Australia meet Samoa in Darwin on Friday in the quarter-finals of the 2017 World Cup. After Tonga beat New Zealand in the group stage, the first time a tier two nation has ever beaten one of the ‘Big Three’ in a World Cup, speculation has grown over which of the favourites will be the next to fall and on changing of the world order in rugby league.
The world champion Kangaroos have not yet lost a match under Meninga, with the coach enjoying eight wins from eight matches. The last game Australia lost was to New Zealand in the Anzac Test in May 2015. The green and gold have not been defeated by another side, other than the Kiwis, since Great Britain back in 2006 and France in 1978.
Asked if he had ever considered what it would be like to be on the end of a loss to a tier two nation, Meninga joked: “If I start doing that I’d lose plenty of sleep.”
The coach went on to say: “You think about it all the time, to be honest with you. Have we done enough, have we done too much [in preparation]? It’s that balance getting it all right. The players [are] preparing really well, some good signs internally at the moment around what they’re doing to help themselves be successful. You think about it all the time – losing – but you keep making sure you’re not complacent yourself personally, as a leader in the group, and everything we’ll be doing is all conditioned around being successful.”
With Australia without the likes of injured stars Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and Greg Inglis, and with 2013 World Cup winning Kangaroos Jarryd Hayne, Andrew Fifita, Michael Jennings and Josh Papalii playing for Fiji, Tonga and Samoa respectively, some believe the gap between the tiers is closing. Fiji will meet New Zealand in the quarter-finals while Papau New Guinea will tackle England and Tonga clash with Lebanon.
Billy Slater, Australia’s veteran fullback who has played 27 Tests for his country, said the Kangaroos don’t think about what a colossal upset would feel like.
“Not really, it’s about us preparing well and respecting our opposition,” he said.
“We’re under no illusions how tough this game is going to be. We play against the Samoan guys week-in-week-out. It’s probably a match where we’re aware of what’s in front us where, in the last couple of weeks, we probably didn’t know much about the opposition. We know how dangerous the guys in the Samoan team are.
“Obviously what Tonga did last week is great for the Tongan boys and their people. There was some great scenes in New Zealand and I’m sure the Kiwis wouldn’t have been too happy about it. It’s not about that for us, it’s playing the best we can each week. It’s a quarter-final, it’s a knockout. We need to perform well for our country.”
Meninga is expecting a “torrid affair” against Toa Samoa in the Northern Territory.
“We need to make sure we put the effort in,” he said.
“They’ll come ready to go, they haven’t played well through the tournament so they’ve got a point to prove. It’s going to be tough conditions. We all know the ball is going to be slippery. Our real big emphasis is on ball control.”
