Australia 18 def England 4
The Kangaroos did enough against a brave England team in the opening game of the tournament. Billy Slater was arguably best afield as he played his first game in the Green and Gold for three and a half years. Cameron Smith was at his masterful best at dummy half while Jordan McLean provided a strong impact in his international debut, playing 26 minutes off the bench.
Billy Slater – 1 try, 2 line breaks, 220 metres
Will Chambers – 27 tackles, 152 metres
Cameron Smith – 3 goals, 40 tackles, 53 metres
Jordan McLean – 20 tackles, 95 metres
Cooper Cronk – 51 metres
Samoa 8 def by New Zealand 38
A dominant debut for Nelson who came off the bench to play 41 minutes and run for a whopping 180 metres.
He was rewarded by scoring the Kiwis’ seventh and final try in the 72nd minute. Asofa-Solomona enjoyed a breakout NRL season and it looks as though the 21-year-old has continued that form on the international stage. Tonumaipea had a game-high 116 metres for Samoa, performing well at fullback under a mountain of pressure.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona – 1 try, 1 line break, 20 tackles, 180 metres
Young Tonumaipea – 116 metres
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Fiji 58 def USA 12
Suli scored a try in each half while assisting in another and was simply unstoppable with a game-high 187 running metres. His Storm teammate Kamikamica was equally impressive at lock, running for 122 metres up the middle.
Suliasi Vunivalu – 2 tries, 2 line breaks, 1 try assist, 187 metres
Tui Kamikamica – 1 line break, 19 tackles, 122 metres
Papua New Guinea 50 def Wales 6
The Kumuls ran riot in front of a sold out home crowd. Storm winger Justin Olam was in the thick of the try-scoring action, crossing the line in the 56th minute. It was one of 10 tries PNG managed as they hosted their first World Cup game since 1991.
Justin Olam – 1 try, 11 runs, 118 metres
