England through to Four Nations final with Australia.

England and Australia both qualified for the Four Nations final with successful defeats of both New Zealand and Australia respectivly.

France 4-42 Australia
Australia were pretty much assured of a final apperance despite having still not mathematically qualified beforehand. Only an enormous upset from the French and an unpredicted England win over New Zealand could have stopped them from appering at Leeds. But the Morris twins made sure Australia had the chance to avenge their world cup defeat with two tries apiece along with contributions from hat-traick hero Michael Jennings, and Penrith's Luke Lewis.
But Australia still failed to get out of second gear making their consistancy a real worry for Tim Sheens going into the final showdown. The French showed the same grit and determination they had displayed throughout this tournament in the first half, but eventually collapsing due to the fast paced nature of the Australian's, who lead only 8-0 at half time. It was arguably one of the worst Australian performances I have seen in the first fourty minutes despite the lack of big named Aussies in the starting seventeen.

It wasn't a full strength Australian side that stepped onto the field where Super League began all those years ago, but not many players would have made an impression on the coaching staff as Australia were allowed to be dominated by Bobbie Goulding's French side, who have clearly been given a new breath of fresh air by the former Great Britain scrum half after their dismal apperance in the world cup. France can look forward to a bright future with Goulding at the helm. He has installed some disipline and patriotism into the squad and they look like a future threat to any of the 'big three' in future years.

Australia meanwhile must live up to their pre-tournament hype and become the team that threatened to brush aside the competition.


England 20-12 New Zealand 
England were quite good against the current world champions.

Now there's a sentence I didn't think I would be writing this time last week. England looked like a side capable of actually competing with the best in the world. With Kevin Sinfield at hooker and the inclusion of both Peter Fox and Chris Bridge, they looked solid in defence and showed an attacking flair that had been missing up until that point. Even the troublesome half back combinations seemed to work in Sam Thomkins playing in his usual scrum half role, with the usually unimpressive Kyle Eastmond making an impressive performance.

In defence, England prevented New Zealand, and when I say New Zealand I mean Benji Marshall, from making as many yards and closed them down quickly when they looked like creating half a chance. Jamie Peacock still looked unimpressive out of position in the back row, but Morley, Burgess and Graham made up for him in the prop forwards.

England did exactly what they've been doing all tournament. They played no different to how they performed against Australia the week before in the second half, but this time it was done for 80 minutes and the tactics worked. This shows that England can win this tournament if they play in the same manner and style as they have done for the last 120 minutes of rugby.

Get Leon Williamson to referee in Super League.

What a refreshing change to the standard of refereeing we have seen during the international season this year.

New Zealand referee, Leon Williamson, has shown that there are consistantly good referees out there in the world. He has shown in his performance that he has the testicles to make the big calls without the need for video technology for every decision. He showed Jean-Phillipe Baile the red card for an awful stiff arm tackle on Richie Myler when England hosted France in this year's Four Nations opener. He sin binned four players in Scotland's European Cup game against Lebanon. Two players were sent to the sideline for persistant lying on at the play the ball after several warnings, and two for violent conduct.

We have also seen that he can use the 'on report' system the way it was meant to be used, and not as a cop out so the referee can't be blamed for changing the game. David Ferriol was placed on report and eventually banned for a sly elbow to Kevin Sinfield's face away from the view of the referee and Liam Ayoub of Lebanon was put on report for the same offence.

He has the ability to control the big international teams, having refereed both Australia and England despite having never been a senior ref in either Super League or the NRL. His performance yesterday during the France V Australia game showed he is not out of his depth, and as a neutral neutral referee would be the perfect candidate to control the Four Nations final next week.

However, Australia refused both his and French referee Thiery Alibert's services for the England game in Wigan on the grounds that "neither are full-time referees." Englishman Steve Ganson stepped in, but I can't help but assume that this time Shane Hayne will step out onto Elland Road regardless of the fact he is Australian. Its a kick in the teeth for those who believe in the international game and want to see it expand. One factor is the use of neutral referees in all international games that will give the game credability internationally, but this is being handicapped by Australian officials who insist on using referees who they claim to be full-time.

Which is why, if its possible, the RFL should bring Leon Williamson to Super League and become a full-time official. He could fill the remaining gap left after Ashley Klein's departure from this country and the increase of Super League teams from 12 to 14. He would arguably be the most consistent in Super League based on his performance in the Four Nations.

England fightback too late against Australia.

England 16-26 Australia
It wasn't pretty was it?

To summarise the first half from and England perspective, it was nothing short of abysmal. Poor defence, poor organisation and a one dimensional attack thanks to a lack of organisation from both Danny McGuire and Sam Thomkins.

