Legs pumping hard he darts right
then left, the speed of this movement is incredible for a man that size. It does no good though, contact is coming and
momentum will be lost, but a giant shovel of a hand comes up and slams the
defender in the chest forcing him to stumble backwards like an unbalanced toddler.
He continues to power forward before passing, the ball moves left then left
again with impossible speed and… TRY!
The human wrecking ball smashing
his way through the Fiji rugby league team was Greg Inglis, a monster of a man
at 6ft 5in and 16st 9lb. The try he created was one of six scored by Australia
in a 34 – 2 demolishing of Fiji. It wasn’t just the pace and power of the
individual players that took the breath away. Rather it was the speed in which
the ball was zipped out wide or tucked inside to onrushing runners, tearing
through the Fijian defensive line. The speed they moved the ball was
astonishing. And all this in monsoon like conditions that would have seen most
teams (looking at you Rugby Union) fumbling the ball, knocking it on and
dropping catches. It was an incredible display that is always expected of
Australia but credit to Fiji, last time in this fixture they didn’t even manage
the 2 points.
Looking at the best team in the
world may not be a way to get a fair reflection of the sport, like watching FC Barcelona
or Rugby Union’s All Blacks and expecting every team in every game to match their
skill and performance. But the interesting thing about the Rugby League World
Cup is that all the matches have
provided relentless try scoring extravaganzas.
In the past week 7 matches have been played seeing a total count of 60
tries, an average of 8.5 a game which if you look closely is an accurate
distribution, even if in some games all 8 might be for one side.
Whichever match you watch you’re
pretty much guaranteed exhilarating speed, punishing tackles, intricate passing
and loads of tries. Something Rugby Union fans all cry out for but rarely see
delivered. Union is a more pugilistic sport with powerhouses grinding each
other down in scrums, rucks and mauls. None which are allowed in Rugby League making
the game much quicker, free flowing and played at the tempo the attacking team
dictates. League doesn’t suffer the problem Union seems to be at the moment of
teams constantly trying to get penalties to kick at goal. Not an England match
goes by without hearing Brian Moore bemoaning the constant resetting of scrums
until a penalty is awarded. This lack of tempo is what hinders Union of having
a free flowing game like Rugby League.
Now I know there is a north south
divide on this but reading the sports pages and general covering of the weekend
Rugby there only seems to one in which the nation are interested: Rugby Union.
The 20 – 13 victory of England over Australia far out shone England’s Rugby League
victory of 42 – 0 over Ireland. But why is this?
The rules that stop Union
matching the speed and excitement of League are exactly what make people love
the game. The battling features of the scrum, forwards flinging themselves over
the ball in the carnage of rucks and the driving mauls turns the game into a
kind of battlefield where ancient grievances are settled by modern day knights
with only their bodies to use as weapons. The struggle of these players, the
effort, snorting, straining that goes into moving the ball forward makes the
moment a player breaks free and dives for the line such a sweet relief. A try
seems to mean more in Union because it seems to be harder to get. A penalty
kick at goal is cheered because it gives everyone a rest from the tense,
punishing ordeal being witnessed and is just reward for the steaming, sweating,
exhausted players for getting the team into that position. Union just seems more
intense, more of a battle and thus has a place in the heart of the British
public. Rugby League will always struggle to share the same space. It is great
to watch though.
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