International RL Blog

Ah well, the dust has settled and as Robert Louis Stephenson said "To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive" RL fans in the UK have certainly been travelling for a long time and have stayed hopeful throughout. During the preliminary matches, England demonstrated a gradual progression and I'm sure the intention was to peak for the final against Australia. Unfortunately, it didn't happen and it must go down as another missed opportunity. When will the next chance be? Will they continue to occur at the same frequency? We defended quite well, although for once we were very lucky with some of the refereeing decisions. I thought our attacking options let us down and with the exception of the penalty try, which I thought was a fair decision, we didn't really threaten their line. I was disappointed that our pack didn't make much of an impression against theirs but the England team dropped the ball far too many times and players who could've ma...

England/GB have not won a major international RL tournament for forty one years but after their performance against NZ on Saturday who knows For once the English players lived up to their potential and reproduced club form. They have improved week by week and showed confidence, aggression, control and discipline. The bounce of the ball admittedly went their way and for once they got a fair shout off the referee. If they can continue this against Australia maybe just maybe Everybody was magnificent but I would single out Ben Westwood for his 100% commitment and effort. NZ played with spirit as you would expect but the partisan Hull crowd made a big contribution and acted as an eighteenth man. Another neutral referee did a good job, NZ can have few if any complain and coach Stephen Kearney accepted the defeat with dignity. It bothers me that somebody like Gareth Carvel who had a great season for Warrington but has not played for five weeks must've found it very di...

Although we can't get too over excited about the result and I thought the crowd was slightly disappointing we can be very pleased about the higher profile and increased media coverage. I can't remember the last time a Rugby League match was featured on the BBC News on Saturday evening and this alone justified the decision to take the match to London. We must build upon these foundations and make these International RL "events" more frequent. Onwards and upwards. The game itself was very exciting and just like proper old fashioned test matches used to be. At this level it is all about taking your chances plus minimising mistakes and Australia demonstrated their efficiency. Plenty has been said about the Billy Slater injury and how well Australia adapted but England played for most of the match without three forwards and can enter the rest of the tournament with confidence Plenty has been said about the referee but I though he was no better or worse then the usual...

In general. RU people are very self confident if not arrogant and continually talk themselves and their game up despite seemingly obvious reality. It could be argued that this arrogance was the main cause of the 1895 split and the resulting chip on the shoulder of RL people who continually accentuate the negative and talk our game down. We need to be more confident, to think bigger and sell ourselves to the world This was demonstrated last weekend when Fiji defeated PNG 26-12 in yet another low key, unpublicised international. France showed us how it should be done when another good crowd of 10000+ saw France beat Scotland 46-10 in Perpignan. The potential is massive if only France could be competitive again against the top nations. It's a great pity that both Lebanon and Jamaica couldn't be included in the RL World Cup 2013 because we need some variety and exposure to new markets. The qualifying rounds were an undoubted success though and should be encouraged and e...

Friday night saw the first game in the much anticipated Four Nations series and Australia beat NZ at Warrington in a game played with very slow play the balls. A neutral referee was in charge so nobody can have any complaints but, as we've seen many times before, SL officials are often intimidated by the Australians.  Tim Sheen's comments after the game illustrate why this happens and he should be disciplined for what he said.  Any NRL/SL coach or Premiership manager (even Alex Ferguson) would be fined for criticizing a referee. Nothing will happen and we will never have any credibility or make any progress when one team is so obviously above the law.  England beat Wales at Leigh in a game with slow play the ball but again a neutral referee was in charge who did quite a good job  under the circumstances. Let's hope we see more of Mr Perenara We now move on to Wembley for two big matches on a big stage and a good opportunity to sell ourselves.     Inte...

Recent matches have seen good victories for Wales, Scotland and the newly formed England Knights against Ireland and France before very small crowds in low key events with little publicity. The French showed us how it should be done with a 17000 crowd to watch the France v England game in Avignon which was very competitive. Although they look good on paper, France are weak in some positions and lack competition for places but they are definitely moving forward. If only Toulouse were in SL and could contribute another dozen players of international standard then matches involving France could be very, very interesting. There was a good turnout for the Australia v NZ game in Newcastle in Darren Lockyear's last game on Australian soil and USA have qualified for the 2013 RL World Cup with victories against SA and Jamaica. Either Lebanon or Italy will fill the remaining place after their winner takes all decider in Belgrade next weekend. It's a pity that room could not be fou...

Kevin Sinfield is very under rated as both a player and a leader but he is a four time Grand Final winning captain including the recent remarkable, never achieved before, feat of winning from fifth. History will be kind to him He has never really performed at international level but then again he has never really been given the opportunity. Kevin has been picked on numerous occasions but always out of position with other lesser players in charge. Injuries to rivals such as Kieran O'Loughlin could present him and us with an opportunity Now is your chance Kevin, step forward and meet your destiny. The glory will far exceed anything achieved domestically Injuries and absences might mean that NZ and Australia might possibly be weaker but we have said that before. England too have their fair share of injuries too and the absence of Burgess, Lomax, Atkins, Bridge, Crabtree, O'Loughlin, Joel Tomkins, Shenton and especially Grand Final star Burrow, will be a handicap. It sadd...