|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Fourteen tries Australia scores record 82-0 win over Papua New Guinea
SYDNEY (Reuters) -- World Cup favorites Australia recorded their biggest rugby league test win on Saturday when they thrashed Papua New Guinea 82-0 in Townsville. The world champions' previous record winning margin of 80 points came when they overcame South Africa 86-6 in the 1995 World Cup. Forward Gorden Tallis scored four of Australia's 14 tries and Mat Rogers kicked 13 goals from 14 attempts. Tallis, the Australian vice-captain who grew up in the north Queensland city of Townsville, delighted the crowd of 21,000 with his man-of-the-match performance, including a typically powerful try in the fourth minute. "Some of the boys haven't played for nine weeks so we just wanted to control the ball and score some tries," he said. Winger Wendell Sailor and fullback Darren Lockyer scored three and two tries respectively while Rogers kicked 13 consecutive goals after missing his first attempt. Papua New Guinea was out of its depth, relying heavily on its two most prominent players captain -- Adrian Lam and winger Marcus Bai. Bai had a poor game while Lam was handicapped by PNG's inability to keep possession. Australia plays England in their opening World Cup match in London on October 28.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
