Love: World Cup credibility still intact

AAP | 04/11/08 | 0

Rugby League World Cup chairman Colin Love put on a brave face today as he defended the event's credibility in light of Australia's dominance and scheduling that threatens to further undermine the tournament.

Australia's romp to a probable eighth straight crown rolled over England in Melbourne Sunday night, the 52-4 win doing little to appease fans hoping for a challenger to the home side's stranglehold.

Now the tournament delves into a weekend of matches carrying little significance, New Zealand's clash with England in Newcastle almost certainly an appetiser for a repeat a week later in the semi-finals.

Australia's David and Goliath game with Papua New Guinea is also unlikely to affect the semi-finals, for even if the Kumuls pull off the biggest upset in the history of Test football, they still need the Kiwis or Lions to lose by a big margin to qualify for the final four.

But Love sees plenty to play for over the remaining three weeks of the tournament, the ARL chairman adamant the Cup wasn't in Australia's hands just yet despite the home side winning its opening two games against their toughest competition by an average margin of 36 points.

"Certainly we all would have preferred to see a nailbiter (against England), but having said that it was a privilege to see a team play like Australia did," Love said.

"I don't think we should be embarrassed about how good an Australian team we produce .. they're setting the benchmark for the rest of the world.

"The rest of the world has got to lift to get up to that standard."

Despite a brief period of good football midway through the first half in Melbourne, England never really looked like challenging Australia.

The Kangaroos had been anticipating their toughest battle in recent years, but dominated on the scoreboard and on the stat sheets with England's outside backs contributing to many of their 45 missed tackles and Australia running for 818 metres compared to just 462 for the Lions.

Despite the obvious gulf in class, England coach Tony Smith said his side was still capable of doing some damage.

"It's a tournament that you get another chance at," Smith said after the heavy loss.

"We're disappointed with our performance tonight, but you don't have to be at your best just yet and as long as we get closer and closer to our best, we're still in with a shot."

Smith was in no mood to discuss his plans for the Kiwis, the option of resting players, as Australia intends against the Kumuls, a risky proposition given the Lions' form.

Love rejected claims the Lions-Kiwis clash would be a dead rubber, instead saying the winner would move into favouritism to claim one berth in the November 22 final in Brisbane.

"Whoever wins this game is going to have some sort of psychological advantage for the following week," Love said.

"They want to have a good hitout before the semifinals and hopefully before they get to the final."

Certainly we all would have preferred to see a nailbiter... Rugby League World Cup chairman Colin Love