World Cup heartbreak for Kangaroos half as Tonga notches first win over England

Mitchell Moses will miss the remainder of the Rugby League World Cup, after being ruled out of the Kangaroos’ title defence with a lower leg injury that continues his representative misery.

The Parramatta playmaker suffered the injury during Australia’s 24-22 win over New Zealand in the tournament opener on Thursday night in Sydney.

He attempted to play on but eventually left the field less than two minutes into the second half.

Meanwhile, England’s hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals are already on life support after suffering a 30-12 loss to world No.5 Tonga in their blockbuster showdown in Perth.

While initially believed to be a calf issue or a hairline fracture, scans following the match revealed Moses had suffered an unspecified “high-grade muscle tear”, meaning his World Cup campaign is over.

It’s a blow to the Kangaroos, who are already missing Nathan Cleary with a serious leg injury, with Moses the Kangaroos’ strongest last-tackle kicker.

Moses switched allegiance to play for Australia at this tournament after captaining Lebanon at the 2022 World Cup.

In Perth, Tonga produced a defensive masterclass in its four-tries-to-two victory over England.

The result put Tonga in the box seat to reach the semis, with games against Lebanon and Samoa to round out the group stage.

In contrast, world No.3 England have been left on the brink of elimination — even if it wins its remaining two games against France and PNG.

Under the confusing group stage system employed for the World Cup, only two teams from across pools B and C will progress to the last four.

If England finish on the same number of wins as Tonga, then Tonga will go through given they won Saturday’s head-to-head battle.

Should England and Samoa end up with the same number of wins, the tiebreaker will be which nation has the better points-for-and-against differential.

Samoa opened its campaign with a 78-4 smashing of France, leaving England needing to post some massive wins in its remaining two games to stay alive.

Stefano Utoikamanu opened the scoring in the 24th minute when he found a hole in England’s defence to stroll over untouched.

A pair of Isaiya Katoa penalty goals extended the margin to 10 points by half-time, with England left to rue a series of fumbles and near misses.

England started the second half full of steam, resulting in a team-lifting try to AJ Brimson in the 46th minute.

But in a game where hard work was king, it was a slice of fortune that ended up giving Tonga a vital edge with Haumole Olakau’atu scoring the first of his two tries after he soccered the ball into an opponent’s arm and then gathered the bouncing rebound.

And when Tuimoala Lolohea’s neat dribble found Tolutau Koula in the corner to make it 22-6 in the 58th minute, it was as good as game over.

The win was a powerful statement from Tonga, whose only previous taste of international success against England came in 2019 when they beat Great Britain.

In Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s men’s side earned a gritty 42-18 win over Lebanon hours after the country’s women’s team had dispatched France 58-4.

Veteran Rhyse Martin began his farewell tournament in style, scoring a try and going perfect from seven conversions against a dogged Lebanon outfit.

His try with nine minutes left on the clock finished off the Cedars, who were fading in humid conditions.

But Lebanon never stopped trying, with fullback Jacob Kiraz (207 metres) and winger Tony Frances (292 metres) constant threats in attack, while Wests Tigers stalwart Alex Twal led the defence with 48 tackles.

Winger Naomi Kelly crossed four times in the women’s game as the Orchids ran in 12 tries to one.

England ended the day’s women’s action in comprehensive fashion against Wales, with Connie Boyd and Anna Davies both scoring hat-tricks in the 70-6 rout in Perth.

AAP/ABC

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