|
Australia lived up to their tag as strong Ashes favourites by
humiliating a beleaguered Great Britain in the second Test at the
Reebok Stadium.
David Waite's side looked a pale shadow of the team that
defeated the Kangaroos in the opening Test last Sunday.
The main instigators of Australia's win were Andrew Johns, who
scored a brace of tries and kicked all but one of the six
conversions, and the irrepressible Darren Lockyer.
Britain on the other hand, had Paul Sculthorpe and Leon Pryce
to thank for making the scoreline more respectable, but by then
the damage had been done.
There were no surprises in Waite's line-up, with the coach
sticking to the same team that won 20-12 in the first Test last
Sunday.
If there was one slight shock, then it was the absence of
Warrington half-back Lee Briers - a player who has the ability to
create a spark on attack.
Britain endured the worst possible start as Andrew Johns found
a gap and off-loaded the ball to Robbie Kearns. He fed skipper
Fittler for the opening try after just five minutes.
History seemed to be repeating itself - the home side had lost
the second Test in the 1990 and 1994 series after having held a
1-0 lead.
After just 15 minutes Australia took a firm grip on the game.
It was a try that would rank up there with some of the best
scored by Australian sides.
Winger Lote Tuqiri collected the ball, after a poor chip kick
from Great Britain captain Andy Farrell, and ran nearly half the
length of the field before finding Johns.
He exchanged passes with Lockyer, who went over in the
right-hand corner.
The British forwards, led by the likes of Barrie McDermott and
Chris Joynt looked weary on the Bolton pitch as the Australians
tore their defence apart.
First Broncos full-back Lockyer jinked through to touch down,
before winger Braith Anasta took advantage of a poor take by Pryce
to take the Australians to 24-0 at the interval.
Whatever coach Chris Anderson said to his team after their
defeat last week was certainly inspirational as Johns added to his
tally just two minutes after the restart.
The Australians were playing the ball out to the wings and to
the corners in order to avoid Britain's big men in the middle -
but Waite's men were helping the Kangaroos by spilling the ball
early in possession.
In the 54th minute Australia added further insult to a severe
British injury as Newcastle Knights winger Adam MacDougall scored
his second try of the series followed shortly by a touchdown from
Ben Kennedy.
Britain came back strongly in the final 15 minutes when
Sculthorpe made it three tries for the series.
Bradford Bulls star Pryce then demonstrated his devastating
skills by storming home from 10 metres out.
But the comeback was never really going to threaten an
Australian side, who must now be odds-on for the series.
|
