Connect with us

Rugby League World Cup

Highlights as bizarre red card shadows Joey Manu magic in New Zealand win over Lebanon despite try for Wigan Warriors man

Though not brilliant, the world’s number one ranked team New Zealand picked up their first win of the World Cup on route to hopefully topping the group.

It was three tries to one in both halves and in both 40s Lebanon scored first making it really interesting at 18-12.

Lebanon then nearly scored an equaliser before Joey Manu ripped them to pieces to seal the win helped along by a bizarre moment when a Lebanon star was sent off leaving many questioning what exactly happened.

Nonetheless, the Kiwis won 34-12 doing what the needed to.

Highlights:

Lebanon give New Zealand a bloody nose
Lebanon stunned New Zealand with a try in the first set of the game. After a short kick-off from Adam Doueihi, which became a feature of the Cedars’ game, Josh Mansour scored a controversial try after a Mitchell Moses kick, a scramble, a stripped ball and a put down from the winger to give Lebanon the lead.

Kiwis go up the gears to take commanding lead
The rest of the first half saw the world number one ranked side turn up the heat on their opponents resulting in three tries to take command of the game. Nelson Asofa-Solomona got one of them off a lovely offload.

Cedars create a seed of doubt
Lebanon started the second half meaning business and after a lovely 40/20 from Doueihi, a left side raid saw Wigan winger Abbas Miski cross in the corner making it 18-12.

Expansive rugby from Lebanon nearly sees them level
Lebanon were going against convention and getting reward. We mentioned the 40/20s, they also routinely ran on the last play to create an overlap with wingers sitting deep waiting for the kick. At 18-12 they did this again with Mansour breaking and it nearly yielded a try when he kicked inside but the Kiwis dealt with it.

Manu Magic
With the game now in the balance, New Zealand needed someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck and fullback Joey Manu did that. His break led to a lovely try for Dylan Brown before he produced a magnificent solo try twisting out of tackles and dinking over the top and regathering for a brilliant try.

Bizarre red card
Usually we see a yellow card for decent but due to “foul and abusive language” from Doueihi after a kick-off, he was surprisingly given a red card for decent as Lebanon’s hopes completely collapsed. In all the commotion, it also seemed like NRL legend and former Lebanon player Robbie Farah and Lebanon trainer Robbie Farah also sent off. It led to plenty of confusion over what exactly was said and certainly derailed Lebanon as they lost 34-12.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Must See

More in Rugby League World Cup