2013 | Rugby League World Cup final|||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Date | 30 November 2013 | ||||||||||||
Stadium | Old Trafford | ||||||||||||
Location | Trafford, Manchester | ||||||||||||
Man of the Match | Johnathan Thurston (Australia) | ||||||||||||
Referee | Richard Silverwood (England) | ||||||||||||
Attendance | 74,468 | ||||||||||||
Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
Broadcasters |
| ||||||||||||
Commentators | |||||||||||||
The 2013 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between New Zealand and Australia on 30 November 2013 at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. [1] Australia won the final by 34 points to 2 in front of a sell-out crowd, finishing the tournament undefeated. They reclaimed the cup from New Zealand, who had defeated them in the 2008 final. The Kangaroos won the Rugby League World Cup for the tenth time, and the first time since 2000. [2] Their five-eighth, Johnathan Thurston was named man-of-the-match. [3]
The sellout crowd of 74,468 at Old Trafford set a new international rugby league attendance record, eclipsing the previous record of 73,361 established at the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final where Australia defeated Great Britain 10-6 at the old Wembley Stadium. [4]
New Zealand's road to the final started on 27 October at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, where they played Samoa, who were knocked out in the quarter-final stage. New Zealand stormed the match with 8 tries to earn a 42-24 victory. [5] New Zealand then found themselves playing the co-hosts France at the Parc des Sports in Avignon. In front of a sold out capacity crowd, New Zealand kept the hosts to zero points, while New Zealand scored 8 tries to win 48-0. [6] The Kiwis returned to England to play Papua New Guinea, who had failed to win a single match in the run up the New Zealand game. New Zealand continued their Group B dominance and scored 10 tries to earn a 56-10 victory to top the group and advance to the knock out stage. [7]
New Zealand faced Scotland in the quarter-final, who like New Zealand hadn't lost a single game in the Group stage but did at worst draw 30 all against Italy. [8] New Zealand was victorious in the quarter-final match running in 8 tries to 1 to win 40–4. [9] In a hard-fought semi-final, New Zealand won 20–18 against hosts England. The home side were leading for most of the first half, up 8-0, 25 minutes into the match. A try from Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and 2 goals from Shaun Johnson meant 8 all was the half time score. New Zealand looked to start to dominate the match with a second 44th minute try from Tuivasa-Sheck for the Kiwis to lead 12-8. Tries from England's Kallum Watkins and Sam Burgess meant with just 10 minutes to go, England were in front 14-18. A last gasp try on the 80th minute for New Zealand, could at least take the semi-final to over time should Johnson not be able to convert his own try. Unfortunately for the hosts, Johnson bisected the posts to take the Kiwis their third final, and keep them with in the chance to defend their title. [10] In reaching the 2013 World Cup final, New Zealand had again equalled their record for consecutive victories with five.
Opposing Team | For | Against | Date | Venue | Attendance | Stage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Samoa | 42 | 24 | 27 October 2013 | Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington | 14,965 | Group Stage |
France | 48 | 0 | 1 November 2013 | Parc des Sports, Avignon | 17,518 | Group Stage |
Papua New Guinea | 56 | 10 | 8 November 2013 | Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds | 18,180 | Group Stage |
Scotland | 40 | 4 | 15 November 2013 | Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds | 16,207 | Quarter-final |
England | 20 | 18 | 23 November 2013 | Wembley Stadium, London | 67,545 | Semi-final |
Australia's road to the final started on the opening day of the tournament at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff against hosts England. Australia ran in 5 tries to England's 4 to earn a hard-fought 28-20 victory under the roof in Cardiff. [11] Australia then played Fiji, who had opened their tournament with a 32–14 win over Ireland, at Langtree Park in St. Helens, but lost second rower Luke Lewis with a shoulder injury during the game. Lewis had collided with the advertising boards that were located close to the dead-ball line raising concerns about player safety. His injury would keep him out of football until mid-2014. Most of the safety concerns came from the use of soccer stadiums which generally have a shorter pitch length than desirable for a rugby league field (soccer pitches are 105 metres in length while the minimum length for a league field between the dead ball lines is 112 metres) which often led to shorter than regulation fields and left very little room between the dead ball lines and the fence. However, Langtree Park is actually a rugby league ground being the home venue of the famous St Helens club.
