Rugby League World Cup : PNG Kumuls 32 beat Cook Islands 16

 Papua New Guinea Kumuls have overcome a early scare from the Cook Islands by beating them 32 to 16 in round 2 of the Rugby League World cup match played  at Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, UK.

Only two points separated the  two rugby league nations at half-time, but the second stanza was all the Kumuls, running in four tries in 27 minutes to put themselves back on track for a quarter-final campaign.

PNG kumuls five-eight Kyle Labutt Celebrates a try [Photo by PNG LNG Kumuls media]

The Kumuls opened their account in the 14th minute when Rodrick Tai left the Kukis defenders in his wake and ran 80 metres to score a sensational PNG try.

Come the 23rd minute and PNG had their second try when five-eighth Kyle Laybutt jinked and danced his way across the defensive line 10 metres out before crashing right of the uprights to score.

PNG went down to 12 men with 12 minutes to go in the first half when prop Mackenzie Yei was sin binned for a dangerous tackle. 

Wasting no time capitalising on the extra-man advantage, the Cook Islands found an overlap on the left side and halfback Esan Marsters saw the chance to get winger Paul Ulburg over the line with quick hands and bring the score 10-8 at the break.

Kicking off the second half, it was Yei looking to make up for lost time, charging right through the Kukis defensive line off the kick off and surging upfield before finally being caught by Kayal Iro.

Yei's barnstorming hit up gave PNG position the field position they needed and skipper Rhys Martin finished off the set, spinning over the line from close range to ground the ball.

The Kumuls went further ahead early in the second half when South Sydney star Alex Johnston beat multiple defenders to find Tai inside who touched down for a double.

Come the 57th minute and Melbourne Storm centre Justin Olam created something out of nothing for the Kumuls, breaking the line and getting an arm free to offload to Lachlan Lam, who runs in to score and extend PNG's lead 26-8 with the kick.

The Kumuls put the game out of reach when Johnston capitalised on a premature rush from the Cook Islands defence and put the ball on a string for Olam. 

The Cook Islands continued to fight to the end with tries to Anthony Gelling and Iro but 32-16 is as close as Tony Iro's men would come to reducing the deficit.

Match Snapshot 

The Kumuls' had 19 tackle breaks to the Cook Islands' 11 in the opening half despite only leading by two points at the break.

Cook Islands forward Ruata Ngatikaura left the field with an injury in the 54th minute.

Cook Islands centre Reubenn Rennie was sinbinned in the 61st minute for a dangerous tackle on PNG prop Wellington Albert.

Kumuls winger Rodrick Tai was a constant threat for the Kumuls, scoring a double and clocking 164 running metres.

The Cook Islands were the only team to overcome a half time deficit to win in Round 1 but failed to orchestrate another comeback in Round 2.

Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands are the only two countries in the world that have Rugby League as their national sport.

The Kukis and Kumuls have met on five previous occasions before the Round 2 World Cup clash, with PNG finishing on top every time. 

Their most recent encounter was in a 2017 mid-season international, a match which was tied 12-all at half time before the Kumuls streaked away to win 32-22. 

6,273 spectators descended on Halliwell Jones Stadium for the final match of the round.

PNG skipper Rhys Martin was player-of-the-match

Play of the Game

After spending 10 minutes in the bin in the first term the Hotsplus Hunter prop set the tone for the Kumuls' second-half comeback. The 25-year-old took a World Cup hit up to remember, charging his way through several defenders to run 60 metres off the kickoff, hand PNG the perfect field position to score their opening try of the second half.

What They Said

"We are really delighted with that win. We started a bit slow there but we regathered, especially in that second half and it feels good to take home the win. I thought our spine could have done a little bit better, especially with their kicking but wins are hard to come by, especially in our pool so we're happy with that. We've got a short turn around so we'll look at resting up as much as we can before our next game." - Papua New Guinea coach Stanley Tepend.

"I think a couple of defensive lapses gave away a couple of simple tries that really turned the momentum of the game but they tried hard so I was really proud of that. The front rower making 60 metres off the kick off didn't help so I think the first try in the second half dampened our confidence a little bit. They stuck to the task but we just lacked a bit of intensity in that second half." - Cook Islands coach Tony Iro.

What's Next

Papua New Guinea face Wales on November 1 in their final hit-out before heading into the quarter-finals.

Cook Islands will need to produce a stunning upset over Tonga to keep their tournament alive in the last of the pool matches in Middlesbrough.

Source : NRL.COM / PNG Today 

Next : PNG Kumuls vs Cook Islands Rugby League World Cup live streaming