Australia vs New Zealand achieves staggering viewing figures in Rugby League World Cup semi-final

Australia’s clash with New Zealand is regarded as one of the all time great Rugby League World Cup clashes.

The two sides met at Elland Road on Friday night. The Kangaroos went into the contest as the World Cup holders but were up against the number one ranked team in the world in the shape of the Kiwis.

28,113 fans packed into Leeds United’s stadium for the contest which was akin to State of Origin in its ferocity.

New Zealand had the better of the first half with tries from Jahrome Hughes and Dylan Brown giving them a 14-10 lead at the break with Josh Addo-Carr scoring a sensational try for Australia alongside a terrific score from Valentine Holmes.

However, Australia built pressure in the second 40 bossing proceedings and eventually taking 16-14 lead through a simple Cameron Murray try.

In the second half, Peta Hiku had two tries disallowed showing just close the game was as Australia held on for the win.

They will now meet Samoa in the Rugby League World Cup Final.

Though England won’t be contesting the final, it’s likely to still achieve decent viewing figures based on this semi-final with a reported average audience of 988,000 which peaked at 1.5 million on Friday night.

Let’s hope the final is as good as the two semi-finals and shows millions of people again how great our sport is.