The Kangaroos were victorious in this match, winning 34-2 with 6 tries to nil. [12] Thomond Park in Limerick was the venue for Australia's final match of the group stage against Ireland. Ireland hadn't won any matches in the run up this final match, only scoring 14 points in 2 games which came against Fiji (0 against England). With Australia's 9 tries, including 24 points in 10 minutes, Australia went out victors 50-0. [13] With Australia's 3 from 3 wins in the group stage and the conceding of only 22 points, Australia topped Group A and advanced to the knock out stage.
In the quarter-final, Australia played surprise packet newcomers United States at The Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. The Hawks had played well to reach the finals, but were not expected to be a match for the tournament favourites. Australia were the victors 62-0 scoring 12 tries, including 4 from Jarryd Hayne playing in the unfamiliar position of centre, and 4 from Man of the Match Brett Morris. [14] Australia played Fiji in the semi-final, a replay of the Group A match that happened on 2 November (28 days earlier). This time, Australia kept Fiji scoreless, running in 11 tries to win 64-0, which including a 22 points in 10 minutes. [15] Australia therefore advanced to the final for the 10th time in a row.
Opposing Team | For | Against | Date | Venue | Attendance | Stage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
England | 28 | 20 | 26 October 2013 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | 45,052 | Group Stage |
Fiji | 34 | 2 | 2 November 2013 | Langtree Park, St. Helens | 14,137 | Group Stage |
Ireland | 50 | 0 | 9 November 2013 | Thomond Park, Limerick | 5,021 | Group Stage |
United States | 62 | 0 | 16 November 2013 | The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham | 5,762 | Quarter-final |
Fiji | 64 | 0 | 23 November 2013 | Wembley Stadium, London | 67,545 | Semi-final |
Before the final, Australia and New Zealand had played each other 125 times, with Australia winning 95 times, New Zealand 27 and 3 draws. Of the last 10 encounters, Australia had won 8 of them, New Zealand 1 and a single draw. New Zealand's last win over the Kangaroos was a hard-fought 16-12 win in the 2010 Four Nations Final at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Their previous meeting was in April 2013 for the 2013 ANZAC Test, where Australia won 32-12 at the Canberra Stadium in Australia's capital city. The two teams had previously met each other on 17 occasions in a Rugby League World Cup match, with Australia winning 15 to New Zealand's 2.
Australia and New Zealand had met in three previous World Cup finals; 1988 at Eden Park in Auckland (won 25-12 by Australia), 2000 at Old Trafford (won 40-12 by Australia), and 2008. The 2008 Rugby League World Cup final at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium was won 34-20 by New Zealand. It was the first time New Zealand had won the World Cup, and the first time Australia had lost it World Champions crown since Great Britain had won in 1972.
In the run up to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup final, Australia had only conceded 22 points, and let though 4 tries, while scoring 238 points and crossing the line 43 times; 20 Group stage, 12 quarter-final and 11 Semi-final. New Zealand, however, had conceded 56 points and let through 11 tries, while scoring 206 points and attacking their opponent with 37 tries; 26 Group stage, 1 quarter-final and 3 semi-final.
English referee Richard Silverwood was named to officiate the final, with James Child and Grant Atkins the touch judges. Ashley Klein, who formerly officiated as a part of the Rugby Football League was the video referee for the match.
