Reggae Warriors find joy in New Zealand defeat

MKM Stadium, Hull, England:

DALLIN WATENE-ZELEZNIAK hit an 18-minute first-half hat trick amid four tries and a 20-point haul to put New Zealand on the road to a 13-try victory against Jamaica’s Reggae Warriors in Rugby League World Cup action at the MKM Stadium in Hull, England, yesterday.

The victory almost certainly puts New Zealand in the quarterfinals of the World Cup with a group game to spare.

But the Kiwi’s delight was matched by unprecedented scenes of joy from an innovative Jamaican side. The Jamaicans were jubilant after claiming their first-ever try in the competition, five minutes from time, through veteran Ben Jones-Bishop. The subsequent celebrations included a guard of honour for the 34-year-old fullback on his 300th career appearance.

The Reggae Warriors, rated 2000-1 outsiders at the start of the tournament and without a four-point score in their first game, a 48-2 defeat to Ireland, simply couldn’t match the power and pace of the 2008 champions, looking to regain the crown.

The Kiwis began their campaign with a 34-12 defeat of Lebanon, whom Jamaica face in their final game next weekend, and any “clinkyness” that coach Michael Maguire alluded to in that game was overcome in style against a brave, yet steadily tiring through continual defence Caribbean side.

Jamaica’s coaching team of Romeo Monteith, Jermaine Coleman, Roy Calvert and Rhys Lovegrove made several changes, handing international debuts to Duhaney Park Red Sharks Andrew Simpson, on the wing, and Marvin Thompson, off of the bench, who had recovered from a knock sustained in the pre-tournament warm-up against Cumbria on October 8.

Sheffield’s former Super League star Jones-Bishop was joined by Eagles clubmate Joel Farrell, back after serving a two-match suspension picked up during the British domestic season, while Dewsbury’s Keenan Tomlinson earned a spot among the forwards.

Having stared into the face of the famously fearsome Kiwi’s Haka and savoured one final group huddle, the predominantly part-time Warriors caught the joint World Cup favourites by surprise by claiming a short kick-off - a tactic they tried with notable success on several occasions - then immediately forced a goal-line dropout.

Half backs Kieran Rush and James Woodburn-Hall attempted to prize early openings through a stream of unexpected kicks, which initially caught New Zealand off guard.

However, once the Kiwis got hold of the ball, they pressurised the men in yellow and green into allowing an overlap on the right which Watene-Zelezniak touched down in the corner.

There was little sign of what was to come, even when Peta Hiku scored a second try.

TOUGH PERIOD

But, after an encouraging opening half an hour, Jamaica quickly found it increasingly difficult to get out of their own half.

Watene-Zelezniak exploited the inexperience of Simpson at this level to claim two more tries for his treble, with further scores added by Hiku, Marata Niukore, Sebastian Kris and Jeremy Marshall-Hall, the combination leading to a 34-0 half-time lead.

Kieran Foran struck the post with his first conversion and was wayward with his second but warmed to the goal-kicking duties and went in at the break having kicked three from seven attempts.

As the men in yellow and green strove for what seemed an increasingly elusive first World Cup try, New Zealand added six more of their own to all but mathematically assure their progress in the competition.

But Jamaica saved their best for last as, with the clock ticking towards full time, Jones-Bishop, on his landmark appearance, hacked on and touched down a teasing kick to trigger unbridled joy and by far, the biggest cheer of the night from the over-6,000-strong crowd.

Kieran Rush, who kicked the two points scored against Ireland a week before, added the conversion and the Kiwis joined in forming a guard of honour to accompany an emotional Jones-Bishop off of the pitch.

New Zealand: Charnze Nicoll-Lokstad, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Peta Hiku, Marata Niukore, Sebastian Kris, Joey Manu, Kieran Foran, Moses Leota, Brandon Smith, James Fisher Harris (captain), Kenny Bromwich, Briton Nikora, Isaac Liu. Substitutes (used): Isaiah Papali’I, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Jeremy Marshall-King, Scott Sorensen. (not used): Jordan Ropana.

Tries: Watene-Zelezniak (4), Smith (2), Marshakll-King (2), Hiku, Kris, Niukore, Nicoll-Lokstad, Nikora.

Goals: Foran 6/10, Watene-Zelezniak 2/3.

Jamaica: Ben Jones-Bishop (Sheffield Eagles), Mo Agoro (Keighley Cougars), Greg Johnson (Batley Bulldogs), Jacob Ogden (York City Knights). Andrew Simpson (Duhaney Park Red Sharks), James Woodburn-Hall (Halifax Panthers), Kieran Rush (Huddersfield Giants), Michael Lawrence (Huddersfield Giants), Ashton Golding (Huddersfield Giants) (captain), Keenan Tomlinson (Dewsbury Rams), AJ Wallace (Bradford Bulls), Joel Farrell (Sheffield Eagles), Joe Brown (Workington Town). Substitutes (used): Chevaughn Bailey (Duhaney Park Red Sharks), Jordan Andrade (unattached), Bradley Ho (Keighley Cougars), Marvin Thompson (Duhaney Park Red Sharks), (not used): Aaron Jones-Bishop (Cornwall RLFC).

Tries: Jones-Bishop.

Goals: Rush 1/1.