the next to score after a great Ryan Hall run led to a clever Gareth Widdop short side kick which was gratefully scooped up by Ben Currie. 20-0 down and PNG weren’t coming back from there.
Or were they? Four minutes later the Kumuls were on the ball after Willie Minoga threw a great pass for Garry Lo to score in the left corner after some good ball movement from the Kumuls. The goal gave the extra two points and hope. The Kumuls played up on that confidence for a while, but eventually England hurt them again courtesy of a barnstorming run from Jermaine McGillvary led to Kallum Watkins first try.
The hurt continued as Willie Minoga was harshly denied a try due to an obstruction ruling, It was a terrible decision, akin to the terribly technical decisions in the NRL that annoy fans every week.
Of course England and Kallum Watkins scored the next try not long after to underline the unfairness.
Ryan hall added a seventh English try with a minute to go, and England’s passage to meet Tonga in the Semi Final was confirmed. And the Kumuls exit.
What did we learn?
That Jermaine McGillvary is a quality player, and he and Gareth Widdop have been England’s best so far in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. One could also argue while we’re talking England’s best, that the number 17 James Roby is playing better than the more Austraian friendly name of Canberra’s Josh Hodgson. No doubt the England number 2, Jermaine McGillvary will be talked about in NRL Circles, but as someone who regrettably watched very little UK Super League in 2017, I will be tuning in to see more of his gear in 2018 in the Super League for Huddersfield.
Another thing that we learned was reasonably obvious but telling all the same. That errors and penalties can hurt. The Kumuls made 12 errors, England bettering that by 6, but the difference was that England’s errors came when on the attack, deep into the Kumuls territory and were more of an attacking opportunity lost than a critical error. PNG by contrast dropped the ball a lot when just coming out of their end. First tackle errors hurt, as did the area of the field where the Kumuls did it, near their own line. Whilst the Kumuls defended their line as solidly as ever, the English were too slick for their tries when they held onto the ball themselves.
There are many reasons to be happy with the Kumuls 2017 Rugby League World Cup campaign. Worth noting that PNG won no games at either of the two previous World Cup, 2 Tournaments, 0 Games. Whilst those with no imagination or friends will say PNG got it easy in the pool phase, the Kumuls did very well against all of those sides – flogging two by the margin they deserved and just got over the top of Ireland despite dropping the ball a lot and facing a ferocious Irish side. You could claim the difference may well be the Queensland Cup Premiership winning Hunters influence on the squad. A lot of the players are currently in the Hunters system playing in the Queensland Cup competition, and a lot of the others in the squad have been in the Hunters system previous and are now at feeder club in Queensland and NSW with the NRL on their mind. Given the Hunters participation in the Queensland Cup is only four seasons long, and the Kumuls progress is marked from the previous World Cups, who know what more improvement we’ll see in the Kumuls for the next World Cup in England.
Willie Minoga is still our favourite.
What was the Moment of the Match?
Was happens if the PNG player doesn’t push Gareth Widdop out of the way as he chases the ball after a clever kick from a scrum by Watson Boas. Yes the officials missed the one the English winger did on the way through on the Kumuls player, but with a more subtle bump and getting that ball down to score it could have been 14-6 at the break, and it might just have been the spark and momentum that PNG needed just before the break.
Any other bits and pieces?
- Did David Mead’s early departure through a head knock in the first 90 seconds make the difference? Probably not, but he sure would have helped. Had been inspirational so far for PNG.
- The Kumuls looked really good early, almost the better of the two sides. But their quality slowly dropped off, and after two clinical finishes from England winger Jermaine McGillvary they dropped off a little more. Halfway through the first half it was 4-0 line breaks and 1-12 missed tackles for the Kumuls.
- Stargroth Amean channeled the World Game with a nice fake injury as he awaited a dummy half after cleaning up an English kick. It was one that would have not looked out of place in any soccer league in the world.
