I generally have very low expectations for the international game but so far I'm quite impressed with the World Cup, the organisation seems to be better than it has been before, all the stories from ticket sales are very good which has impressed me, I thought it was going to be all empty stadiums but the cheap pricing and good discount offers seem to have got people to buy tickets (and also the public has got behind the tournament).

England were quite good today, they played against a team full of incredible talent that would have been a match for many of the greats of the past including old Invincibles Kangaroo teams, and England were not a million miles off even if there was a definite gulf. Fair enough the Aussies haven't hit their stride yet and if we play them again in the final they may be able to raise it a gear above, but I feared a 50 point thrashing and we didn't get one. Lots of England players put in good stints.

The Wales v Italy game was also good, when I saw the draw I thought this would just be part timers but the standard of skill was good. Italy have got some talent.

All in all this looks very encouraging IMO.

I think the Cookies, Scotland, Ireland and USA will get a rinsing but I enjoyed the rugby on offer and without the distractions of the week I think we could have really turned the screw on the Aussies today.

Guess I'm the only one not THAT impressed with the Aussie side? Cronk's no Lockyer, Slater looked a poorer player than the player I've seen over the past few winters.

Is Tate really in the same league as some of the better Aussie centres over the years? Gasnier, Hodges, Jennings, Tahu, Folau, etc.? Didn't really impress me today.

They are clearly superb and have ridiculous levels of quality across the field, but I felt a lot of their players were 'just good' rather than stupendous. England won't get close to them if they pick it up a bit, but I've felt their team has looked stronger over the past few years.

Yesterday was superb, really enjoyed it. Great to see so many welsh and southern spectators there too.

Big game fan's. Did you remind them that they had a crusaders team and a London team that they could have or go to watch?

The best centre on display yesterday was Guerra for Italy.

Fantastic Italian performance yesterday, shame quite a few people decided to leave the ground after the England match as they missed a decent game and a well drilled Italian team.

No having watched the NRL all season I too wasnt impressed by the Aussies, but lets be honest they get better in tournaments never worse. I didnt see the Tate inclusion coming or possibly Corey parker, but I still maintain this is possibly the best Australian squad ever. Even Luke Lewis was quiet and he is normally a handful when he plays against us.

Expecting big things from Tonga.
The game V Italy on the 10th looms as a final , winner goes through , loser goes home ( only one team can progress from their group ).
The gap in the rugby league world might be closing , I hope it is , we'll see with the big boys versus underdog Samoans today....hopefully Samoa can pull off a special and make it competitive.
Put this way , Italy's win over England was not a random anomaly they are good / will beat anyone not on their game.
If Tonga and one other team are there or thereabouts the international game would go from three teams to five or six.

How good would that be ?

I think its up there but for me the best Australian squad ever was the one that came over in the last World Cup in England in 2000.

The Aussie team that beat us 22-2 in the opener at Twickenham in 2000 was:

Darren Lockyer
Wendell Sailor
Matt Gidley
Ryan Girdler
Mat Rogers
Brad Fittler (c)
Brett Kimmorley
Shane Webcke
Andrew Johns
Robbie Kearns
Gordon Tallis
Bryan Fletcher
Scott Hill

Jason Stevens
Darren Britt
Jason Croker
Adam MacDougall

In their squad not playing that day was:
Trent Barrett
Michael Vella
Craig Gower
Ben Kennedy
Nathan Hindmarsh

I don't know what the state or standing of rugby league is actually in Italy, & obviously most of yesterday's team was made up of NRL Italian extract Aussies ,but judging by the way Italian Union players like to throw the ball about , League should be a very attractive alternative to Italian sports fans. They would also have the French rivalry to produce entertaining matches.

I read a really interesting interview with Italy RL's Chairman/Chief Exec in a magazine a couple of months ago, I will try to dig it out. Essentially it read that in the early 50s (I think) RL was thriving, but with help from the government it was all but killed off to the point of extinction. Sound familiar?

Really sad to think how great the international game could be right now, had it not been for the above and the well publicised demise of French RL, which to me is one of the biggest sporting disgraces of all time. To this day it is still happening in nations where the game is being developed, South Africa has spend years trying to get recognition for the sport and a student tour to somewhere in Africa ( I forget where) was recently blocked by the RU.

All this just shows how important it is that we develop the game internationally.

So Mr Ganson, what you are saying is that RL will be allowed to prosper in a country as long as there is RU approval ? Is that revealing an insecurity among the Union hierarchy to an extent that they feel threatened by what they see as an inferior code which appeals to men in cloth caps ?

I must say though that if we can encourage non heartland spectators to events like this then it could mean that support for RL is better than it appears & we do have a healthy product. One obvious attraction though are price reductions but at least people are interested in going & seeing what the game is all about which can't be a bad thing.

Agree with this to an extent, some of the forwards and three-quarters are good rather than great e.g. Morris, Boyd, Bird, Thaiday, Tamou etc. However on the other hand the spine even with Cronk instead of Lockyer is one of the greatest of all time.

The wingers/centres would look much better with Hayne, Jennings and the injured Hodges in there. The outside backs which took the field yesterday weren't streets ahead of England's like they usually are.

Didn't see the Wales v Italy game but Guerra is usually a second rower for the Sydney Roosters - impressive player though.

Inglis is the best centre in the world by a mile (apart from the semi-retired Jamie Lyon) but perhaps isn't fully-fit coming into this tournament.