Australia narrowly beat England 6-0 to win the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and fans are bursting with pride on social media.
Mal Meninga named an unchanged side to the one that beat Fiji in the semi-finals last weekend.
Meanwhile, Wayne Bennett was forced to make changes due to injuries as he brought Chris Heighington and Jonny Lomax in for captain Sean O’Loughlin and Josh Hodgson.
The Kangaroos were 6-0 to the good at the break, with New South Wales skipper Boyd Cordner going over.
Neither side scored in the second half due to some strong defensive work and Australia managed to secure a 6-0 victory to win their second Rugby League World Cup in as many tournaments.
TEAMS
Australia: 1. Billy Slater, 2. Dane Gagai, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Josh Dugan, 5. Valentine Holmes, 6. Michael Morgan, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Cameron Smith (C), 10. David Klemmer, 11. Boyd Cordner, 12. Matt Gillett, 13. Josh McGuire.
Interchange: 14. Wade Graham, 15. Jordan McLean, 16. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 17. Tyson Frizell.
England: 1. Gareth Widdop, 2. Jermaine McGillvary, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. John Bateman, 5. Ryan Hall, 6. Kevin Brown, 7. Luke Gale, 8. Chris Hill, 9. James Roby, 10. James Graham, 16. Ben Currie, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 11. Sam Burgess (C).
Interchange: 14. Alex Walmsley, 15. Tom Burgess, 17. Chris Heighington, 18. Jonny Lomax.
And here is how you reacted to the result on Twitter:
Not quite the cricket score the Aussies predicted, was it?! The boys have done us proud ?????????????????????
— Shereen Smith (@shereen_smith00) December 2, 2017
Well played, lads. You made all of us in England very, very proud today! What a game. #RLWC2017
— Travel News Asia (@TravelNewsAsia) December 2, 2017
Closest we have come in years. We have got to be proud of that display. @England_RL @EnglandRLFans #RugbyLeagueWorldCup #RLWC2017Final #bbcrl
— Jake R Ellis (@TheJRE3) December 2, 2017
Can you guys tell Callum and Jermaine to head to the @NRL asap those guys need to be playing against the best all the time Watkins schooled Dugan
— T24™ (@TFitzgerald24) December 2, 2017
we gave it everything just simply not good enough on attack too many mistakes and lack composure
— ian burns (@ianpburns1) December 2, 2017
Hold your heads high lads no excuses, but surely it should of been a neutral ref???⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
— John Thompson (@johntomo53) December 2, 2017
Great performance from England, the Aussies just had more composure under pressure. English players can be proud of their efforts ?
— Craig Cathcart (@OriginalMrC) December 2, 2017
Gutted! Had the better chances just didn’t execute as well as we could, the gap is only 6 points now or one try! On home soil we will win
— Paul Howarth (@paulhowarth14) December 2, 2017
why didnt we have a new zealand ref and pacific nations line judges i get so frustrated how u can have an aussie ref reffing australia in a world cup final shambles
— ian burns (@ianpburns1) December 2, 2017
That’s the best we’ve ever looked against Australia! Roll on 2021 and I think we’ll have em! #revenge #rugbyleagueworldcup
— Rae Elizabeth (@RachaelHarper18) December 2, 2017
What did you make of England’s display? Let us know in the comments below.
Some very biased reffing in first half 4 players who should not be in squad sick note o louglin Bateman brown and the very quiet today Ben currie.widdop our best weapon should have been in halves wasted at fullback but what a fantastic effort but omg made life easy for em with 5 drives and a bomb every time. First time we threw it about it caused em allsorts of trouble.kevin brown defensively very good offensively poor gale was doing it on his own so close eh if widopp was in halves from start we would have won I feel
I know we lost again and it was a great display . I do feel we are as good as australia but how will we ever know how good we are when we dont have a neutral referee.there were a number of times again in the game when the referee favoured australia with desisions . If you have a neutral referee ie from france newzealand noone can complain .
Forward pass beat england got away again bad lesson for the kids Aussie ref shouldn’t have been allowed to many forward passes let and one cost us a world cup final bad ref
That ref what’s to stay in Australia cos if he ever steps one foot in England the British will linch him did you see the English boys facilities after that game lookt like thay had been to war dirty ausys.cant what till thay land in blitz