New Zealand at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup
The 2013 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team to compete at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. New Zealand won Pool B of the tournament as well as their quarter and semi-finals, before losing to Australia 2-34 in the World Cup final.
New Zealand were the defending World Cup champions after winning the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
Background
[edit]Alongside Australia and France, New Zealand have competed at all thirteen World Cups. New Zealand finished runner up in 1988 and 2000 before winning the 2008 World Cup by defeating Australia 34-20 in the final.
After the 2008 tournament, international football focused on three Four Nations tournaments held between 2009 and 2011. New Zealand won the 2010 tournament but finished third in 2009 and 2011. New Zealand also lost four Anzac Test matches to Australia in this period and two trans-Tasman test matches.
Build up
[edit]New Zealand held a pre-season training camp in Sydney in January 2013 to start their World Cup build up. The camp involved between 30 and 40 players and was funded by Sport New Zealand.[1]
In February, Benji Marshall was stripped of the captaincy and replaced with Simon Mannering. Marshall had been the Kiwis captain since 2009 but his form had been poor at international level as captain.[2][3]
The New Zealand Kiwis played the annual ANZAC test against Australia at Canberra Stadium on 19 April, losing 12-32.[4][5] The squad was Josh Hoffman, Sam Perrett, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Dean Whare, Jason Nightingale, Kieran Foran (c), Shaun Johnson, Jesse Bromwich, Issac Luke, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank Pritchard, Kevin Proctor, Alex Glenn, Bench: Elijah Taylor, Sam McKendry, Ben Matulino, Tohu Harris. Captain Simon Mannering was ruled out on the day of the test, with Glenn replacing him in the starting side and Harris joining the bench. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was the reserve.[6][7]
Benji Marshall signed for rugby union franchise the Blues in August, making him unavailable for the Kiwis World Cup squad. Sonny Bill Williams also declared himself unavailable for the World Cup.
During the 2013 NRL Grand Final, Shaun Kenny-Dowall was injured and was subsequently ruled out of the World Cup.
Following the naming of the squad, Sonny Bill Williams declared that he would be available for the tournament. After deliberation, he was added to the squad at the expense of Tohu Harris.[8] Harris declined the offer to travel with the squad as a travelling reserve.
The Kiwis assembled in Narrabeen, Sydney for a two-day training camp before flying to the United Kingdom.
Staff
[edit]- Head Coach: Stephen Kearney
- Assistant Coach: Tony Iro
The national selectors were Richie Barnett, Ivan Cleary, Stephen Kearney and Tawera Nikau, with Tony Iro serving as the convenor of selectors.[9]
Squad
[edit]Train-on squad
[edit]An initial training squad was named on 11 September 2015 and added to as teams were eliminated from the NRL finals.[9][10][11]
Brisbane Broncos: Alex Glenn, Josh Hoffman
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: Greg Eastwood, Krisnan Inu, Sam Kasiano, Sam Perrett, Frank Pritchard
Melbourne Storm: Jesse Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Kevin Proctor
North Queensland Cowboys: Jason Taumalolo, Antonio Winterstein
St George Illawarra Dragons: Bronson Harrison, Jason Nightingale
Penrith Panthers: Lewis Brown, Sam McKendry, Dean Whare
New Zealand Warriors: Shaun Johnson, Thomas Leuluai, Kevin Locke, Simon Mannering, Ben Matulino, Sam Rapira, Elijah Taylor, Manu Vatuvei
Wests Tigers: Adam Blair, Tim Simona
Unavailable: Gerard Beale, Benji Marshall
Final squad
[edit]Fixtures
[edit]Warm up match
[edit]New Zealand played a warm up match against the Cook Islands on 20 October in Doncaster. The match was played with unlimited interchange and as a result was not regarded as a test match. It was Simon Mannering's first match as Kiwis captain. The halftime score was 24-0.
20 October 2013
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New Zealand 
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50–0 |  Cook Islands
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|---|---|---|
| Tries: Jason Nightingale (2), Bryson Goodwin (2), Elijah Taylor, Manu Vatuvei, Shaun Johnson, Kevin Locke Goals: Shaun Johnson (4), Bryson Goodwin (2), Kevin Locke (1) |
[12] |
Doncaster
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1 Josh Hoffman, 2 Jason Nightingale, 3 Krisnan Inu, 4 Dean Whare, 5 Manu Vatuvei, 6 Kieran Foran, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Sam Kasiano, 11 Frank Pritchard, 12 Simon Mannering (c), 13 Elijah Taylor. Interchange: 14 Greg Eastwood, 15 Ben Matulino, 16 Alex Glenn, 17 Kevin Locke, 18 Bryson Goodwin, 19 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
World Cup Pool B
[edit]| Pld | W | D | L | TF | PF | PA | +/− | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 146 | 34 | +112 | 6 |
 Samoa
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 84 | 52 | +32 | 4 |
 France
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3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 78 | –63 | 2 |
 Papua New Guinea
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 103 | –81 | 0 |
Samoa
[edit]27 October 2013
18:00 |
| New Zealand
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42–24 | Samoa
|
|---|---|---|
| Try: Hoffman 11' c Mannering (2) 15' c, 22' c Tuivasa-Sheck 17' m Vatuvei (3) 43' m, 49' m, 73' c Luke 45' c Goal: Johnson (5/8) 10', 15', 23', 46', 73' |
Report[usurped] |
Try: Roberts 39' m Leilua 52' m Manumalealii 57' m Matagi 60' c A. Winterstein 65' c Goal: Milford (2/5) 61', 65' |
Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
Attendance: 14,965 Referee: Richard Silverwood (England) Player of the Match: Dean Whare (New Zealand) |
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Touch Judges:
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France
[edit]1 November 2013
20:00 |
| New Zealand
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48–0 | France
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|---|---|---|
| Try: Inu 6' c Goodwin 24' c Nu'uausala (2) 39' c, 75' c Johnson (2) 51' c, 55' c Eastwood 65' c Tuivasa-Sheck 80' c Goal: Johnson (8/8) 7', 26', 39', 51', 56', 66', 76', 80' |
