Having already qualified for the knockout rounds of the competition, Australia will look to keep their unbeaten run at the World Cup going this Saturday when they take on a Lebanon side also looking to progress through the group stage.
With a win over France in their opening game and Australia thrashing France in the second week, Brad Fittler’s side are in the box seat to emerge in third place from the group in what would be a stunning result for the Cedars, but that result is not final just yet.
They’ll be looking to deliver another good performance against the Kangaroos and not damage their for-and-against too much — just on the off chance that England deliver their worst performance of the tournament and allow France to get their first victory.
In terms of the game itself, it’s seemingly straightforward as the tournament favourites take on the lowest ranked nation at the World Cup on home soil at Allianz Stadium.
Mal Meninga has made a few changes to the side that easily accounted for France, while Fittler will welcome back one or two key personnel for this week’s match, but even then, this one will simply be a matter of how well Lebanon can defend against the Kangaroos.
Pool A: Australia vs. Lebanon
MATCH DETAILS
Date — Saturday, November 11, 2017
Time — 8:00pm AEDT
Venue — Allianz Stadium, Sydney
LIVE STREAM AND TV INFORMATION
Live Stream — Channel 7’s https://7live.com.au/ (Australia only)
TV — Click here for a full country-by-country list of TV broadcasts.
TEAM NEWS
Australia |
|
Lebanon |
Valentine Holmes |
1 |
Anthony Layoun |
Dane Gagai |
2 |
Travis Robinson |
Tom Trbojevic |
3 |
James Elias |
Cameron Munster |
4 |
Adam Doueihi |
Josh Mansour |
5 |
Abbas Miski |
James Maloney |
6 |
Mitchell Moses |
Cooper Cronk |
7 |
Robbie Farah (c) |
Aaron Woods |
8 |
Timothy Mannah |
Cameron Smith (c) |
9 |
Michael Lichaa |
David Klemmer |
10 |
Alex Twal |
Boyd Cordner |
11 |
Chris Saab |
Matt Gillett |
12 |
Ahmad Ellaz |
Felise Kaufusi |
13 |
Nick Kassis |
Ben Hunt |
14 |
Mitchell Mamary |
Jordan Mclean |
15 |
Raymond Moujalli |
Reagan Campbell-Gillard |
16 |
Jamie Clark |
Wade Graham |
17 |
Andrew Kazzi |
Reserves (AUS) — Josh McGuire, Michael Morgan, Josh Dugan, Billy Slater
Reserves (LEB) — Jason Webhe, Danny Bakarat, Elias Sukkar, Daniel Abou-Sleiman
RLWC STANDINGS — POOL A
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
F/A |
Points |
Australia |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+60 |
4 |
England |
2 |
1 |
1 |
+5 |
2 |
Lebanon |
2 |
1 |
1 |
-8 |
2 |
France |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-57 |
0 |
HISTORY
This match will see Lebanon and Australia facing off for the first time, with Lebanon having never played a top tier nation before this World Cup. This match will also mark Australia’s first match against a country from Asia since their record setting 110-4 point win over Russia in the 2000 World Cup — a match that saw an incredible 20 tries.
PLAYER TO FOLLOW — David Klemmer, Australia
The Bulldogs powerhouse forward has proved to be a massive handful for his opposition this tournament, running for an impressive 324 metres and making 32 tackles in his two games so far. Klemmer started against England and came off the bench against France, and will return to the starting side here as the Kangaroos look to stamp their authority. Wests Tigers’ prop Alex Twal has been impressive for Lebanon so far, but look for David Klemmer to cause havoc amongst the Lebanese forward pack.
PREDICTION
Lebanon have been the best surprise of the tournament so far, having shown to be more than competitive in their last start against England, and welcoming back both Anthony Layoun and Chris Saab will be a big boost for the Cedars. Even still, it’s hard to see anything but a comprehensive Kangaroos victory occurring here. Australia by 56.
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