Nathan Smith discusses Day 1 of the Rugby League 9s

Day 1

Summary

A hot Sydney day saw twelve men’s, and four women’s sides go at it. On the face of it, there seemed a likely pattern of results, however this wasn’t the case. The Cook Islands, who were expected to be fodder for the Tonga Invitational team, ended up blitzing the 2017 World Cup semi-finalists 30-7. The crowd favourite, Maika Sivo, was on the losing end of a Samoan raid after his stacked Fijian team lost 32-17. Indeed, the 9s proved, in its first day, that the format can favour the underdog.

Results

Men

France 8-12 Lebanon

England 25-4 Wales

Tonga Invitational 7-30 Cook Islands

Samoa 32-17 Fiji

Australia 25-12 New Zealand

Papua New Guinea 27-10 United States of America

Women

England 25-4 Papua New Guinea

Australia 22-8 New Zealand

Standings (W-L-D, differential +/-, total points)

1. England 1-0-0, +21, 2.

2. Australia 1-0-0, +14, 2.

3. New Zealand 0-1-0, -14, 0.

4. PNG 0-1-0, -21, 0.

Day 1 Pool Standings

Pool A (W-L-D, differential +/-, total points)

1.Papua New Guinea 1-0-0, +17, 2.

2. Australia 1-0-0, +13, 2.

3. New Zealand 0-1-0, -13, 0.

4. USA 0-1-0, -17, 0.

Pool B (W-L-D, differential +/-, total points)

1. England 1-0-0, +21, 2.

2. Lebanon 1-0-0, +4, 2.

3. France 0-1-0, -4, 0.

4. Wales 0-1-0, -21, 0.

Pool C (W-L-D, differential +/-, total points)

1. Cook Islands 1-0-0, +23, 2.

2. Samoa 1-0-0 +15, 2.

3. Fiji 0-1-0, -15, 0.

4. Tonga Invitational 0-1-0, -23, 0.