Report[usurped] |
Parc des Sports, Avignon
Attendance: 17,518 Referee: Phil Bentham (England) Player of the Match: Shaun Johnson (New Zealand) |
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  Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Zealand v France RLWC, 1 Nov 2013. Touch Judges:
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Papua New Guinea
[edit]8 November 2013
20:00 |
| New Zealand
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56–10 | Papua New Guinea
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|---|---|---|
| Try: Goodwin 4' c Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 7' c, 11' c Williams (3) 15' c, 27' c, 40' c Nu'uausala 30' m Whare (2) 50' c, 56' c Taylor 67' m Goal: Johnson (8/10) 4', 8', 12', 16', 28', 40', 51', 58' |
Report[usurped] |
Try: Aiye 41' c Albert 78' m Goal: Paniu (1/2) 43' |
Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds
Attendance: 18,180 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Player of the Match: Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand) |
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Touch Judges:
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The 18,180 attendance was higher than all but one of Leeds Rhinos' home Super League attendances for 2013.[13]
Quarter-final
[edit]15 November 2013
20:00 |
| New Zealand
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40–4 |  Scotland
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|---|---|---|
| Try: Goodwin (2) 8' m, 71' m Bromwich 15' c Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 20' m, 50' c Pritchard 27' c Johnson 30' c Vatuvei 58' m Goal: Johnson (4/8) 17, 28', 31', 51' |
Report[usurped] |
Try: Hurst 67' m Goal: Brough (0/1) |
Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds
Attendance: 16,207 Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia) Player of the Match: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (New Zealand) |
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Touch Judges:
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Semi-final
[edit]New Zealand won the match when Shaun Johnson scored a try with 20 seconds remaining.[14]
23 November 2013
13:00 |
| New Zealand
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20–18 |  England
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|---|---|---|
| Try: Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 31' c, 44' m Johnson 80' c Goal: Johnson (4/5) 33', 38', 53' 80' |
Report[usurped] |
Try: O'Loughlin 16' c Watkins 58' m S. Burgess 67' c Goal: Sinfield (3/4) 17', 25', 68' |
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 67,545 Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia) Player of the Match: Sam Burgess |
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Touch Judges:
James Child (England)
Grant Atkins (Australia)
Video Referee:
Ashley Klein (Australia)
Final
[edit]30 November 2013
14:30 |
| New Zealand
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2–34 |  Australia
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|---|---|---|
| Tries: Goals: Shaun Johnson (1/1) 16' |
Report[usurped] |
Tries: Billy Slater (2) 19' c, 41' c Cooper Cronk 30' c Brett Morris (2) 52' c, 72' c Goals: Johnathan Thurston (7/7) 4', 19', 30', 35', 41', 52', 72' |
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance: 74,468[15] Referee: Richard Silverwood Player of the Match: Johnathan Thurston |
         New Zealand
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    Australia
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Touch Judges:
Video Referee:
Aftermath
[edit]During the tournament several players were accused of mixing sleeping pills with energy drinks to help their recovery. While not illegal, concerns were raised by New Zealand support staff.[16][17] Sonny Bill Williams and Kieran Foran were named as two of the players involved.[18] The All Blacks had a similar problem at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.[19] The National Rugby League set up a taskforce in response to the issue, with NZRL represented by high performance manager Tony Iro.[20]
The NZRL's player of the year was Kieran Foran.[21]
Following a post campaign review, the NZRL re-appointed Stephen Kearney for two more years, with an option to renew the contract until the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[20]
References
[edit]- ^ Base camp before league summit ascent New Zealand Herald, 20 January 2013
- ^ New Zealand drop Marshall as World Cup captain[dead link] AFP, 27 February 2013
- ^ Benji Marshall stripped of Kiwis captaincy stuff.co.nz, 28 February 2013
- ^ Canberra to host 2013 Anzac league test stuff.co.nz, 15 August 2012
- ^ Luckless Kiwis bemoan video ref rulings stuff.co.nz, 20 April 2013
- ^ Foran looks to brain not brawn to defeat rivals New Zealand Herald, 19 April 2013
- ^ Kiwis captain Mannering out of Anzac test stuff.co.nz, 19 April 2013
- ^ Sonny Bill Williams added to Kiwis squad nzrl.co.nz
- ^ a b "Third announcement of Kiwis RLWC train-on squad".
- ^ "First Kiwis RLWC train-on squad named".
- ^ "Second Announcement of Kiwis RLWC Train-On Squad".
- ^ "Kiwis carve up the Cooks". Stuff.
- ^ Smith, Peter (4 December 2013). "RLWC2013: Tournament raises RL's world standing". Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ^ James Riach (23 November 2013). "New Zealand 20-18 England - Rugby League World Cup semi-final report". the Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ Fitzgibbon, Liam (1 December 2013). "Clinical Kangaroos crowned World Champions". 3News. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
- ^ "Rugby league to investigate Kiwis' use of pills". Stuff. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "Kiwis look into possible prescription drug misuse at World Cup". the Guardian. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "Cup scandal erupts: Sonny Bill Williams and Kieran Foran under investigation for mixing pills and drinks". Daily Telegraph. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ^ "All Blacks in 'silly' sleeping pill antics at World Cup". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Stephen Kearney re-appointed as Kiwis coach". stuff.co.nz. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ^ Fairfax (10 December 2013). "Kieran Foran named NZRL player of the year". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2013.