Source : the age
Kalyn Ponga played around 20 minutes with a suspected broken arm, Reece Walsh was nothing short of phenomenal while Jack Bostock bagged a hat-trick on debut in one of the most memorable World Cup games – ever.
The international rugby league tournament kicked off in fantastic style with a Kangaroos’ 24-22 victory in front of 41,255 Sydney fans on Thursday night.
The No.1 battle between Walsh and Ponga was worth the admission alone into Allianz Stadium, with both men producing some breathtaking plays in attack and defence.
Ponga, who was making his debut for the Kiwis, bagged a double, including a try that featured him skip past Cameron Munster, then stand up Walsh on his way to the line.
Walsh then returned serve when he somehow made Ponga and Jahrome Hughes miss him simultaneously before he ran 60m to hit back for the Kangaroos. Walsh also denied Ponga late in the first half when he looked destined to score.
Australia coach Kevin Walters defended picking Walsh ahead of Roosters grand final hero James Tedesco for the opening Cup game.
Based on Walsh’s effort against the Kiwis, you have to wonder how Tedesco gets a start at the pointy end of the tournament.
Ponga, sadly, came from the field with just over 10 minutes remaining, with New Zealand coach Stacey Jones confirming his star back had broken his left arm.
“It’s a possible fracture of the arm, but he’s going to go for scans,” Jones said.
“He played about 20 minutes [with the injury], he carried on and toughed it out.
“He couldn’t catch a ball or anything like that – he was in a lot of discomfort.”
Skipper James Fisher-Harris added: “He’s a tough bugger, eh. He obviously has a lot of pride in the black and white jersey and didn’t want to let his teammates down. I’m feeling for him.”
Considering Cronulla, NSW and Kangaroos’ hooker Blayke Brailey was back from a broken arm in less than a month, there remains an outside chance Ponga is back on deck for the Kiwis who lost no admirers. They will also get Ponga’s Newcastle teammate Phoenix Crossland back from suspension in time for the finals.
Walsh had tears in his eyes when the Australian anthem played, and came up with the special moments when his teammates needed him.
New Zealand dominated for longer passages, with the Kangaroos’ five tries coming via two intercepts, two Bostock leaps, and some Walsh magic. After Walsh scored, he dropped to his knees and vomited, something he is often captured on TV cameras doing before kick-off.
“He’s a vomiter, he’s a chucker,” Walters said of Walsh.
“Because he’s not an endurance athlete, he’s a power athlete, and the amount of running that he did, he had some big efforts there a couple of times back to back.
“We had to relieve him from his goal-kicking duties. He took an eternity to line that goal up, and then he couldn’t kick it anyway. He’s alright in there now, and he’s pretty happy. It was his first game back in a long period, it was a very good effort.”
Walters confirmed Tedesco would return against Fiji next Sunday in Brisbane, and he was simply overlooked for Walsh because of the gruelling finals campaign he had featured in for the Sydney Roosters. Chooks premiership teammate Sam Walker would also play in the halves with Tom Dearden, with Munster to have a spell, and Mitch Moses forced off the field two minutes into the second half with a cork to the outside of his right leg.
Bostock, who becomes a free agent on November 1, did nothing to hurt his market value with three tries, but an even better offload for Walsh to score.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a better debut game from a winger, or any Australian player – he was in everything,” Walters said.
Both teams will have the weekend off before returning to camp, with the Kiwis returning home to face the Cook Islands in Christchurch.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Friday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
