Wow, I must have dreamt all the matches I've seen down at the Swamp in the Spring! There is a very vibrant and longstanding league run on Rarotonga, which has being going a lot longer than any league in places like the Lebanon, Russia etc.

At the end of the day, the Kukis qualified as per the existing rules. It is up to the RLIF to set the qualifications for the World Cup and the ramblings of some internet wannbee aren't going to change their minds!

BTW, the Cook Islands are a country in their own right. The islands are self-governing in "free association" with New Zealand. New Zealand retains primary responsibility for external affairs, with consultation with the Cook Islands government. Cook Islands nationals are citizens of New Zealand and can receive New Zealand government services, but the reverse is not true; New Zealand citizens are not Cook Islands nationals. Despite this, as of 2011, the Cook Islands had diplomatic relations in its own name with 34 other countries. The Cook Islands is not a United Nations member state, but, along with Niue, has had their "full treaty-making capacity" recognised by United Nations Secretariat and is a full member of the WHO and UNESCO UN specialized agencies and is an associate member of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

You wouldn't get many claps at a lot of grounds from that kick (always look far too easy 40/20's ;0) and I assumed he was outside the 40 anyhow.

Another great game, the standard of this competition is fantastic, with everyone playing a game, you can't really choose who is the weakest team out of the comp.

The no.7 for USA was top class, Priestley, and a current domestic American player, very impressive!

Only slight downside to a great game were the numerous occasions when Priestly got clattered after kicking the ball which never got picked up by the officials.

Very good attendance, enjoyable game, great result for USA.

The one I saw in the first half was a legitimate tackle, didn't contact the head, wasn't a shoulder charge & deffo wasn't late..

Lebanon vs Israel and Russia vs USA would be mouth watering games in a future RLWC.

Nice few lines from the Bristol Evening Post match report: "Last night’s turnout was bigger than expected. For weeks leading up to the game, less than 2,000 of the near-12,000 tickets available had been sold. Earlier this week, sales rose to about 5,000, then at least 2,000 people paid to get in on the night. In fact, more people had come to watch the rugby league than had gone to Bristol Rugby's last home game against Nottingham, which had an attendance of 5,071." Read more: www.bristolpost.co.uk/7-000-enjo ... z2jHuFMiey

Nice few lines from the Bristol Evening Post match report: "Last night’s turnout was bigger than expected. For weeks leading up to the game, less than 2,000 of the near-12,000 tickets available had been sold. Earlier this week, sales rose to about 5,000, then at least 2,000 people paid to get in on the night. In fact, more people had come to watch the rugby league than had gone to Bristol Rugby's last home game against Nottingham, which had an attendance of 5,071." Read more: www.bristolpost.co.uk/7-000-enjo ... z2jHuFMiey