Date: 4/10/18
Niue, Turkey, Poland and Hungary were the winners in Round Two of the 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship played at St Marys Leagues Stadium today (Thursday 4 October).
The ENWC tournament, which is endorsed by the Rugby League International Federation, showcases the growth of the game internationally, with 30 matches over two weeks across Western Sydney, culminating in the final on Saturday 13 October 2018.
RESULTS:
Niue 26 (Tries – Justice Utatao 2, George Lolo, Latrell Schaumkel, Jordan Tongahai; Goals – Eddy Paea 3) def Malta 16 (Tries – Tyler Cassel, Tyson Muscat, Adam Campbell; Goals – Nathan Benson 2)
Turkey 60 (Tries – Ali Bokeyhan Surer 3, Jansin Turgut 2, Enes Erten, Yusuf Dagdanasar, Alper Karabork, Adem Baskonyali, Ata Doruk Celikutan; Goals – Ali Bokeyhan Surer 7, Yusuf Dagdanasar) def Japan 0
Poland 62 (Tries – Chippie Korostchuk 3, Simon Maslanka 2, Jonah Metuangaro 2, Michal Maslanka 2, Robert Mykietyn, Ethan Niszczot, Robert Mykietyn; Goals – Ethan Niszczot 7) def Hong Kong 6 (Tries – Craig McMurrich; Goals – Richard Lindsay)
Hungary 18 (Tries – Nathan Farkas, Jayson Gerecs; Goals – Jared Farkas 2) def Vanuatu 13 (Tries – James Wood, Amani Arutahiki; Goals – Andrew Kaltongga 2; Field Goals – Alehana Mara)
Match Report: Malta vs. Philippines
Luke Jobson Journalist
Rugby League Around the Grounds
The first game of the Rugby League Emerging Nationals World Championship was held out at Windsor Sporting Complex in Sydney, with Malta and the Philippines doing battle.
The hype of the Emerging Nations World Championship had reached its peak, and with the build up done and dusted it was time for these two nations to dive into battle to open up the tournament.
The opening game would be full of bit hits and some fantastic footwork, with Malta coming out of the blocks full of steam.
It would take just over four minutes for the first try, with Kyle Cassel nearly breaking through the line on a shortside play, offloading to Nathan Benson who would go through over untouched to score the first try of the Championship.
Benson improved the angle of the shot by darting in field to plant the ball down, he would convert to make it 6-0 after as many minutes.
The Philippines would gift Malta some back to back sets thanks to some sloppy handling, penalties and a deflected kick.
It would be all that the Knights needed as two plays after a deflected grubber deep in the Knights attacking half, Sam Stone would bring out some fancy footwork and dance his way through the Philippines defense to score Malta’s second try of the afternoon to the right of the posts.
Benson would add the extras to make it 12-0 after as many minutes.
The Philippines would wake up after this, with some big hits and enterprising play allowing them to get deep into the attacking half without reward.
Some great defensive structure from Malta would hold out the attack of the Philippines set after set, making the most of their next opportunity through Kyle Cassel.
A simple second phase play would see Cassel get around his opposite number and slide into the far left corner for a 16-0 lead, with Benson missing the kick from the left hand upright.
The Philippines would hit back almost straight away though, with some fantastic running by the outside back and the prop forwards allowing for some expansive play close to the line late in the set.
Jordan Bien would get a low ball from Marc Russell, but Bien would dance through two tackles and get under the tackle of Benson to score the Tamaraws first try of the tournament.
Bien would convert his own try to bring the margin back to ten at 16-6.
A few errors from both sides would start to creep in, and Malta would capitalise first on it.
Justin Rodrigues would slide straight through the Tamaraws defense after selling a dummy to his right, coming back under the post to make it 20-6.
Benson would shank the kick from directly in front to leave the scoreline as it was going into the half time break.
The second half would start up with both teams attacking the lines and having chances to score, yet coming up empty handed.
Malta would open up the second half the same way they started the first, with Kyle Cassel receiving a short ball from Tyler Cassel to go through the defense untouched from 30 metres out.
Benson would make no mistake this time with the conversion, giving Malta a 26-6 lead.
