Match reports GBAFRL v Serbia & Oz v NZ

Armed Forces World Cup - Game Three

Great Britain 98-0 Serbia

At Colchester Garrison
Great Britain made wholesale changes to the side which opened their World Cup campaign with a win over New Zealand but they still managed to overwhelm a raw and inexperienced Serbian side. The home side ran in 19 tries with wing Mike Haldenby claiming four, prop Jordan Andrade notching up a hat-trick and Dave Hankinson rattling up 30 points with two tries and 11 conversions.

Centre Matt Watkins got the scoreboard ticking over with the first try after four minutes which Hankinson converted. However, they allowed the re-start kick to roll into touch to give the Serbs a good attacking position but their efforts to register their first points of the tournament were thwarted when Hankinson intercepted deep in his own half and ran 80 metres to score.

The stand-off converted his own try before Haldenby followed up with two of his four touchdowns. Rampaging prop Andrade then blasted over for the first of his three tries and it was pretty much one-way traffic after that. It was 56-0 at half time and Great Britain would have broken the century barrier had they not been thwarted by handling errors.

Replacement Dale Jinks brought proceedings to an end with the final try which Hankinson converted. You couldn’t fault the Serbs for effort, particularly scrum-half Velibor Sreckovic, but once again they were totally outclassed.

Teams
Great BritainArmed Forces World Cup – Game Four

Australia 32-22 New Zealand

At Colchester Garrison

You always expect a fiery encounter when these two Antipodean nations meet and this was no exception. It was a full-blooded affair with plenty of big hits, great tries and an almighty dust up in the second half which saw three players leave the field.

The Australians always had their noses in front but the Kiwis kept coming back and with eight minutes remaining there was only one score in it before a late try made it two wins out of two for the Aussies.

They got off to a perfect start with a try from loose forward Jack Blane following a penalty for a high tackle with Mahn Darley converting. New Zealand put the re-start kick out on the full and found themselves under pressure again after conceding a penalty.

Australia forced two goal-line drop outs but it was only after a superb 40-20 and another penalty that they managed another score, Kerod Andrensek touching down from short range and Darley adding the extras.
Midway through the half the Kiwis managed to exert some pressure of their own, forcing a goal line drop out and then earning a penalty. They moved the ball wide to the left to enable Thomas Staunton to cross in the corner. Adam Wilson’s fine touchline conversion made it 12-6 but Australia stretched their lead with tries from Danny Tavita and Dan Capilli with Darley converting one to put them 16 points ahead.

Late in the half if looked as though Staunton has claimed his second try from a cross kick but the wing was deemed to have knocked on. Australia then struck with the final play of the half, wing Ross Hunter crossing after good work from Capilli to make it 28-6 at the interval.

However, the Kiwis came storming back in the second half, Australia’s inability to deal with kicks leading to tries for Jamie Henderson-Potroz and James Faleofa with Wilson converting both to reduce the arrears to 10 points.

Going into the final quarter the game erupted when a fight broke out with players running in from all sides. When the dust finally settled Australian Andrensek was given his marching orders and the two scrum-halves Henderson-Potroz and Mitchell Knowles were sent to the sin bin.

New Zealand eventually made the most of their extra man when Leon Walker touched down in the corner to make it 32-22 with 10 minutes remaining. However, the Australian defence held firm and replacement Dan Holt wrapped things up with a well taken try from a fine cross kick.

Teams
Australia: M Darley; R Hunter, V Turuva, J Brand, S Colville; K Esyman, M Knowles; D Tavita, M Morton, P Inskip, D Halliday,D Capilli, J Blane Interchange: L Troy, D Holt, A Fisher, K Andrensek
Tries: Blaine, Andrensek, Tavita, Capilli, Hunter, Holt
Cons: Darley (4)
Red card: Andrensek

New Zealand: A Wilson; L Walker, C Salmon, L Tanginoa, T Staunton; M Cole, J Henderson-Potroz; R Simmonds, J Faleofa, A Smith, T McKenzie, H Peterson, W Sharland Interchange: D Pullen , F Toleafoa, T Cookson, D Mau’ufu
Tries: Staunton, Henderson-Potroz, Faleofa, Walker
Cons: Wilson (3)

Referee: P Brooke