Billy Slater stars as Australia downs England 18-4 in World Cup opener
BILLY Slater showcased every bit of his speed, class and creativity as he marked his Kangaroos return with a dominant display to help sink England.
IT wasn’t all that long ago when Billy Slater didn’t know whether his body would let him play again.
The doubts crept in during his 18-month recovery from two shoulder reconstructions but on Friday night the Australian fullback completed the comeback where it began seven months ago at AAMI Park.
Kangaroos captain Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk sparked the national team with deft hands in close and Slater finished with precision in the Rugby League World Cup opener against England.
He showed every bit the speed, class and creativity that helped Melbourne Storm and Queensland secure memorable victories this season.
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There was no silverware on Friday night, just peace of mind.
It’s only the beginning of Australia’s campaign but defeating the old enemy 18-4 gives the Kangaroos a gun run to the finals.
England on the other hand will be forced to play a semi-final in New Zealand, with the mighty Kiwis the likely opponents.
Friday night belonged to the Kangaroos despite the best efforts of electric English winger Jermaine McGillvary, who silenced the green-and-gold faithful scoring the opening try of the game.
Cronk copped a beating in the opening half.
A knock to the head rattled the halfback before a spearing Sam Burgess tackle left Cronk hunched over in the hands of the trainers.
He was made to earn every possession and then some under fierce English attack.
A sign of things to come at AAMI Park, maybe, for the 34-year-old, who is expected to sign with Sydney Roosters after 323 games, seven grand finals and two premierships at Melbourne Storm.
But Cronk and the Kangaroos answered every challenge, with the forward pack doing a power of work up the middle of the field.
David Klemmer ran with purpose, while Aaron Woods, Boyd Cordner and Jordan Mclean gained valuable metres in the territory battle.
In close, the “Big Three” reigned supreme.
Smith had a hand in both Kangaroos tries.
His pass out of dummy half opened the door for Matt Gillett to open the scoring, the skipper then combined with Cronk and Gillett again for Slater’s 24th try in a green and gold jersey.
The Kangaroos dominated possession and territory but England threatened deep in the second half before Josh Dugan iced the game in the shadows of full-time.
The Kangaroos will face-off against France in Canberra on November 3 before their final pool match against Lebanon on November 11.
Coach Mal Meninga commended the Kangaroos’ defensive effort after the match.
“I think we improved our defence late in the game,” Meninga said.
“We were under the pump (at 10-4) England had a lot of field position against us but we just kept on coming with really good decisions.
“Our edges come up hard put them under pressure and they made errors.
“We kept on turning up for each other and scramble defence was really really good which tells me we’re here to play footy and we want to win the competition.”
The Kangaroos lacked fluency in attack but Meninga expects to iron out any deficiencies before the next game against France.
Valentine Holmes and Josh Dugan had their hands full on the left side curtailing electric English winger Jermaine McGillvary, who scored the opening try and threatened further with searching runs along the sideline.
“I think their ball movement was excellent, put us under pressure particularly on our edges,” Meninga said.
“I think both teams have got improvement in them, you got to remember Cameron (Smith), is an example, hasn’t played for a month, through the course of the competition both teams will improve ... it was a really important victory for us because it sets up our campaign and I guess
puts England under a bit of pressure, I thought it was a great way to kick off the Rugby League World Cup.”
Meninga is likely to deploy the same starting 17 for the game against France on November 3 in Canberra, keen to establish continuity in structures and combinations.
Smith praised England’s persistent attack.
“It’s what we expected though,” Smith said.
“England are a very good side. We’ve mentioned that this weeks in our preparation, the talk about us being red-hot favourites and clear-cut victory for the Kangaroos tonight, we never thought that at all.
“We knew the English were very strong ... this was always going to be a tight game.
“We played quite well in patches of the match but there’s a couple things that we can certainly work on moving forward to our next game against France.”
AUSTRALIA 18 (J Dugan M Gillett B Slater tries C Smith 3 goals) bt ENGLAND 4 (J McGillvary try) at AAMI Park. Referee: Matt Cecchin. Crowd: 22,724
Originally published as Billy Slater stars as Australia downs England 18-4 in World Cup opener
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