Greg Inglis consistently ran through the England right wing like a knife through butter. Tim Sheens used the obvious tactic and targeted Tom Briscoe on that right hand side, taking advantage of Briscoe's lack of experience. They did it by streaching the England defence, and it looked like they were able to do it on any area of the pitch.

Billy Slater scored what I would consider the try of the game. From a play the ball on the Australian right side,Cameron Smith passed what the players call an 'X ball' (where the recieving player runs behind an option runner, but its timed so to not obstruct the defence) to Thurston, who did the same to Lockyer, who did the same to Slater to score in the other corner.

Once the floodgates opened early on, it looked like Australia would repeat their 52-4 mauling of England in Melbourne last year. Thankfully, Australia decided not to to enflict their wrath and the second half reflected that.

The million pound question has to be, did Australia take their foot off the gas or did England actually play some decent rugby in the second half?

The second half allowed England to throw the ball around a bit more. They were able to get into their opponents half, which Australia prevented in the first half. Eorl Crabtree put his hand up and showed he is a good prop after all, out playing both Adrian Morley and the out of position Jamie Peacock.

Sam Burgess, the worst England forward on the pitch in the first half, improved his work rate and ultimatly scored his try before he deserved it. But it lifted the spirits of both the England players and the fans.

Even Thomkins showed a spark of cretivity and doubled a one dimenstional attack with the help of Kevin Sinfield, and Kyle Eastmond later in the game. Although he didn't have the perfect game. His execution was too slow against the fast paced Australian defence, which meant most of the time he was forced to take the tackle which lost momentum for the English side.

As for McGuire, it was ironic when he was finally taken off that so many fans jeered the Leeds stand off. He didn't show any enthusiasm and looked like he didn't know what he was doing most of the time.

So where now for England?

I firmly believe if the second English side turn up to Huddersfield to face New Zealand on next week. If England can throw the ball around a bit and the halfs are given the space to move around, then England can defeat New Zealand and secure their place in the final at Leeds.

The New Zealand side, whilst good, are very young and may suffer from jet lag and the amount of travelling they will have to face. They looked bery dodgey in the first half against France and looked very exposed.

Its do or die for both England and Tony Smith.

Four Nations preview - England V Australia.

The England line up for their match against Australia is as follows.

Shaun Briscoe
Tom Briscoe
Lee Smith
Michael Shenton
Ryan Hall
Danny McGuire
Sam Thomkins
Adrian Morley
James Roby
James Graham
Gareth Ellis
Jamie Peacock
Kevin Sinfield

Sam Burgess
Eorl Crabtree
Kyle Eastmond
Ben Westwood

Compare that to the Australian team that line up as follows;

Billy Slater
Brett Morris
Greg Inglis
Brett Hodges
Jarryd Hayne
Darren Lockyer
Jonathan Thurston
Ben Hannant
Cameron Smith
Petro Civoniceva
Anthony Watmough
Paul Gallen
Nathan Hindmarsh

(From four of the following)
Brett White
David Shillington
Luke Lewis
Robbie Farah
Kurt Gidley
Trent Waterhouse

They say rugby league is a seventeen man game. Now without disrespecting the Australians, their bench doesn't look as threatening as I first feared no matter who is filtered out. But their starting thirteen is more threatening than when they annihilated England in Melbourne last year.

As I said twelve months ago, England's forward pack can beat Australia on top of their game. Its the English back line I fear will let the side down. Tom Briscoe's nerves must be shaking like a Tickle Me Elmo with the thought of facing up to who was considered the NRL's best player, Jarryd Hayne. With 26 first team apperances and 13 tries, its a complete mis-match in terms of experience when you consider Hayne has starred in 109 NRL and representative games scoring 90 tries in total.

Despite his man of the match performance against Wales, I wish Sam Thomkins all the luck in the world when he faces the four time consecutive State of Origin winning half back pairing of Darren Lockyer and Jonathan Thurston. Thomkins will be buoyed by playing on his club's home ground at international level. But he will have to be on top of his game to even have a chance of out smarting Lockyer or Thurston.

Its a worrying thought that England's 52-4 defeat last year may not have been a one off after all.

Aussies can't have it both ways.

Australia are unhappy with the appointment of Steve Ganson as the referee of their crucial game against England on Saturday. According to sources, ARL Chief Executive, Geoff Carr, refused to accept a neutral referee claiming both the New Zealand and French representatives (Leon Williamson and Thierry Alibert) were not full-time referees.

This left Stuart Cummings (RFL Match Officials Director) with no option but to appoint one of Steve Ganson or Australian, Shane Hayne. He eventually settled on Ganson, no doubt under the pressures of the RFL to select the English referee like Tony Archer was appointed in the corresponding fixture 12 months ago.

