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Pacific Islands slammed 46 unanswered second-half points on Wales in Brisbane on Friday night to clinch the Student Rugby League World Cup Shield trophy. Dean Scully’s missed penalty was the nearest Wales got to scoring after half-time.
It took just two minutes for Ramon Filipine to break the deadlock for the Islanders first try. Liu Faamate made it 10-0 in the sixth minute and Filipine’s 50-metre run made it 16-0 after only 12 minutes.
It was 22-0 just seven minutes later. Keli Fukofuka’s kick was picked up by Filipine who laid the ball nicely off to Josh Stowers who scored under the sticks.
Wales finally got some points on the board in the 27th minute after an excellent Pete Moore run led to a Jon Brinkworth try, but Stowers responded almost immediately with his second try of the evening.
Wales fought back with two tries in the last five minutes of the first half. First Neil Davies ran straight through the defence to ground, then after the referee controversially didn’t award a penalty after Brinkworth was kicked in the head, Phil Carleton finished off a 60-metre move starting with Davies at dummy half and an excellent pass to Carleton from Matt Jackson.
Phillip Breslin won the man of the match award after scoring the first two and final two tries of the Islanders’ eight try second half feast. His penultimate being a length of the field move involving Liu Faamate as well as Reggie Peranara, who got two tries for himself in the second period. Filipine and Keli Fukofuka also each added another try to the match tally.
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Wales’ sixth place in the World Cup is a fair reflection of their performance in the tournament as a whole but as the Islanders showed superior strength, size and skill and one can only wonder why they didn’t go further.
WALES: Matt Jackson, Andrew Bond, Gavin Curry, Dean Scully, Ben Smith, Phil Carleton, Pete Moore, Dewi Scourfield, Dan ap Dafydd, Matt Drew, Gareth Morgan, Neil Davies, Dennis Pugh. Subs (all used): Austin Saunders, Jason Massey, Mark Burke, Neil Hesketh, Jon Brinkworth, Ross Olney.
Tries: Brinkworth (27), Davies (36), Carleton (38).
Goals: Scully 3/4
PACIFIC ISLANDS: Wil Wishere, Bruno Schwartz, John Rece, Sam Valaau, Phillip Breslin, Sione Fukofuka, Josh Stowers, David Trone, Luke Srama, Peter Pilou, Junior Alesano, Liu Faamate, Keli Fukofuka. Subs (all used): Helmy Souvannvone, Eddie Aila, Reggie Peranara, Ramon Filipine, Bobby Makau, Nic Williams.
Tries: Filipine (2, 12, 72), Faamate (6), Stowers (19, 29, 58), Breslin (42, 56, 75, 77), K.Fukofuka (66).
Goals: Stowers 5/6, Faamate 3/3, Pilou 1/1, Peranara 1/1, Rece 1/1, K.Fukofuka 1/1
Gamestar: The skilful Phillip Breslin with four tries.
Gamebreaker: The half-time interval. Wales were on top just before half-time with their confidence growing but were never in the game after that.
Men of the Match:
Wales – Ben Smith.
Pacific Islands – Phillip Breslin.
Referee: Matt Hawkins (Australia).
Half-time 18-28
Article by Ian Golden
15 Jul 2005
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