Although it had hosted 7 international matches since first being used in 1986 (including the 2000 World Cup final), and was the host venue of the annual Super League Grand Final, prior to the game, concerns were raised by the Australian team management about the safety and suitability of Old Trafford as a rugby league venue, primarily the shorter than regulation in-goal areas (measured at 4.1 metres, shorter than the minimum allowable distance of 6 metres) and the slope around the perimeter of the field. There were some suggestions of moving the game to Wembley Stadium in London, though this was ruled out by tournament organisers citing logistical and financial reasons. Two players, Brett Morris and Manu Vatuvei, fell victim to falling down the slope with Morris actually colliding with the advertising boards at the bottom of the slope after scoring a try while Vatuvei fell awkwardly on concrete, only emphasised the questions raised. [16]
After Australia kicked off, [17] a New Zealand error in the first set of the game led to an early opportunity and field position for Australia, and the penalty was kicked by Johnathan Thurston to open the scoring to 2–0. The Kiwis suffered an early blow when after just one touch of the ball, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck had a recurrence of an ankle injury that forced him from the field after just 8 minutes with second rower Alex Glenn his replacement, forcing a re-shuffle with Simon Mannering moving to the centres and Dean Whare to the wing. Australia weren't without their problems though as soon after Jarryd Hayne went down with an apparent concussion after colliding with the hip of Simon Mannering while tackling the Kiwi captain, though the Kangaroos centre would remain on the field. Further play from the Kiwis brought them into the Australian half of the field, and a holding penalty then given by the Australians was kicked by Shaun Johnson to level the score to 2–2 at the 16 minute mark. Despite Old Trafford having an in-goal area of just 4.1m, Australia were able to force a line drop-out. [18] From this, Thurston was able to kick to Billy Slater, setting up the first four-pointer which Thurston also converted to make the score 8–2. A try attempt by Cooper Cronk was controversially [19] disallowed by the video referee, who ruled Isaac Luke had been able to stop the ball coming into contact with the in-goal grass while also giving New Zealand a penalty against Andrew Fifita for 'driving' Luke. Cronk didn't have to wait long to score though, as a few minutes later Darius Boyd got around Whare and raced down the wing before putting in a miss-kicked grubber which Cronk managed to find to go over and score despite a desperate Kevin Locke tackle. Thurston kicked his 3rd goal from 3 attempts to take the score out to 14–2. Thurston's conversion of Cronk's try saw him overtake Michael Cronin as Australia's highest point scorer in test match football. Manu Vatuvei's attacking run for New Zealand saw him pushed over the sideline 5 metres out by 5 desperate Australian defenders, and an offside penalty at the 35 minute mark gave Thurston another kick to bring the score out to 16–2 at halftime. [20]
Billy Slater opened the scoring on the first set of the second half, thanks to break by captain Cameron Smith who passed outside to Thurston who found Darius Boyd who raced down the sideline and found Slater in support as Kiwi fullback Kevin Locke loomed in defence. This gave Thurston another chance to convert and bring the score to 22–2. A charge-down by Ben Matulino and regather from Sonny Bill Williams led to New Zealand beginning attack at halfway. More potential attack from the Kiwis was defused easily by the Australians, until a New Zealand grubber gave possession back to the Australians. A flick offload from Josh Papalii led to a chip kick from Brett Morris, regathered and then re-kicked by Jarryd Hayne led to a sliding Morris try. A conversion by Thurston brought the score out to 28–2. Both teams were having issues with the geography of the ground, as Morris collided with the signage during his try and a flying Manu Vatuvei landed awkwardly on the concrete surrounding the field. Australia's control of the game led to the New Zealanders forced into defense of their own line, defusing Australia's attack but not managing any successful attack of their own. A near 100 metre try by Morris, thanks to a 70-metre intercept run by Hayne, and conversion by Thurston made the score 34–2 with eight minutes to go.
New Zealand | 2–34 | Australia |
---|---|---|
Goals: Johnson (1/1) 16' pen | Tries: Billy Slater (2) 19', 41' Cooper Cronk 30' Brett Morris (2) 52', 72' Goals: Johnathan Thurston (7/7) 4' pen, 20', 31', 35' pen, 42', 53', 73' |
Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 74,468 Referee: Richard Silverwood Touch judges: James Child , Grant Atkins Player of the Match: Johnathan Thurston |
New Zealand | Australia |
|
|
Australian scrum half back Johnathan Thurston was named the final's man-of-the-match, his fourth such award of the tournament. [21] His conversion of Cronk's first half try also broke Mick Cronin's 31-year-old record of 309 Test points for the Kangaroos. [22] [23] The 32-point margin set a new record for heaviest victory in a final, eclipsing Australia's 40–12 victory over the Kiwis in the same stadium in 2000. [24] [25]
The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Commission, the Kangaroos are ranked first in the IRL Men's World Rankings. The team is the most successful in Rugby League World Cup history, having won the competition 12 times, and contested 15 of the 16 finals, only failing to reach the final in the 1954 inaugural tournament. Only five nations have beaten Australia in test matches, and Australia has an overall win percentage of 69%.
