Mmmm, Kangaroo for breakfast

Great Britain recovered from last weeks defeat against New Zealand to beat the Aussies 23-12 in Sydney this morning in our second Tri-Nations game. OK, the Aussies weren’t great, they made changes and have already qualified for the final but it is still our first win down under since 1992, and marks a significant improvement on the 64-10 defeat we suffered on our last trip there. It was particularly sweet after the over the top reactions from the Aussies to this innocuous column, as shown here, here and here, not to mention in other places in the Aussie media.

After my leaving do yesterday (more of that later) I was unable to haul myself out of bed and get somewhere to watch the game at 9am, but I listened on the radio and was ecstatic when we scored the late try to clinch the game. So ecstatic that I forgot my knee related woes and wildly jumped around the flat, I’m suffering for it now but who cares? As a British Rugby League fan there is nothing better than beating that lot, particularly on their own turf. I’ve had a quick search through the DVD at the highlights and I’ll settle back later with a beer to watch the whole thing.

I’m not saying we are going to win the competition, I won’t even go as far as saying we’ll make the final, but it was a proud performance today and hopefully we can go on from here.

So, there ARE two 8 o’clocks on a Saturday…

After sitting back and watching Australia and New Zealand battle it out over the last couple of weeks Great Britain finally entered the Rugby League Tri-Nations competition today playing, and losing 18-14 to, New Zealand in Christchurch.

As I’ll be away for the latter stages of the tournament, and won’t be able to follow it, I’ve tried not to get too interested in the competition this year but despite that I still couldn’t help myself and, not having SKY Sports, had to put myself out more than I wanted to to make sure I had somewhere to watch the game that kicked-off at 8am our time. As someone who considers sleep his favourite hobby that is a bit thing.

I always find myself suprised at just how much I get into the international competition at the end of this season, despite being a football fan for 20 years I’ve never really taken more than a passing interest in the, much more developed, international game whereas in RL I’d say it’s my number one priority – I’d happilly put Great Britain ahead of the Bulls any day of the week.

Maybe it’s because of the limited scope of the club game, or the fact that I strongly believe the international game needs to develop before the sport can really fulfil it’s potential but, whatever it is, it has me screaming at the television in a way nothing else really does. If only a few more people had my attitude and weren’t just interested in whatever serves their own end on a lower, localised level then the game wouldn’t be as geographically confined as it still is, although some genuine progress is now being made.

Today’s defeat wasn’t unexpected, my own opinion is that GB are pretty much on a par with New Zealand but they are battle hardened from two games in the last two weeks, whereas we came into the match cold, with only a warm-up against an Australian district side, we have to now play for three more weeks consecutively while the Kiwis and the Kangaroos get the benefit of a bit of rest and recuperation after they play us. That is a situation that needs addressing but, it would require people putting the overall good ahead of their own, which as I’ve already mentioned, isn’t something too prevalent in the sport.

So, it’s Australia next week, with a slightly more friendly kick-off time of 9am, there were some positive things to build on from today and, though we are not in their class, hopefully we’ll give them a good game and you never know what could happen.

Thankfully the clocks go back tonight, and it’s national sleep-in day tommorow, so hopefully I’ll be able to compensate.