But this appointment left the Australian coach, Tim Sheens, in fury after Sheens was disappointed with Ganson's performance in his side's 20-all draw with New Zealand.

So to cut a long story short, the Aussies are not happy they can't have their own way and have their own man in the middle of the pitch. What amazes me is that they can throw their dummy out of the pram, knowing full well they can beat England fair and square in the first place.

This is a prime example of one of the obstacles the international game has to overcome if it is to expand and become more creditable. Neutral referees must be appointed at international level, regardless of the persistent argument that certain referees are not up to standard.

Geoff Carr's excuse doesn't even make sense to begin with, as Thierry Alibert has been officiating full time for two years in the Super League.

This issue, along with player eligibility with players supposedly swapping and changing nations, are two key issues that in the short term the RLIF must address for the international game and its post-2008 World Cup era to flourish to the best of its ability.

Four Nations - Week One.

The first round of the Four Nations has come and gone, and what a weekend it was. There were near misses, heart warming performances and great escapes that would make Steve McQueen blush. There was also relatively impressive attendances to both games in Doncaster and in London, which shows twelve months after the World Cup the hunger for international rugby league was not a one off.

England 34-12 France
The highest crowd for a Anglo-French test match signified the beginning of a new era for international rugby league in the UK. The attendance of 11,529 exceeded anyone's expectations for what are usually one-sided contests. Bobbie Gouling and his team had other ideas and gave the hosts an early Halloween scare when France went  12-4 ahead at half time. Tries from Vincent Duport and Kane Bentley were both converted by Thomas Bosc.

It was a poor first half performance from England by anyone's standards. The half back combination of Danny McGuire and Richie Myler looked one dimensional on the French goal line, and the defence at the opposite end of the field stood solid like a wet paper tissue towards the final moments of the half. It was a stark reminder of twelve months ago in Townsville, when Papua New Guinea went into the half time break leading 16-12 in the World Cup opener.

But thankfully the scriptwriters had included the same ending. England changed a few tactics around and started to play with a bit more flair and creativity. Myler pushed forward in attack and did well to support the line breakers, which he was rewarded with his second try when Kevin Sinfield found he gap on the French line. The game was wrapped up by the English when Ryan Hall intercepted Thomas Bosc's pass out intended for Duport, and the Leeds' winger showed his pace to beat Clint Greenshield to the corner post.

 Despite the strong efforts from France, David Ferriol and Jean-Philippe Baile both faced disciplinary yesterday after Ferriol quite badly elbowed Kevin Sinfield in the tackle eight minutes from time and Jean-Philippe Baile caught Richie Myler with a stiff arm to the jaw. Baile was shown the red card by the New Zealand referee, Leon Williamson while Ferriol's incident was put on report. As a result of the disciplinary hearing, Ferriol will receive a one game ban, excluding him from playing against New Zealand this weekend. Meanwhile Baile is free to face New Zealand despite the serious nature of the offence. I can only assume the panel have given Baile the benefit of the doubt after the centre showed remorse to Myler and apologised as he left the field. The news will make life a bit sweeter for Goulding after the French hooker, Remi Castey, was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a broken hand.


Australia 20-20 New Zealand
12,360 people saw a thrilling contest next to the home of rugby union at the Twickenham Stoop. In fact, it was one of the best games I've seen all year and it was between the two nations that are most likely to get to the final.

The crowd, made up primeraly of Australian and New Zealand ex-pats based in London, witnessed a young New Zealand side fight toe-to-toe with an experienced Australian side that included almost every big name in the NRL. New Zealand caught Australia napping early when Frank-Paul Nuuausala ran on an angle to Adam Blair's offload five minutes into the game. For me personally, the story of the first half was made by New Zealand's SAS-style of defence. For aproximatly fifteen minutes inside the first half, New Zealand were forced to defend consecutive sets of six on their own try line due to disiplinary errors. When they finally recieved posession, they were guilty of handling errors within their own half. It was a minor miracle Australia didn't put ship past twenty points in that time frame. In the end, Brett Morris finally broke through, but the landslide didn't come and the half time scores remained 6-6.

When Jonathan Thurston stripped the ball one-on-one from Lance Hohaia early in the second half, you sensed that all the luck would go Australia's way. This was not the case, as New Zealand stood up and fought back to lead by six points with five minutes left thanks to Frank Pritchard's try in the left corner. But Australia's never say die attitude over powered the New Zealanders and from Thurston's short kick off, Australia forced their way down field. On the back of a penalty, the resulting set of six saw Australia throw the ball around until Greg Inglis spotted the gap in the New Zealand defense and an offload to Cameron Smith gave Australia the try and the conversion oppertunity they needed to tie the game. Thurston, with nerves calmer than a mountain lake, slotted over the vital goal to earn Australia a point.

