Rugby league-Pacific rising as Tonga beat England, Samoa crush France at World Cup

SYDNEY, Oct 19 - Reigning champions Australia just about got away with a win in the first round of the Rugby League World Cup as any doubts that the Pacific island nations are a force to be seriously reckoned with were washed away on the opening weekend.

Samoa and Tonga are still technically classified as Tier Two nations but the former humbled France 78-4 in Sydney on Friday and the latter beat England 30-12 in a high-quality test in Perth on Saturday.

It was Tonga's first ever win over England in seven attempts but no huge surprise given their squad is packed with top National Rugby League (NRL) talents like Haumole Olakau'atu, who scored two tries, and highly rated halfback Isaiya Katoa.

"We're still quite new in terms of beating Tier One nations, and England are that," said Tonga coach Kristian Woolf, who coaches Katoa in his day job at the Redcliffe Dolphins.

"They're a very strong team, and we knew they were going to come out and challenge us in different ways, and they did that. And I just thought our performance was really strong."

Samoa, who reached the final at the last World Cup and also have a squad made up almost entirely of NRL players, ran in 14 tries as they crushed a French team whose best players turn out in Europe's Super League.

"The NRL keeps growing and keeps getting better every year," mourned France coach Laurent Frayssinous.

"The smartness, the skill the guys have under pressure, the touches, week in, week out, that's something we need to improve in Super League, simple as that."

England, who won three of the first six World Cups as Great Britain, now need to win their last two group matches and hope other results go their way to avoid missing out on the semi-finals for the first time.

"It's great that Tonga is a really strong nation. It's brilliant that Samoa's a really strong nation," said England coach Brian McDermott.

"It's great for the international game, but we're not going to open the can of worms about England's position on the international scene.

"All we can do right here, right now, is just go out and put a ton of effort."

In the other matches over the weekend, Fiji battered the Cook Islands 40-12 in Newcastle, while Papua New Guinea made light work of Lebanon with a 42-18 win in Port Moresby.

Australia and New Zealand kicked off the tournament on Thursday night in Sydney with a blockbuster clash that the home side were a little fortunate to edge 24-22.

The visiting pack kept the Kiwis on top for much of the contest but two intercept tries, a couple of kicks to winger Jack Bostock and a brilliant individual score from fullback Reece Walsh got the Kangaroos home.

Both teams are still likely to progress to the semi-finals but New Zealand are likely to be without fullback Kalyn Ponga, who broke his forearm between scoring his two tries. REUTERS