Malcolm Norman Meninga is an Australian professional rugby league coach and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the game's history. He enjoyed a long career in both Australia and England, playing mainly as a goal-kicking centre. After retiring, Meninga has enjoyed success as a coach, and is currently the head coach of Australian national team.
The 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations was the second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The tournament followed the same format as in 2004 and 2005, with each team meeting the other two teams twice, and the top two teams at the end of the group stages proceeding to the final. Australia was to run out winners in a tight final, winning in golden point extra time with Kangaroos captain Darren Lockyer scoring a try in the 87th minute.
Manu Mapuhola Mafi-Vatuvei, also known by the nickname "The Beast", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who was both a Tonga and New Zealand international representative winger. He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League. Vatuvei was a member of the New Zealand national team that won the 2008 World Cup. He became the Warriors' top try scorer, and the first player in NRL history to score at least 10 tries in 10 consecutive seasons.
The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over three weeks from Friday, 23 October until Saturday, 14 November, France and England competed for the first time, with Great Britain's permanent split into the home nations' national teams following the 2007 New Zealand All Golds Tour. The tournament culminated in a final between world number 1 side Australia and hosts England. After 60 minutes of highly competitive football, Australia ran away with the match, scoring a barrage of late tries to win 46–16.
Johnathan Dean Thurston is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All Stars representative, playing at halfback or five-eighth, and was a noted goal-kicker. Thurston has been an assistant coach of the Queensland rugby league team since 2021.
The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for means national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales. Australia won the tournament, beating New Zealand 34–2 in the final to lift the trophy for the tenth time.
Cooper Patrick Cronk is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative halfback, he played most of his club career for the Melbourne Storm, though finished his career with the Sydney Roosters, both in the National Rugby League (NRL).
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup final was the championship-deciding game of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament. Played between New Zealand and Australia on 22 November 2008 at Brisbane's Lang Park, the match was a re-play of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup final and its outcome determined who became World Cup-holders for the following five years. Considered one of the biggest upsets in rugby league, New Zealand defeated Australia 34–20 to claim their first ever World Cup title.
The 2013 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team to compete at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. New Zealand won Pool B of the tournament as well as their quarter and semi-finals, before losing to Australia 2-34 in the World Cup final.
Kieran Foran is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth or halfback for the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League (NRL) and New Zealand at international level.
The 2010 ANZAC Test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand on 7 May 2010. The match coincided with the official opening of AAMI Park in Melbourne. The match was won by Australia with a score of 12–8.
Shaun Johnson, nicknamed "Magic Johnson", is a former New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who last played as a halfback for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is a New Zealand dual-code rugby international footballer who currently plays as a centre for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League.
Group A of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup was one of the three groups of teams that competed in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Group A was the largest of the tournament, consisting of four teams: Australia, New Zealand, England and Papua New Guinea. After all teams had played each other once, only Papua New Guinea did not advance to the knockout stage.
David Fusitu'a is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a wing, centre and fullback for Leeds Rhinos in Super League and for both Tonga and New Zealand at international level.
The 2014 Anzac Test was a rugby league test match played between Australia and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on 2 May 2014. It was the 15th Anzac Test played between the two nations since the first was played under the Super League banner in 1997. It was also the first Test match played in Sydney since the 2010 Four Nations tournament. A Women's All Stars Match which is the Women's rugby league version of the game was played as the main curtain raiser for the Test, which was won 24-0 by the Women's All Stars.
The 2000 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between Australia and New Zealand on November 25, 2000 at Old Trafford, Trafford, Greater Manchester, England.
The 2008 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team to compete at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. New Zealand came second in Group A of the tournament before winning their semi-finals against England and defeating Australia 34–20 in the final to win the World Cup for the first time.
The 2021 Rugby League World Cup final was the rugby league match to determine the winner of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, played between Australia and Samoa on 19 November 2022 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)