RLWC21: Quarter-Finals round up

Photo Credit – Josh Knowles, Prost International

As 16 was narrowed down to eight, the men’s quarter-finals didn’t fail to disappoint with the games of the tournament so far proving to be very entertaining.

With some enthralling ties that were played in recognised rugby league stadiums, we saw a rise in attendances, much more competitive fixtures and a positive reception for the competition which has received its fair share of critics over the past few weeks.

But eight has now been shortened again to four and we have discovered our semi-finalists of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup with ties to be played across the 11^th and 12^th November.

 Australia 48-4 Lebanon

Starting in West Yorkshire, the Champions took centre stage on Friday night at the John Smith’s Stadium as they thumped a brave Lebanon side out of the competition in clinical fashion.

Photo credit – Dan Hargraves

Five brilliant tires from Australian starlet Josh Addo-Carr saw the Aussies breeze past Lebanon but with 14 errors throughout the night, they will know they must be better when they face rivals New Zealand in the semi-final stage to prevent being properly penalised for their mistakes.

As for Lebanon, they left the competition with their reputation increased and a fond few weeks to look back on with Josh Mansour scoring their final try of the tournament in Huddersfield to round off what has been a successful few weeks under Michael Cheika.

England 46-6 PNG

Royalty was in town as the Princess of Wales made an appearance at the D.W. Stadium to watch England absolutely blow Papua New Guinea away with the game over after the 30-minute mark.

Photo Credit- Josh Knowles, Prost International

The home nation restricted the Kumuls to just 49 metres within the first half an hour as England were inspired by a record-breaking Tommy Makinson who claimed five tries and became the first England player to score five in a test match.

Three tries and five conversions ensured Makinson had a personal haul of 22 points heading into the interval along with tries from Tom Burgess, Dom Young, Kallum Watkins and George Williams which ensured England were 38-0 to the good at the break.

Despite PNG being much improved in the second period, England saw the game out well and most importantly, didn’t seem to come away from the contest with any knocks or suspensions.

With a semi-final tie now set up with Samoa at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, England will know a first half like Saturday could well put them within touching distance of Old Trafford and the 2021 Rugby League World Cup final.

New Zealand 24-18 Fiji

Saturday saw double action following England’s win as attention moved over to the MKM Stadium in Hull where New Zealand very nearly saw their tournament end early at the hands of a Fiji side who were mightily unlucky to lose out on a Semi-Final spot.

Photo credit – Adrian Kita

With the score at 18-18 with 15 minutes to play after Fiji had surrendered a 12-point lead, a penalty kick followed by a try from Jordan Rapana saw New Zealand take the lead for the first time in the game and managed to see the win out to seal a Semi-Final clash with rivals Australia.

Their final-four clash will be the first of the two ties and will be played at Elland Road in Leeds, West Yorkshire on Friday, November 11 at 7:45pm local time.

Tonga 18-20 Samoa

 Finally, the quarter-finals were wrapped up in Warrington on Sunday as the ‘Islands War’ commenced at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Photo Credit – Josh Knowles, Prost International

It was probably the most anticipated clash of the four games with the two sides having a long, detailed rivalry and two big sets of players which were almost guaranteed to provide some huge hits across the contest.

If the clash wasn’t exciting enough, the pre-match was a spectacle not many sports or countries can provide. The ritual war dances of the Sipi Tau and Sivi Tau provided a spine-tingling feeling that really set the scene in Warrington for a war-like match that didn’t disappoint.

With both sides pushing each other all the way, Samoa took a healthy lead just before the hour mark with miscommunication in the Tonga defence saw Brian To’o t go over as Samoa eyed their first ever World Cup semi-final.

There was a late scare as Tonga scored with eight minutes to go after Sone Katoa ran over from about 40 metres out, but Tonga couldn’t make the pressure count and they fell short by two points as Samoa sealed their place at the Emirates Stadium.

A heartfelt scene followed the final hooter with both sets of players standing in unison as Rugby League continued to be inspiring as it has been all tournament with both sets of players coming together following a gruelling 80 minutes.

But with the semi-finals set in stone, Samoa join the ‘big three’ in the final four of the competition with it now proving hard to call which teams we will see progress. First up, all eyes on Elland Road as Australia and New Zealand go head-to-head in what is bound to be an absolute classic.

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