Photo: NRL Photos
The Rugby League World Cup 2017 began with a bang for the Papua New Guinea team last Saturday. As co-hosts of the tournament, Kumuls fans settled into the National Football Stadium with a great deal of anticipation. Previous meetings against their opponents Wales had not been promising, but with many of their side having achieved great things in the NRL and a home advantage they were aware that the odds were different this time.
And different they were!
Unfortunately for me the game was played very early on Saturday morning and on a TV channel that I didn't have. At half time I was woken by a text message from a fellow Leeds Rhinos fan asking me if I was watching. Intrigued I fired up the internet from my phone and was delighted to see how well the Kumuls were doing. I followed the rest of the game via social media and it was obvious how exciting this development was. The Dragons weren't able to handle the home team, whether the temperature and humidity got to them, or they they'd underestimated the attacking force of the Kumuls, they obviously weren't fit to respond. The final score was an outstanding 50 - 6 to PNG.
I was able to catch up with the highlights on the BBC the following day and they did not disappoint. The Kumuls were powerful and dominated throughout. Even the suggestion that they had let their guard down to allow Wales to score a try was a little unfair - That happened AFTER the hooter had sounded. An impressive start to the tournament, and a good place to start their campaign.
Here's a video of all those wonderful goals.
Papua New Guinea next play on Sunday against Ireland, and with one huge win under their belt they've certainly got plenty of momentum behind them.
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