World Footy News

Division 2: Indonesia Garudas v India Bombers

As 3rd place and 4th place getters of their respective pools Indonesia and India played the Semi-final 3. match at Western Oval, 16th August. Indonesia went into this match as warm favourites on the form of their win over Sri Lanka and because India had lost to Pakistan on Saturday in round three.

Ruck contests were pretty even but Indonesia were able to gather more first use of the ball and were consistently quicker with both hands and feet and quickly moved the ball into their forward fifty and were able to score several quick goals, one each to Waruwu and Hariyanto.

We welcome Michael Blades making his match report debut for WFN.

Nauru push through to beat hard fought Canada in a thrilling game.

These polar opposite teams battled furiously throughout the whole match, with both teams having strong spells in all quarters.

At the 8:45am bounce, Canada started strong, applying early forward pressure. There was a clear height advantage in favour of the Canadians which was not capitalized upon throughout the match.

After a disappointing loss to Japan on the previous Saturday, the German Eagles were too strong and too tall for a determined China Dragons outfit at Royal Park on Tuesday, winning their Div 2 semis final and booking a spot in Friday's final against Croatia. Whilst the Dragons were quick out of the blocks and pushed hard in the first term, the Eagles pushed ahead with the breeze after the first break, setting up a lead which the Chinese were ultimately unable to reel back in, the Eagles winning by 28 points.

The USA Revolution came into Tuesday’s clash with France with a 2-1 record and were in need of a big win following a disappointing 37-point loss to Papua New Guinea in Round 3. Meanwhile, France was also looking to get in gear following rough defeats at the hands of Fiji, Ireland, and Nauru.

The Great Britain Bulldogs held off a spirited Fijian defence to take the win in their final round match yesterday. Whilst the Fijians were solid across halfback and through the midfield all day, they were unable to consistently find targets up forward, whilst the Bulldogs capitalised on their chances to accumulate a decent lead at each change.

With many onlookers rating both the Bulldogs and Fiji Tribe as big improvers from the IC14, Friday will see both sides go into their playoffs for 5th and 7th as probable favourites.

(Supplementary reporting by Troy Thompson)

A breezy day greeted the sides at the McAlister Oval in Melbourne’s Royal Park this Tuesday as Canada’s Northern Lights were taking on the USA’s Freedom in the first semi-final on the women’s side of IC17.

The Canadian women had won their pool, but had beaten Fiji by just one point in their opening match of the tournament. “The girls got a great lesson in the importance of conversion,” said Northern Lights head coach, Jason Arnold. “Games of footy are not wom by clearances and more inside 50s. You need to covert these opportunities.” He went on to say, “The exciting part is, this group is still learning to play together and, as they gel, their best footy is ahead and will make them tough to beat.”

Canada bounced back after the narrow victory to blast Pakistan by 31 goals and then, to take down Great Britain by 31 points.

The Croatia Knights this afternoon crushed the Japan Samurai to gain entry into the Division two Grand Final. The Samurai were beat on on the scoreboard but not their spirit. The team kept to their game plan despite the blustery conditions and the relentless Croatian pressure which made options difficult to pick. Croatia now meets Germany in the Grand Final of Division Two.

2017 International Cup Round #4. Royal Park.    Men’s Division 1   P.N.G. Mosquitos  Vs  R.S.A. Lions
Wednesday 15th August. 10.30am

The PNG Mosquitos continued their good form to win and win well over the RSA Lions. The scoreline might imply an "easy" win with the result a predictable win to the Mosquitos but they still had to work hard against a determined South African side that was intent on being competitive.

Both teams were surprise first-round losers which looked likely to preclude them from the Grand Final but the Mosquitos have learnt from that experience and improved markedly whilst the Lions have struggled against the Revolution and have only just beaten the Fiji Tribe.