...it wouldn't be an upset at all. I expect Tonga to have the upper hand in the pack in this game and I would rate their chances as very good....maybe only slight underdogs, but I'd take Tonga with a 10 point start........and I think the Bookies agree.
[urlhttps://www.oddschecker.com/rugby-league/world-cup/new-zealand-v-tonga/winner[/url

I like the world cup logo. it looks good on the pitch.

I really like the BBC intro with the oversized players, but the tune isn't particularly good or memorable. I like the BBC coverage though. Robbie Paul is great and it's always good to see Jonathan "and the Welshman is in" Davies. I miss the old Wembley and those 1st tests. I hope the new Wembley can become just as special when touring teams visit.

I liked watching Australia v England. For me England/GB against Australia is the best game in RL. It's what I grew up watching and I always love those matches. I hope so much that we can get to the final so that we can play them again.

I've enjoyed watching PNG. The atmosphere has been fantastic and their yellow shirts look good. I hope they can continue to develop because RL needs more genuine international teams.

Samoa v Tonga was great and I've been very impressed by New Zealand too. I'm just hoping they don't ruin things for us again if we both manage get to the SF.

I liked watching Australia v England. For me England/GB against Australia is the best game in RL. It's what I grew up watching and I always love those matches. I hope so much that we can get to the final so that we can play them again.

totally agree, we had the best international rugby of any code with the kangaroo tours and we just threw it away, i no the change to summer did not help and made the long tours a thing of the past, but shoret 3 test tours with 3-4 midweek games thrown in would be great again, the big crowd that saw leeds v NZ at Headingley in 2015 proves there is a big appetite for club v tourist games.

just think if we had a kangaroo tour next year,

Cas v Roos at weldon road sell out

Wigan v roos at Dw 20k easily sellout not unthinkable

first test Wembley 60k comfortably with good marketing a record international crowd 80k

midweek Hull fc, possibly hull combined team Kc 20+

Leeds at Headingley 20k sellout

second test Newcastle st james or Coventry sell out at covenrty 40k min at Newcastle. (scrap magic weekend from 2018 onwards)

third test Old Trafford 60-70k

i think those crowds are easily achievable in given 12 months marketing and expectation 6-7 game tour would be enough for interest but won't upset the Nrl too much.

im enjoying it, but thats because im following it closely... most of the general public wont even know its on right now! but thats with it being in oz i suppose too.

crowds are disappointing down under, shame they treat it as a third tier competition behind the origin and nrl... the world cup should always be the pinnacle. dont think they should get the comp again for a good while if they dont respect it..... think its in the usa next and maybe england again after that... the last one in england was great for crowds.

some good games so far, looking forward to the rest of the comp! hoping for an england final spot at the very least

yes!!! hope the sl take note

It's been OK, and gone to form so far, the knockout stages look to be very interesting, and there's at least 6 strong teams in it. When was the last time we could say that about an RL international competition?

I doubt many clubs over here would want their players going off to the UK for that long, playing that many games etc & with the current level of player welfare & organised conditions for players i doubt many of the players would accept that when they have to come back & go again for a whole season

It wouldn't work anyway these days as both comps play the same time of year, the English clubs and players (those not selected for tests) would also be in shut down mode.

France should get a couple of tests against them though imo.

I think there needs to be more regular international competition between T1 and T2 nations. England and France are the only two European nations that don't have issues with elgibility, so let's take both nations other to Aus to play T2 nations in Australia, as we did vs Samoa this year - England are too good for France for them playing each other to be of any use (either playing or commercially), a large percentage of our squad is already in Sydney (and this is only likely to get bigger because of commercial failings here), nations like PNG, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga can raise competitive sides and, because of the high immigrant populations in Australia from those nations, you should be able to get a crowd and make it work commercially.

Ideally, there needs to be a window carved out (possibly during ANZAC or Origin weeks) where England and France can fly to Oz (because the NRL won't release its talent mid-season to come to Europe) and take on Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and PNG. Some sort of annual triple-header in Sydney / Newcastle / Brisbane / Gold Coast (say France v PNG, Samoa v Tonga and England v Fiji, with the fixtures rotating on an annual basis), would be a step forward in my view. Longer term, if it can be a success, let's work to carve out a genuine mid-season window.

In the winter, we can keep our international calendar. I'd like to see a four year something like:

Y1: World Cup (in Australasia)
Y2: Roos tour of England including a warm-up game vs France and a home nation
Y3: GB Lions tour to Aus (including games vs PNG / Fiji) and a
Y4: Kiwi tour of England including a warm-up game vs France and a home nation
Y5: World Cup (in Europe)
Y6: Roos tour of England including a warm-up game vs France and a home nation
Y7: GB Lions tour to NZ (+ games vs Samoa & Tonga)
Y8: Kiwi tour of England including a warm-up game vs France and a home nation
Y9: World Cup (in North America)

and there lies the problem Aussie RL not interested in international RL and thats why union is leaving us for dead, the fact that NRL see international RL as 3rd rate and are only interested in NRL and Origin is why RL is struggling

You can't just blame the NRL. RU has loads of international teams that are competitive and have huge amounts of fans. It has been that way for years. GB/England RL have never sold out Wembley - not for two World Cup finals or a semi-final. Can you honestly imagine England RU not selling out an equivalent game? They could probably sell it out twice over. I don't doubt that the NRL can do more, but to lay all the blame at their door is ridiculous. UK RL fans can't even get behind an equivalent to SOO - at least the Aussies have made a success of that.