- PNG’s day can be summed up with a second half moment, when Watson Boas perfectly stopped an attacking English kick 10 metres out and only has to keep control of the board to run 90m and score with no English defenders in front of him. He unfortunately dropped it.
- Willie Minoga is still the King. Our king. And all hail.
- It has been a pleasure and privilege to write about the Hunters/Kumuls this season. Our 2017 season of following and writing about the PNG sides has finally come to an end, and we have enjoyed every moment. Not only the writing but getting involved in social media forums and finding out what the real PNG rugby league fans feel about the sport that they and we love. The Hunters Intrust Super Cup Grand Final win is still the greatest sporting event we have ever attended live, in the history of any sport we have attended. The Kumuls Rugby League World Cup run has brought immense joy as well, and a shame the ride for 2017 has ended here. Hopefully there’s plenty more to come and plenty to write about next year. Go Kumuls/Hunters.
THE DOWLING-TAMATI #RLWC2017 PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT
We’ve decided that a tournament as big as the 2017 Rugby League World Cup needs a Player of the tournament, and who better than International relations specialists Kevin Tamati and Greg Dowling to name our award.
We award points on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale every match, and the results for this game is below. For the running total from all of the games visit our 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP MATCH CENTRE
5 POINTS – Jermaine McGillvary – Two tries, set up another, ran for over 200 metres, always dangerous.
4 POINTS – Gareth Widdop – another classy outing from one of England’s best so far in this year’s Rugby League World Cup.
3 POINTS – Willie Minoga – came alive in the second half, set up their only try and was the Kumuls best in the second forty. And yes, we are biased. Denied his own try with rubbish ruling.
2 POINTS – Alex Walmsley – scored a try and was a real menace for England up the middle.
1 POINT – Kallum Watkins – Partner in Crime for Jermaine McGillvary and grabbed two tries himself.
PNG KUMULS v ENGLAND MATCH PREVIEW
Who: PNG KUMULS v ENGLAND
Where and When: LIVE Sunday 19th Nov – Melbourne
When is it on TV? Channel 7Mate @ 3pm EDST
What’s the Story?
Excitement is high in PNG as the Kumuls have made the Quarter Finals and are enthusiastic about their chances of an upset against England. And to a degree they should be.
The Kumuls have won three from three in the pool stages, and while many people will argue they had home ground advantage and weak opposition, they still did a very good job. They beat the Wales and USA by a combined 114-6 flexing their attacking muscles. Then they came across a very tough and competitive Ireland and despite being under pressure on their line throughout due to enough dropped ball to lose two games, they persevered and got home 14-6.
Their big win over the USA on Sunday showcased the arrival of Lachlan Lam at five eighth, but it has proved a one off with coach Michael Marum going for the tried and tested pairing of the Boas brothers Ase and Watson. Wellington Albert is still out but Moses Meninga keeps his spot after a good game against the US. Fan favourite and our hero Willie Minoga return to the side, and the good news is that Stargroth Amean and Rod Griffin also keep their spots in the side.
It is a significant step up to play England this Sunday in Melbourne, but what progress for the Kumuls, who didn’t win a single game in either of the previous two Rugby League World Cups in 2008 and 2013. One can only point to the inclusion of the Hunters in the Intrust Super Cup for the main reason for the improvement, and perhaps look at the inclusion of other countries in similar arrangements.
England meanwhile have not even reached the bare minimum of what would be expected from this Rugby League World Cup, with a Semi Final berth the absolute lowest Supercoach Wayne Bennett would probably accept.
The English side have done the job so far without setting the world on fire. England were quite impressive against Australia, doing it without superstar Sam Burgess for the second half. Against minnows Lebanon and France England looked good in patches but also underwhelming like the second half against France.
Gareth Widdop has been immense, and the return of Sam Burgess will only help cement England’s chance. Plus Supercoach Wayne Bennett.
Who Will Win and Why?
