Kumuls open World Cup campaign with 50-6 triumph

It was sweet revenge for the PNG LNG Kumuls who romped home to a historic 50-6 win over Wales in front of a sold-out crowd in Port Moresby this afternoon.

Kumuls captain, David Mead and second rower, Rhyse Martin featured in the 10 tries to one thumping of the Dragons.

It was the Ase Boas, Wartovo Puara Jr and David Mead show to start things off.

The combination of the trio proved lethal with a double to Mead in the first ten minutes.

The Kumuls smelled more points and continued to hunt for more down the right wing.

Boas again played a hand in the third try, this time putting Nene Macdonald through a gap to score.

A change in the kicking duties from Boas to Martin saw the first successful conversion bringing the score out to 14-0, after 22 minutes.

Signs of fatigue were written all over the faces of the Welshmen who struggled to keep up under scorching conditions.

And the points continued to come easily with tries to Kato Ottio and Wellington Albert in the shadows of half-time.

Martin wanted a piece of the action and snuck in for two quick tries in the opening minutes of the second half, to put the Kumuls firmly in the driver’s seat.

He was only getting started and set up the next try with a grubber for a flying Justin Olam to pounce on.

Mead’s third of the match came in the 60th minute thanks to a short kick from James Segeyaro.

Payback for the Kumuls continued into the last ten minutes with Paul Aiton scoring the last of the Kumuls tries against the ninth ranked side in the world.

Martin brought up the 50 points adding the extras to make it 5/8.

Wales did finally get on the board right on the full time siren through winger Regan Grace who picked up a loose ball to score. Courtney Davies converted the try.

But it did little to dampen the spirits of the Kumuls who entered the history books winning their first Rugby League World Cup match on home soil, and registering their biggest win ever at a World Cup.

“The win was special for us. A dream come true. It was sweet revenge when looking back to our games against Wales in previous World Cups. It was a cold night back then, and today it was a very hot day. We returned the favor.

“But we still have a lot of work to do,” said Kumuls assistant coach, Marcus Bai.

“We didn’t perform well in all aspects of the game. We let ourselves down,” said Wales coach, John Kear.

PNG Kumuls 50 (Mead 3, Martin 2, MacDonald, Ottio, Albert, Olam, Aiton tries; Martin 5 goals) defeated Wales 6 (Grace try; Davies goal).

Author: 
Troy Taule
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