Australia 20-16 Great Britain

A stirring fight back in the final quarter saw Great Britain come within a score of sharing the spoils in the closest contest of the tournament so far. A strong first half performance from Australia saw them establish a 16-point lead which proved just enough to see them home.

The Aussies opened the scoring after five minutes when a strong set put the British defence under pressure before the ball was moved smartly to the right to enable Sean Colville to cross in the corner. Tim Timani almost got the home side on level terms five minutes later when he was released down the left by James Hutchinson but the wingman lost the ball over the line.

Australia went further ahead when a penalty gave them good field position and a well-judged kick to the in-goal area by scrum-half Mitch Knowles was touched down by wing Ross Hunter. Colville then grabbed his second after a strong run down the middle from Keith Eshman. The stand-off offloaded to Knowles who spread the ball wide for the wingman to touchdown.

Mahn Darley landed the conversion to give his side a 14-0 lead after 18 minutes but the home side hit back when some slick handling put Timani over for a try. However, Australia stretched their lead when Kami Kamikamica was injured as he turned to secure a huge kick downfield and Hunter nipped in to claim his second touchdown. Darley’s conversion made it 20- 4 at the interval.

Great Britain got little change out of a solid Australian defence early in the second half but going into the final quarter a strong run by Jordan Andrade finally cracked them down the middle. The ball was moved smartly to the right to enable Tommy Wilkinson to touchdown.

Martin Wood added the conversion and a big hit by prop Dom Maloney on Darley helped to spark the Brits into life. They forced an error deep in the Australian half and Chris Gordon set up an exciting climax by crashing over under the posts, Wood’s conversion bringing his side within four points.
However, despite one or two alarms the Australian defence held firm until the final whistle, which no doubt pleased Kangaroos’ coach Tim Sheens who was watching from the side lines.

Australia: M Darley; R Hunter, S Peters,V Turuva, S Colville; K Eshman, M Knowles; A Hopkin, M Morton, D Tavita, D Rex, D Capilli, J Blaine Interchange: J Brand, D Holt, J Bassett, D Halliday
Tries: Colville (2),Hunter (2) Cons: Darley (2)
Great Britain: D Bamford; K Kamikamica, T Wilkinson, J Hutchinson, T Timani; M Wood, S Sarsons; D Maloney, S Lockton, J Andrade, D Jinks, L Queeley, T Howley Interchange: C Gordon, L Taylor, M Watkins, D Hankinson
Tries: Timani, Wilkinson, Gordon Cons: Wood (2)
Referee: J Bloem

GB now face New Zealand in the Semi Final on Wednesday whilst Australia play Serbia