England should win, they have too much big time experience, although one can argue not experience of winning anything internationally.
Sam Burgess’ return swings the momentum even more strongly to England, and with Gareth Widdop and Jermaine McGillvaray in such fine form they should have plenty.
PNG at their best and most error free can really give them a shake. Their fearsome defence and powerful ball running could also cause the English plenty of peoblems. The key is holding onto the ball and limiting the penalties.unlike against the minnows England have the firepower to truly punish the Kumuls.
Another factor against a Kumuls win is their performances in the two Grand Final of the Hunters in 2017. Despite winning the Intrust Super Cup Grand Final, the Hunters did appears to be suffering from stage fright for the first chunk of the game. They eventually defended their way into the contest and snatched victory, but England might be too far away. Against Penrith in the NRL State Champiosnhip they were simply blown away early and never recovered. Their second half was much better but too late.
Whilst that applies to the Hunters, and the Kumuls have much wider experience, thee are still a lot of Hunters in the side, especially in the halves,.
In saying all of the above, we say f*** the stats, and let’s dream for a while and round off an excellent 2017 for PNG rugby league with an upset win over England this Sunday.
PNG by 6
Who to watch for?
The obvious answers….for England is Sam Burgess and for the Kumuls it is always Willie Minoga. Always.
Sam Burgess is a must watch, not that you’ll have a choice as he will be the main focus of the match. His absence hasn’t hurt them thus far, but is he coming back too soon after that injury? Maybe it is respect for the Kumuls that he hasn’t been rested. He is arguably the finest forward in rugby league, and if England are going to win this tournament need him to be at his best. Starting with a good comeback this Sunday.
Regular readers of this website will not be surprised that the man known as the Freight Train or Mack Truck is our pick as the man to watch, because he is always a man to watch. Now getting all the air time he deserves thanks to the Rugby League World Cup coverage on Channel 7Mate. Not Channel 7 because they are not Australia.
But Big Willie has been in fine form so far in this World Cup, and getting a rest last weekend against the USA means extra fuel in the tank, and trouble for England.
Outside of BWM, there is the classy David Mead, who impresses every time he gets the chance, in attack and defence. And Rhyse Martin has been super for the Kumuls in the pool games.
Also have been impressed with the contributions of Stargroth Amean, Moses Meninga as the lesser known of the Kumuls.
So many to choose from, so many arguments for an upset win.
TEAMS
Who’s in the Teams?
PNG KUMULS
- David Mead 2. Justin Olam 3. Kato Ottio 4. Nene Macdonald 5. Garry Lo 6. Ase Boas 7. Watson Boas 8. Moses Meninga 9. James Segeyaro 10. Luke Page 11. Rhyse Martin 12. Willie Minoga 13. Paul Aiton 14. Kurt Baptiste 15. Stargroth Amean 16. Stanton Albert 17. Rod Griffin 18. Enoch Maki 19. Wartovo Puara 20. Thompson Teteh 21. Lachlan Lam
ENGLAND
- Gareth Widdop 2. Jermaine McGillvary 3. Kallum Watkins 4. John Bateman 5. Ryan Hall 6. Kevin Brown 7. Luke Gale 8. Chris Hill 9. Josh Hodgson 10. James Graham 11. Sam Burgess 12. Elliot Whitehead 13. Sean O’Loughlin 14. Alex Walmsley 15. Thomas Burgess 16. Ben Currie 17. James Roby 18. Chris Heighington 19. Mark Percival 20. Stefan Ratchford 21. George Williams
MATCH REVIEW
Coming soon.
THE DOWLING-TAMATI #RLWC2017 PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT
We’ve decided that a tournament as big as the 2017 Rugby League World Cup needs a Player of the tournament, and who better than International relations specialists Kevin Tamati and Greg Dowling to name our award.
We award points on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale every match, and the results for this game is below. For the running total from all of the games visit our 2017 RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP MATCH CENTRE
Points coming after the match.
