David Williams scored three tries on debut as Australia thrashed Papua New Guinea 46-6 yesterday to finish off the group stage of the rugby league World Cup with another dominating win.
The Australians, who beat New Zealand 30-6 and England 52-4, were again a class above the opposition, advancing untroubled to a semi-final against either Ireland or Fiji.
The Kiwis, who rallied to beat England 36-24 with five unanswered tries on Saturday, will go into a rematch with the English in next weekend’s semi-finals with added confidence.
But Australia remain hot favorites to win the cup.
The Kangaroos led 22-0 at halftime after 22-year-old winger Williams and center Joel Monaghan each scored twice in the opening 40 minutes.
Replacement back Scott Prince crossed twice after the break, including one off an intercept, to give the hosts a 34-0 lead in the 55th minute, putting the match beyond doubt.
It was a vast improvement for the Kumuls, who lost by 82 points in their last World Cup match against Australia and were in the toughest group of the tournament.
Papua New Guinea center Menzie Yere swooped on a Rod Griffin grubber kick in the 73rd minute to score a consolation try.
In the earlier match, Samoa thrashed France 42-10 in the playoff for 9th and 10th places.
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
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