World Footy News

The following are the official AFL results, best players and goalkickers from Round 2 of the Australian Football International Cup.

Great Britain put up a good fight early on in the final match of Round 2, but they weren't able to contain a classy Samoan side as it ran away with the game in the second half.

In Round two action from the Australian Football International Cup, Samoa beat Great Britain by a very handy margin, Papua New Guinea eventually triumphed over Canada in a very physical encounter which could have gone either way, the USA overcame Ireland in a tight match, South Africa defeated Japan in a two-point nailbiter and New Zealand easily accounted for Spain.

Full results and reports to come in the next two hours.

The national broadcaster of Australia, the ABC's flagship radio current affairs program, "PM", featured a great segment on the Japanese team at the International Cup.

What a great first day of international Australian Rules football. Spectators who were at the inaugural Cup in 2002 remarked that the standard had improved dramatically across the board. Who are the big improvers? Were there any major surprises? What can be expected in the next round?

All the final scores, best players and goalkickers after the first round of the 2005 International Cup. Note that latest scores will generally be first available at The Footy Record as linked on our front page.

In the late time slot of the first day of the 2005 Cup, at Aanenson Oval, one of the fancied chances Papua New Guinea found themselves in a titanic struggle against the pride of Samoa. It wasn't until the closing minutes that Australia's northern neighbour pulled away to a narrow win as the rain came down.

The US Revolution team keen to show their improvement from 2002 came out hard against the South African Buffaloes team. While winning convincingly they found a fast dedicated opposition also showing improvement and a more balanced side than in the past.

Round one of the 2005 International Cup saw the New Zealand Falcons take on the British Bulldogs in a skillful but ultimately one-sided affair.

At 1pm on Wednesday 3rd August the Irish opened their International Cup title defence with a narrow win over much improved Canada, running out 8 point winners after trailing at the last change.

The Spanish Bull's took on the Japanese Samurai in the opening game of the tournament. The new guys were an unknown quantity, and were facing a side that has big plans in 2005 after a winless 2002.

Three years after the inaugural International Cup, ten nations have gathered in Melbourne Australia for the second such tournament. After the late withdrawal of Nauru the draw was re-done and five matches scheduled for the first day's play, at Murphy Reserve, Port Melbourne. The day also featured an official opening ceremony.