The Philippines would have to toughen up in defense, surviving raid after raid on their own line to then turn it around and score on their first raid at the Knights defense in a while.
Blake Mackay would take advantage of some spread play, with two offloads and a chest pass out to him allowing the winger to go over with an acrobatic dive to make it 26-10.
Bien could not convert, with the game on a tightrope.
Malta would put an end to it though, with Jake Attard barreling through from dummy half with eight minutes of time left to score in a captain’s display for the Malta Knights.
Nathan Benson would make no mistake from in front this time around, and Kyle Cassel would once again go over to put the icing on the cake as the Knights would record their first win of the RLENWC 2018 campaign with a 36-10 win.
Malta: 36
Tries – Kyle Cassel (3), Nathan Benson, Sam Stone, Justin Rodrigues, Jake Attard,
Goals – Nathan Benson (4)
Philippines: 10
Tries – Jordan Bien, Blake Mackay
Goals – Jordan Bien
Match Report: Japan vs. Turkey
Nathan Taylor Journalist
Rugby League Around the Grounds
After a strong start to the Emerging Nations World Championship, Turkey were looking to continue their winning ways against Japan.
A mistake from Japan from the kick off gave Turkey a great opportunity early on and the Turkish Rugby League side made the most of the opportunity.
Ali Bokeyhan Surer went over from dummy half and converted his own try to give Turkey a 6-0 lead after 3 minutes.
Japan looked to be in for a long day from the outset with the fullback Sean Gabites dropping the ball off a kick, giving Turkey another excellent attacking opportunity, though Turkey returned the favour and lost possession, letting Japan off the hook.
Turkey split the Japanese defence and looked certain to score a few minutes later but Jansin Turgut dropped the ball just out from the goal line.
Despite it only being 6-0, the opening 15 minutes saw Turkey dominate possession though the Japanese defence held on and kept the big Turkish players.
Soon after Yusuf Dagdanasar – the man whose name means ‘the man from the mountain’ – strolled over untouched under the posts and Ali Bokeyhan Surer converted again to give Turkey a 12-0 lead.
The next set after scoring Turkey steamrolled their way up the field and Ali Bokeyhan Surer went over for his second from dummy half, converting his try again taking the lead to 18-0.
Japan earned themselves back to back sets but couldn’t capitalise on their opportunity.
The Japanese fullback was taken from the field for a HIA in the 25th minute and Japan gained a couple of back to back penalties to help them up the field.
A strong Turkish tackle dislodged the ball close to the line and another Japanese attacking set was wasted.
Turkey’s forwards kept steamrolling up field and made it difficult for the much smaller Japanese pack to contain them.
In the 29th minute Turkish centre Arda Dalcik crashed over the line only to drop the ball, letting Japan off the hook once again.
Turkey scored their 4th Try of the match off the back of a great run down the sideline by Alper Karabork.
It was Ali Bokeyhan Surer who scored again from dummy half, making it a first half hat trick and then converting his own try to make it a commanding 24-0 Turkish lead after 34 minutes.
Off the back of a strong set after a try Turkey went in again when captain Jansin Turgut sold a beautiful dummy and went over under the posts.
Surer converted and Turkey lead 30-0.
The Turkey forwards were exceptional in laying the platform in the first half in particular Adem Baskonyali just rolling through the Japanese defence.
Going into the halftime break Turkey lead Japan with a massive 30-0 lead.
The second half commenced and Japan looked to spread it wide early but were bundled into touch on the 40 metre line in Turkey’s half, giving the opposition good field possession early.
Alper Karabork gathered a Japan kick and broke the defence down the sideline scoring an excellent 60 metre try and celebrating with the ball boy.
Surer couldn’t convert from the sideline and the score remained 34-0.
Japan had another promising set in the Turkish team’s half but again they couldn’t convert the set into points with the Turkish defensive line too quick, putting an end to the Japanese attacking raid.
Turkey scored off a scrum feed in the corner through a great little offload from Aydin Salman-Cochran to the captain Jansin Turgut to crash over for his second try.
Surer missed the conversion once again and Turkey had a commanding 38-0 lead.
