photos by Jeff Heck

The Student World Cup kicked off in atrocious weather conditions at Griffith University in Brisbane on Saturday, with torrential rain for most of the morning impacting on the first round of matches.

While Mother Nature may have prevented a free-flowing rugby league spectacle, the weather did not deter the spirit of the eight competing teams, with all nations showing courage and skill throughout the tournaments soggy opening day.

Approximately 500 brave souls were on hand for the opening day’s festivities, with the cold but vocal crowd saving their loudest cheers for the highly anticipated grudge match between bitter arch-rivals, Australia and England.

In a torrid affair punctuated by bruising big hits and probing attacking kicks, the Australian’s superior fitness and skilful combinations saw them overcome a spirited English side, 24-0.

The match was in the balance for the majority of the second half, with the home side only skipping away midway through the second stanza with two tries to centre Josh Whitty, with fullback Brad Horder crossing late.

After a brutal opening half hour, it was a sublime face ball from Australian five-eighth Brogan Gibson that put backrower Eugene Seddon over for the opening points, with co-captain Drew Dalton’s conversion handing the home side a deserved 6-0 half-time lead.

A penalty goal to Dalton just after the resumption pushed Australia out to an 8-0 lead, before some sustained Australian attack produced a try for elusive centre Whitty.

Whitty capped off a memorable night when he backed up a great break by winger Dean Bannerman to cross for his second try of the match, with Dalton’s third goal pushing the host nation out to an unbeatable 18-0 lead, with Horder’s try late in the piece rubbing further salt into the English wounds.

Tournament favourites and defending champions New Zealand struggled in Brisbane’s inclement weather conditions, battling their way to a determined 22-10 victory over a dogged French outfit.

New Zealand were expected to make light work of their much smaller French opponents, but with the scores locked at 10-all for the majority of the second half, an upset looked on the cards.

But two late tries by Kiwis five-eighth Royaldo Leoni handed the three-time champions a hard fought victory, with New Zealand hoping for a dry track ahead of their next pool match against Wales on Tuesday night.

The Welsh dominated the tournament’s second match, turning a commanding 20-0 half-time lead into a comfortable 32-12 victory over a plucky Irish outfit.

In what was a tale of two halves, Wales ran in three quick tries before the break to open up a handy lead, but a much more spirited second half effort from the Irish lads saw them add some respectability to the scoreboard throughout a tense second stanza.

Christian Roets led the way for the Welsh with two tries with Grant Epton, Rhys Griffiths and Craig Fox also crossing. Gareth David kicked four conversions and a penalty while Lloyd White also added a conversion.

Debutant nation Greece provided the tournament’s first upset, defeating 2005 semi-finalists Scotland 14-0 in an exciting, yet brutal encounter.

Despite having only a handful of training runs together as a unit, the Greeks displayed tremendous composure and grit to defeat the unlucky Scots, with flashy winger Michael Giorgas the two-try hero for Greece.