If England fail to make the final now, I don't think I could care less so long as both these nations play with similar enthusiasm, passion and skill at Elland Road in a few weeks time.

Four Nations preview.

Twelve months after the World Cup, the biggest names in Rugby League arrive in the UK and France for the start of a rebuilding process for International Rugby League.

If the international game and the RLIF learnt anything from last year's World Cup, its that there is still a hunger for international Rugby League, especially across both Europe and the Pacific.

So with that in mind, France have join England/Great Britain, Australia, and world champions New Zealand in the inaugural Four Nations after the Tri-Nations became an annual success.

With the first game only two days away when England host France at the Keepmoat Stadium, A Tap on the Twenty presents a quick preview focusing on all four teams.

Australia
Despite no longer being world champions after 33 years, Australia will be all out for revenge in order to avenge their 2008 World Cup final defeat to New Zealand when Ricky Stuart's side lost 34-20 in Brisbane. The noise coming out of the Aussie's camp seems to one of vengeance. They want to keep hold of the trophy they won under the Tri-Nations banner when they defeated New Zealand in extra time during the 2006 Tri-Nations final in Sydney. As a result, the bookies only have them at 1/4 to win the tournament.

Despite making one of the biggest errors in World Cup history, Billy Slater is no less of a threat. He will not be looking back that that pass to Benji Marshall that gifted New Zealand a try in the final minutes of the game. He will go about his business as usual like he has done all year for Melbourne.
New to English fan's ear, Jarryd Hayne has been in fascinating form with Parramatta winning the Dally M medal on the back of several perfect performances. As usual, Darren Lockyer, Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston all strike fear into English fan's hearts when they have possession with the ball.

Prediction - Group & final winners.


England
Its all change for 2009, and with it comes what could easily be described as fresh meat for our antipodean cousins. Names such as Burrow, Pryce, Senior and Wellens are no more. They are replaced with Tomkins, Eastmond, Hall and Briscoe. Of course, a few names remain in Peacock, Morley and Ellis. But like last year, England's strength came in the forwards who worked exceptionally hard down under 12 months ago, but were let down by the halfs and three-quarters.

Jamie Peacock will lead the side from example again, with Adrian Morley being the other experienced prop forward who will continue to mentor James Graham and the Souths-bound Sam Burgess. Looking at Tony Smith's 24-man squad, the three-quarters pick themselves with Smith, Shenton, Hall and the young Tom Briscoe replacing the injured Sean O'Loughlin. The Headache for Smith must lie in the half backs, with potentially five players to pick from McGuire, Eastmond, Thomkins, Myler and Bridge. For me, the answer lies in McGuire at stand off and Tomkins at scrum half. Eastmond doesn't possess the creative flair to penetrate the Kiwis or Kangaroo defence, while his kicking game is one of the worst I have seen in a Saints shirt for some time. Myler is lacking of match fitness having only played one game against Wales since July, while Bridge can play at stand off or scrum half, he hasn't done so since Tony Smith took over Warrington in March.

Prediction - 3rd in group.


France
Adrian Lam and Papua New Guinea will have sympathy for the French, as the Kumuls were in a similar situation last year and certainly made their mark despite not winning a game. While the 'guinea pigs' are now coached by Bobbie Goulding, his presence and knowledge should provide the same attitude and passion Adrian Lam installed into Papua New Guinea. They still have some excellent individuals, but its only individuals. Thomas Bosc is the stand out Frenchman, while Australian-born Clint Greenshields and James Wynne both qualify for France under the residency rule, (a rule A Tap on the Twenty will assess at a later date.)

Elsewhere France hold Jean-Philippe Baile, Oliver Elima and Jamel Fakir and a large proportion of the Catalan squad that made the semi-final qualifiers losing to Leeds with dignity at Headingley.

I fear if England take this team too lightly, there could be a massive upset on the first day of the competition.

Prediction - 4th in group.


New Zealand
World champions New Zealand will be looking to progress after their famous win against their Tasman rivals by clinching the Four Nations tournament away from them as well. They certinaly possess the squad capable of achieveing such a feat. Their squad is littered with big names in the NRL that have brought plenty of talent to the domestic competition. Wests star, Benji Marshall will lead from behind the pack once again, while World Cup winning captain resumes his role.

Leeds-bound Greg Eastwood will add size and power to an already dominant pack, while Kristan Inu adds flair to the back line. Melbourne power-house Jeff Lima will make the front row indestructable with littel Issac Luke frigtening off opponents with is passionate rendition of the hakka in the hooking role.

Theres plenty of talent in this New Zealand side, because I haven't even mentioned Fuifui Moimoi yet. But I fear they may just finish short.

Prediction - Group runners up & losing finalists.