The Japanese defence couldn’t contain the Turkish forwards who continued to stroll up field and Adem Baskonyali scored a very well deserved try in the 57th minute and the score really started to blow out of Japans control.
Ali Bokeyhan Surer managed to convert the try to give Turkey a 44-0 lead.
Japan really struggled getting out of their own half with the Turkish defence pushing them back on every tackle.
Turkey crashed over in the 70th minute through Enes Erten and with the successful conversion from Surer, Turkey lead 50-0.
Presley Salman-Cochran appealed for a Try in the 74th minute after toeing the ball up field but the referee denied the Turkish player what would have been an excellent try.
It wouldn’t be long until Turkey went over again when Ata Doruk Celikutan split the Japan defence and passed to Alican Acar who then passed back inside to Celikutan to score in the corner.
Surer couldn’t convert from the sideline and Turkey lead 54-0.
Turkey crashed over for one last try and bringing up the double for Enes Erten and with Yusuf Dagdanasar taking the kicking duties and slotting it over.
Turkey were just too strong for Japan today running out convincing winners 60-0.
Japan: 0
Turkey: 60
Tries – Ali Bokeyhan Surer (3), Jansin Turgut (2), Enes Erten, Yusuf Dagdanasar, Alper Karabork, Adem Baskonyali, Ata Doruk Celikutan
Goals – Ali Bokeyhan Surer (7), Yusuf Dagdanasar
Match Report: Greece vs. Hungary
Blake Morgan Journalist
Rugby League Around the Grounds
The third and final game of the day had Hungary and Greece going head to head in a game that was going to be spent strategising with a killer breeze.
As the day cooled down, and the wind picked up, this game was set up to be the perfect way to see the day out.
Off the scrum set and first true play of the game, halfback David Farkas took off across field drawing in plenty of defenders before finding his big man, James Kovác, with a short ball who went storming through and got the scoring going within the opening two minutes of the game.
The Conversion was successful by Jared Farkas.
With a penalty marching them down field and the pressure building, Greece were able to grab themselves a repeat set, and were able to find the points not long after that, thanks to a solo effort by Greek backrower Adam Vrahnos who charged his way through the defence, shedding off defenders before crashing over the line to get Greece up and going.
Sam Stratis converted to tie the game up.
Hungary got themselves the lead again through the brilliance of David Farkas after penalties assisted Hungary into an attacking position.
The witty halfback hit his man in Daniel Ivan with another perfect short ball as the big forward went storming through the defensive line to go over, though the conversion was missed off the right side post.
Greece were able to get themselves into a few attacking positions, but a mixture of one-on-one strips and errors took the pressure off the Hungary defence.
David Farkas also hit the first 40/20 of the tournament with a perfectly struck kick finding touch just a metre out from the Greek line, but the defence stood strong.
Finally after some back and forth footy, Hungary were able to extend their lead just prior to the half time break.
After the forwards scored all the meat pies this game, the backs finally got their share when Hungary centre Josh Institoris pulled off the cheeky step and fend to rid the defence and went flying down field.
The centre did his job as he sucked in the fullback before finding his winger Cruize Turay who was able to go over and extend Hungary’s lead.
The conversion was unsuccessful and Hungary took the 14-6 lead into the half time break.
Being down by 8 and Hungary finishing the first half with all the momentum, it was important that Greece came out firing, and that’s exactly what they did.
The Greece boys found themselves scoring the first points of the half to bring the game back within a single scoring play when halfback Tremaine Terzis pump faked the dummy and hit his centre Sam Stratis with a short ball who went charging through the line.
A mixture of lightning fast speed and the agile footwork allowed Sam to beat the defending fullback to go over in the corner, then he converted his own try from the sideline to trail only 14-12.
As the game started to heat up, so did the fans, as both teams’ fan bases found their voices as the game moved into the final quarter.
The tensions rose as both teams’ defence stood up, then the errors started crawling their way into the game as the pressure got higher.
Greece finally took the lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game in one of the most incredible rugby league tries you will ever see!
A set of flick passes and desperate offloads finally saw a kick put in by Tyrone Taukamo which was picked up and flicked out to the hooker Peter Mamouzelos who put the ball down under the posts to give Greece an 18-14 lead after the conversion by Sam Stratis.