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I'm disappointed when games between Australia/England/New Zealand don't sell out, but I understand why interest in a lot of the other matches would be quite low.

RL needs to stop making comparisons with RU. RU has long gone into the distance, at least in terms of the international game. What does that matter though? RL is small compared to RU. RU is tiny compared to football. They're all still great sports.

Yeah but union isn't leaving us for dead in Australia, its the other way around, so all good

Couple of things here.....firstly Union is being left for dead domestically by every sport in Australia, but it still dwarfs us at International level (14 Wannabee tests this year with 7 at home) and how is the NRL being more popular than S15 Rugby "good for international RL"?
NZ, South Africa, Argentina, Scotland, England, Wales, Japan and Fiji as well as a match v the Barbarians....until the Kangaroos get this kind of international schedule we'll always struggle at International level.........

Like many i have been disappointed with crowds so far, but it must be said that crowds were down the NRL last season as well so perhaps Rugby League is falling slightly out of favour in Australia at the moment

AFL up 6.7% 2017 compared to 2016...at 34,010.
NRL down 1.9%....same period at 14,915.

The NRL is big in terms of armchair fans, but the reality is that A-league football is only 3k behind them in terms of averages whilst Aussie Rules is the #1 winter sport across the nation.

wow great result for tonga!!!

also i feel for england... to reach the final now.

scotland got some credit back with the draw against samoa.... have to think what might have been if they had the other 3 disgraced players...

I've been to both games in Hamilton so far and both have been epic......combine them with the games in Christchurch and Auckland and the NZ average is 18,000.......it's the criminal element that are letting the side down in terms of attendances!
NZ would be a perfect stand alone host in future......or put one group in PNG and have 3 double headers there with the rest in NZ.......If the Okers can't be bothered then why bother with them?
Speaking to many Tongans, if they can get the cash together they will be flying or car pooling and driving/ferrying down to Ch Ch this weekend coming in their masses..it's a shame it's not in Mount Smart because they'd have filled it 4 times over!

I was at the Australia v Lebanon game last night and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic. Just over 21k there and the noise from the Lebanese fans and their general enjoyment of the game was a lesson to the tier 1 teams. The result was never in doubt, but the Lebanese team despite lacking depth are well drilled and play with real heart. I was also at the England v Lebanon game and tbh England don’t demonstrate that same passion. If they did they wouldn’t go to sleep for 20 mins each time they play the Aussies and might stand a chance of beating them.

Despite critics on here, I think this World Cup has been one of the best, despite questionable venue selection by the organisers and questionable referee selection, with stand out performances from Tonga, Fiji, PNG and Lebanon. Can’t see anyone toppling the Aussies at they are just too well drilled, but in the day who knows.

I think Scotland got such a good result because of the three players missing two bad results and three bad eggs get sent home suddenly a good result can't be a coincidence

I think a lot of people would agree with that.

Atmosphere at the Tonga v NZ game was unbelievable.

The game should be a real eye opener for doubters in England, Australia and even NZ. For all those who slate the international game and one could argue they have every right too, that game in Hamilton was everything good about international footy and what it could be if the game did more.

That was no lucky or fluke of as win and its results like that which should be used a springboard going forward. There is no reason why Rugby League cannot be the most popular sport in the pacific Islands. Invest money in those islands and see the talent come through.

If the game collectively tries to improve the international game you could see more games like NZ v Tonga. There are needs to be more incentives for players to play for a second tier nation instead of tier 1.

1. More games on the international Calender.
2. Appearance fees and give the players a decent pay and expenses. The game needs to find that money if need be.
3. Origin shouldn't be restricted to only those who choose to play for Australia.

I don't know how the Australian media and RL community reported and discussed the NZ v Tonga game but it really should of been a wake up call to those in the game reminding them just how good international footy could be if the game did more.

For this to keep happening the pay structure for world cups must change.
As someone said after the last WC, the funds have to go into a central pool and players have to be paid according to their individual worth, rather than who they play for.
Players who have played 50 NRL or ESL games should be paid as full professionals.
Players with less than 50 NRL or ESL games should get a decent match fee.
Park players should get expenses and some spending money.
Fifita, Hayne, Uate, Mead, Farah, Moses etc are responsible for as many or more people turning their TVs on as someone like Ben Hunt on the bench for Australia, so they should be paid equally.
At the moment Australian players are getting 30k a game and Fijian players are getting 30, where both should be getting maybe 5k if they are professional players.

Do these pig ignorant Aussie commentators do any research? They sound like total morons talking about McIlorum as though he's a young kid they've never heard of and they've just said superleague clubs will probably be eyeing up Kyle Amor, as though he's a young kid playing in a park competition in an Irish village somewhere.

If they don't get to watch superleague, they could always spend 5 mins before the game doing a google search about the players.

Why hasn't england france started yet? It's 10:10 . 10 minutes after ko

yeh will have galvanised the group too