In their first Rugby League World Cup match, Greece put up an impressive fight before France finished on top 34-12 in Doncaster.
Greece struggled for yardage early on. Where France started their sets from roughly the 30-metre line, Greece took their first tackle inside the 20. The lack of yardage forced Lachlan Ilias into attempting a 20/40 inside eight minutes.
Rolling Greece backwards, France was able to play a patient brand. It wasn’t long before that dominance with the ball turned into points through Jordan Dezaria. Having already made half a break in yardage, Dezaria showed the ball wide before tucking it under his arm and picking out the Greece hooker in the line.
Too big, too strong.
Billy Magoulias put in an impressive opening shift, often taking multiple carries in a set or playing another forward onto the ball. Ilias followed him closely looking for any opportunity to run or kick behind a quick play-the-ball. Those opportunities were few and far between, though.
A strong Siteni Taukamo carry off a 20-metre restart translated into two attacking sets in good ball. Presented with a penalty in front of the post, Greece made their intentions clear by waving away the gift two points and opting to attack the line. Having held the ball on the previous shift to the right, Chaise Robinson let go of the next one but Johnny Mitsias couldn’t reel it in.
Tony Gigot’s poor kicking game continued to provide Greece free passage up the field early. Still, the French defence held firm through the middle to ensure their advantage in yardage remained.
You could see the professionalism of the French side in defence. Getting off their line quickly, they made things difficult for an inexperienced Greece side. They played at a speed that, provided the defence didn’t leak points, would produce points in the end.
A Robinson chip and chase out of his own end put Greece on the front foot only for the 5th tackle kick to go dead. With it, France surged up the field before their own kick on the last ended with Gigot dotting the ball down just inside the in-goal line to make it 14-0 in the 29th minute.
A Mitchell Zampetides penalty soon provided France with another opportunity to attack in good ball.
As expected, France did their work through the middle. Justin Sangare’s carry attracted four Greek defenders on the line. Stretching the defence down the right edge, Alrix Da Costa hit Benjamin Jullien on a nice overs line.
Sangare’s carry is what created the try. France carries some big bodies in the middle and regularly forced Greece into committing three or four defenders into the tackle.
Greece created an opportunity for themselves to start the second half well. A massive shot from Johnny Mitsias produced an error. However, as was the case in the first half, Greece lacked the quality in the final third. It’s where the speed of the game caught up with them most as France’s line speed forced quick decisions and often errors.
In response, France picked up where they left off by surging up the field with relative ease for Arthur Mourgue to push the lead out to 26-0.
A valiant Greece did get their reward, though.
Having shown no fear throughout the 55 minutes, a grubber from 40 metres out produced the goods. Warriors fans will know the name with an Under 20’s legend in Jordan Meads poking one through for Siteni Taukamo to score Greece’s first Rugby League World Cup try.
The try provided Greece – and this game – a much-needed lift heading into the final 20 minutes. All of a sudden, Greece found their second wind. France, on the other hand, appeared rattled. They’d moved away from what worked in the first half and lost their momentum through the middle.
Greece’s recovery can best be summed up by the fact that France, when presented with a penalty in front of the posts with a 26-6 lead with 15 minutes to play, took the two points.
A second try to Jullien shortly before full-time looked to be the last points of the game until Greece produced a moment of magic to finish.
A Billy Magoulias chip over to Nick Mougious who produced a lovely in-and-away on the fullback capped off an impressive Greece performance in defeat. For France, the 34-12 final score highlights their lack of intensity in the second half – something they will need to fix moving forward.
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Key Takeaways
Greece made it
“It is a tale that involves arrests, midnight matches and Facebook posts advertising fake qualifying games.” – Greeks get RLWC reward for persistence via George Clarke
It was always going to be difficult for Greece to compete on the scoreboard but just being there on the day is a significant achievement for rugby league in the country. It’s difficult enough to grow a sport from nothing, and Greece have taken a particularly hard path to the Rugby League World Cup.
You can’t help but be impressed with the way this squad constantly responded. It looked as though it could get away from them in the second half but they pushed France to the end and didn’t allow them to check out early.
Greece is in a tough pool with Samoa and England to come. The results are unlikely to get any better. Still, we can expect them to put in a tough fight to start both games at the very least.
France through the middle
It will be a different story against the more established middles and Tony Gigot’s kicking game will need to improve, but the French pack performed well in yardage.
Jordan Dezaria got things started. He made half a break early using some late footwork at the line. Mickael Goudemand provided punch off the bench for France to have 1,102 running metres at halftime and 1,942 for the match. At 191 cm and 115 kg, Justin Sangare is a big unit and carried multiple defenders up the field throughout his stint. His carry and play-the-ball created Jullien’s try in the 33rd minute, too.
They fell away in the second half. It looked to be more down to complacency than anything else. While that will concern the coaching staff, France showed enough in this one to suggest they can hold up relatively well against Samoa and England.
Chaise Robinson
Greece struggled for repeatable actions leading to points but Chaise Robinson looked the most likely to produce throughout the 80 minutes. Dangerous down the right edge, he couldn’t quite add the icing on the cake when the ball moved that way. Playing with confidence, he regathered his own chip while coming out of yardage as Greece searched for a way up the field. Greece struggled in good ball overall. It won’t be a surprise to see Robinson create something across the next two games, though.
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Rugby League World Cup Round 1 Results
England 60 def. Samoa 6
Australia 42 def. Fiji 8
Italy 28 def. Scotland 4
Ireland 48 def. Jamaica 2
New Zealand 34 def. Lebanon 12
France 34 def. Greece 12