A beautiful set piece in attack by Hungary gave us a tied game with just 4 minutes to play in the game.
An out the back cut out found centre Billy Mozer who then went out to his winger Brent Varga on the overlap who stepped back on the inside of the fullback and was able to ground the ball.
The conversion by Jared Farkas gave Hungary the 2 point lead again with just a few minutes remaining.
Despite being given a final minute attacking set, the Hungary defence stood firm and kept Greece out.
Hungary were able to hold on to win the game 20-18 and put an end to a thrilling game and a fantastic day 1 of the Rugby League Emerging Nation World Championship.
Greece: 18
Tries – Adam Vrahnos, Sam Stratis, Peter Mamouzelos
Goals – Sam Stratis (3)
Hungary: 20
Tries – James Kovác, Daniel Ivan, Cruize Turay, Brent Varga
Goals – Jared Farkas (2)
Match Report: Hungary vs. Vanuatu
Jeremy Jones Journalist
Rugby League Around the Grounds
Day two of the Rugby League Emerging Nations World Championship continued at St Mary’s Leagues Club in Sydney with Vanuatu kicking off to Hungary to start the fourth and final game of the day
Off some hard tackling, Vanuatu forced the first of many errors, getting the ball close in attacking territory, though they were not able to capitalise.
Vanuatu gained some quality possession off the back of penalties and Andrew Kaltongga was able to step through, only to be held up over line after slipping up in the wet conditions.
After absorbing plenty of pressure the Hungarian team struck first through a great wide play to Nathan Farkas, which was then converted by Jared Farkas.
Hungary then began to mount an assault of their own with the ball, running down the blind side almost leading to their second try, though they gained a penalty and a repeat set instead.
The ensuing set they stretched Vanuatu and scored in the corner courtesy of Jayson Gerecs, though the conversion is unsuccessful
An error from Vanuatu gave further attacking possession to Hungary on the stroke of half time, which was followed by conceding a penalty .
Hungary elected to kick for goal from right in front, which was successful, taking the half time score to 12-0.
Vanuatu came out of the sheds with a renewed sense of purpose, setting up camp in the Hungarian half with repeat sets from forced dropouts and penalties.
Vanuatu didn’t make the most of their continued opportunities, easing their strangle hold on the momentum of the half after making unforced errors.
Hungary’s counter attack was almost instantly fruitful, with Jared Farkas toeing through the ball after a short kick, then collecting the ball just before the try line and, unfortunately for his team, he was penalised for a double movement.
Vanuatu then created space down the left edge for Amani Arutahiki to have a long run, parking his team in attacking territory.
An error from Hungary off a scrum in the next set gave Vanuatu a further chance and they took the opportunity, with a barnstorming run from captain, James Wood, shrugging off one tackle and taking four Hungarians over the line with him to score.
Andrew Kaltongga converted to make it 12-6.
Vanuatu made the most of their momentum, with James Wood making another enterprising run down the left edge, distributing the ball towards the sideline which finished with Amani Arutahiki scoring from a beautiful final pass.
The Vanuatu supporter base then erupted with joy as Andrew Kaltongga converted from the sideline to bring the scores level.
Vanuatu five-eighth, Alehana Mara, then put Vanuatu in front after slotting a simple drop goal, resulting in the first lead change of the match with just 6 minutes remaining.
From the restart Hungary manage to sneak the ball over the sideline, getting the ball back on the Vanuatu 30 metre line.
Paul Ivan shortly barges over in the left corner against Vanuatu, carrying two players over with him.
Jared Farkas converted from the sideline and the drama intensified with the lead changing again in the dying minutes.
Hungary spill the ball again in their next set and Vanuatu rush to pack the scrum.
Vanuatu fail to get to their kick which meant Hungary shut Vanuatu’s last play down.
Hungary then proceed to slow the play down, running down the clock and kicking the ball into touch to take the game 18-13.
Hungary: 18
Tries – Nathan Farkas, Jayson Gerecs
Goals – Jared Farkas (2)
Vanuatu: 13
Tries – James Wood, Amani Arutahiki
Goals – Andrew Kaltongga (2)
Field Goals – Alehana Mara
