Round Two Round Up RLWC21: England seal Quarter-Final place and Aussies demolish Scotland

With round two of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup all wrapped up, we’ve taken a look at all of the results from the second lot of results and what it means heading into the final group games before the Quarter-Finals get underway.

It was a very high-point scoring round, certainly in comparison to round one, with 490 points this round compared to 362 in the opening eight games of the tournament.

Whilst some new grounds were introduced to rugby league such as the University of Bolton Stadium and Coventry Building Society Arena with some impressive atmospheres across the round, the second grouping of games was certainly a success for the sport.

Group A:

Host nation England made it two wins from two in fine fashion with a 42-18 win over France in Bolton with some more unbelievable rugby from starlet Dom Young who is really starting to light up the Rugby League World Cup.

Another double for the Newcastle Knights man along with a double for Ryan Hall meant England cruised to another victory despite the French running in a few tries of their own late in the first half.

The win all but sealed their place in the quarter finals, but it was officially sealed when Samoa defeated Greece in their second respective group games which ended 72-4 to Samoa at the Eco-Power Stadium in Doncaster.

The Samoans were ahead after just a minute and two seconds which signalled the events to follow as they ran in 13 tries and now face France in Warrington on Sunday with a place in the last-eight up for grabs for both sides.

Group B:

Round two was started off in Group B with Australia facing Scotland at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday night and for the Scots, it all came crashing down in Coventry as the Kangaroos recorded the highest win of the tournament so far with a 84-0 win.

15 tries on the night meant the Champions put on a show for the impressive crowd of 10,276 with debutant Campbell Graham grabbing a hat-trick, Josh Addo-Carr with four tries and Nathan Clearly finishing with a personal total of 28 points (12 goals and a try).

With the Aussies now into the Quarter Finals, it’ll be between Fiji and Italy for who grabs a spot in the Quarter Finals as both sides sit on two points in Group B after the two sides met on Saturday with Fiji running out 60-4 winners.

An impressive performance in Newcastle, and with Scotland next up whilst Italy face the Australians at the Totally Wicked Stadium, it’s hard not to expect to see Fiji in the last eight of the tournament.

Group C:

Group C had another huge scoring in the form of New Zealand who ran out 68-6 winners over a sprinted Jamaican side despite not winning a game yet this tournament.

Four tries from Watene-Zelezniak meant the Kiwis ran out comfortable victors at the MKM Stadium and as expected, top the group as it falls between Ireland and Lebanon for who will join them in the Quarter Finals.

With Ireland facing the Kiwis, it’s likely they’ll need a favour from Jamaica who face Lebanon on Sunday at the Leigh Sports Village.

The second game in Group C was in Leigh as Lebanon ran out 32-14 winners over Ireland with NRL star Mitchell Moses leading his nation to a convincing win meaning Ireland’s chance of reaching the last eight would need either a Jamaica victory or a bit of Irish look when they come up against New Zealand.

Group D:

Finally, in Group D, Kristian Woolf’s Tonga side showed some flair against a passionate Wales side at the Totally Wicked Stadium who pushed the Tonga side all the way but the experience and quality shone through as Wales fell to a 32-6 defeat.

Daniel Tupou scored a hat-trick that eventually sunk the hearted Welsh performers, who are made up of mainly part-time players and did their nation enormously proud with a spirited performance which saw them take a 6-4 lead thanks to Kyle Evans’ 18-minute try.

The game also wrote its own bit of history with referee Kasey Badger becoming the first women to referee a men’s World Cup match.

And to finish off the second round of entertainment, Tuesday saw Papau New Guinea beat the Cook Island 32-16 at the Halliwell Jones which meant the Kumuls have one foot in the last eight with just a win over Wales needed to progress.

But for Cook Island, the tournament is more than just about winning with some incredible heart shown throughout their opening two games. The night concluded with some special scenes as Anthony Gelling received a ‘Pe’e Haka’ from his teammates to celebrate his final outing for his nation.

With the Quarter Finals line-up now looking there or thereabouts complete, we’ll soon see teams at their full-strength as the competition reaches its knockout stage and the tournament begins to heat up.

But with one more respective group game remaining amongst the four groups, there’s a couple of quarter finalists still to be confirmed before the best of the best go head-to-head for 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

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