On Wednesday the 9th of August, it was a beautiful mild winters day in Melbourne. Wesley College in Glen Waverley hosted the Men's Division 1 International Cup match between the South African Lions and USA Revolution.

The first quarter of the match started with a lot of hard tackling and neither team were able to break free with possession. Eventually, Revolution gained possession and kicked the footy inside their attacking 50 and Ben Carpenter-Nwanyanwu (#4) kicked truly with a drop punt for Revolution's first goal of the match.

Thanks to Michael Robinson for the following report.

After promising results in Round 1 this match promised a lot. Unfortunately for the couple of hundred school kids who turned up to Linenhouse Centre (St Kilda’s AFL Training Base) in Seaford it was a dominant performance by the Hawks all over the ground.

Fiji threw everything at New Zealand but in the end the Kiwi's bigger bodies were just too much for Fijian team. Isimeli Qiolevu provided Fiji’s only highlight kicking their only score a goal just before half time.

Blue skies, sunshine and blustery conditions greeted those who turned out to St. Francis Xavier College in Officer for the Division One clash of Canada Northwind taking on the Great Britain Bulldogs.

Below are the ladders after Round 2 of the 2017 AFL International Cup.

The top 2 in Men's Division 1 after Round 4 go through to the Division 1 Grand Final.

The top 2 in each pool of Men's Division 2 after Round 3 play sem-finals to go through to the Division 2 Grand Final. 

The top 2 in each pool of the Women's Division after Round 3 play sem-finals to go through to the Women's Grand Final. 

In Men's Div 1 it's looking like 4 countries (New Zealand, Ireland, USA and PNG) are likely to fill the coveted top 2 spots to play in the Grand Final, while in Div 2 the pools already look sorted, with China, Croatia, Germany and Japan the probable semi-finalists, whilst in the Women's Canada, Great Britain, Ireland and USA are likely semi-finalists (PNG are also a chance play would probably have to defeat the powerful, undefeated Ireland). 

Read on for the ladders.

The outer North-Eastern Melbourne suburb of Research – home to Eltham College – played host to a key Division 2 battle. Indonesia started their IC17 campaign with a stirring victory over debutant Sri Lanka; which was a far cry from their introduction in IC14 with 3 successive thumpings at the hands of Nauru, Fiji and France. Croatia on the other hand – had to overcome a slow start against China and came up just short losing by a solitary point. The Knights clearly hold the advantage in squad height and weight and with an older side there were expected to 'flex their muscles' and - that is pretty well how it eventuated - with a 79 point win against an out gunned Gurudas.

Editor: Laura Turner is Captain of the Great Britain Swans and is also writing for worldfootynews.com

The official International Cup Captain's Lunch took place on Monday. Captains from all teams along with a host of AFL executives were treated to a two course lunch at Etihad Stadium. 

AFL CEO GillIon McLachlan thanked all the captains for their investment and role in developing the game overseas. It always seems to be impressive to AFL fanatics that people overseas fall in love with the strange and unique game often with little exposure to it. 

Head of Community and International Development Grant Williams gave a speech about the growth of the game overseas and made particular reference to the growth of women's footy at home and overseas welcoming the new women's teams to the International Cup, Great Britain, Pakistan and the efforts of the European Crusaders for bringing together women from across Europe to participate in the tournament.

Not all Rounds of IC17 are being streamed live by the AFL.  But the USAFL have stepped up to the plate and will be streaming their teams' matches live on youtube.  Embedded below, or click here.

 [youtube:3v7hxSHuzEk]

AFL Canada have announced that their matches will be covered live by CBC (their local equivalent of Australia's ABC).

We believe the coverage will only be accessible from within Canada (and presumably IP addresses that appear to come from there...)

Click here for the full announcement.  An excerpt follows:

All ten men’s and women’s Team Canada matches will be available live on cbcsports.ca and via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android

Live scores updated 1/4 by 1/4 across Round 2 "Schools Round", Wednesday 9th August, 2017 International Cup hosted by schools across Melbourne and Ballarat, Australia.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GAMES AT MT CLEAR BALLARAT HAVE BEEN MOVED TO MARTY BUSCH RECREATIONAL RESERVE, SEBASTOPOL, ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF BALLARAT)

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GAMES AT MENTONE GRAMMAR HAVE BEEN SHIFTED TO LATER TIME SLOTS - TIMES BELOW HAVE BEEN CORRECTED.  ALSO NOTE THAT THE MENTONE GRAMMAR PLAYING FIELDS ARE AT SPRINGVALE RD KEYSBOROUGH RATHER THAN AT THE MAIN SCHOOL CAMPUS.

Indonesia becomes 22nd Fully Ranked Nation to WFN World Rankings, entering at 14th

Indonesia has become the 22nd Fully Ranked Nation with their First Round Division Two Match against Sri Lanka at the 2017 International Cup, Sunday 6th August.

The Garudas notched up their 8th qualifying game with a win over international newcomer Sri Lanka Lions 7.7 (49) to 3.2 (20). Indonesia gained the maximum 3.00 rating points to join the Ranks at 14th place with 39.58 Rating points.

Indonesia enters the ranks between Germany 13th and Croatia 15th which makes their next IC17 match up with Croatia in Round 2 very interesting. Croatia will be smarting over their 1-point loss to China on Sunday and will be determined to make amends. Indonesia are 1-0 against China, the Garudas victorious at the Inaugural All Asia Championships in 2016, so the Knights could well have another fierce battle on their hands. This match surely is the match of the round in Division 2 on Wednesday.

Read the full story for full up-to-date rankings table.

 Great Britain Latest Nation to be Fully Ranked on WFN Women's World Rankings

The Great Britain Swans have become the 6th and latest nation to be fully ranked on the WFN World Rankings (Women) with their win over international footy newcomer Pakistan on day one of 2017 International Cup.

Great Britain has leapt straight into 3rd Rank with 47.29 Rating Points. This has been as a result of their success since they burst onto the international footy scene in winning the Inaugural Women’s European Championships in 2016 with two wins and a draw against Ireland.

Read on for the full table.

The innovative Schools Round (Round 2) makes its International Cup debut tomorrow.  The AFL has confirmed that these games are all open to the public.

Teams will play at schools in Melbourne and surrounding suburbs and in Ballarat. This will be a fantastic opportunity for all the schools and students involved as well as all the teams.

Please note there are some time changes to matches from those initially advertised (see below).

In Division 1 Ireland are favourites to defeat France at St Pat's in Ballarat and across town at Mt Clear PNG and Nauru will be looking to get their tournaments back on track after losses on Sunday.