World Cup Report: Australia 62-0 USA
USA‘s World Cup fairytale came to an end as they were taken apart by a clinical Australia side.
Brett Morris and Jarryd Hayne helped themselves to four tries apiece as the Kangaroos ran in 12 unanswered tries.
The 62-0 victory means Australia have now gone 270 minutes since they last conceded a try at the World Cup, scored by George Burgess for England in the opening game at the Millennium Stadium.
The lady luck that the Tomahawks needed to at least make a game of it was against them from the very start, as Australia retrieved their own kick-off after the ball had come back off the post.
A goal line drop out later, the Kangaroos got over for the first score of the game after two minutes and 33 seconds, Jarryd Hayne going over down the right.
A second score followed 10 minutes later, this time down the other side, as Johnathan Thurston carried it on the last and passed left for Greg Inglis to score.
But then came a bit of USA pressure. Masterful stand-off Joseph Paulo charged down Cooper Cronk‘s kick inside the Australia half, and he was just beaten to the loose ball by Billy Slater.
Paulo’s up and under was then spilled by Morris, giving the Tomahawks a scrum 10 metres out, and although winger Bureto Faraimo went close, they couldn’t find a way over.
Faraimo had another chance moments later when he chased Kristian Freed‘s grubber to the dead ball line, and as Slater waited for it to go out of play, it bounced up for Faraimo to knock back in play, but none of his team mates had gambled on him getting back and the try chance was gone.
It meant after a quarter of the game, the USA were just 10-0 down, but they were eventually broken down from inside their own half.
Morris got on the outside of the USA line to brush off Michael Garvey, before taking on full-back Freed and succeeding for a fine solo effort.
That triggered a clinical spell for the Kangaroos where they scored four tries without the Tomahawks touching the ball.
An offload in midfield helped Hayne to find space on the right, and his pass inside sent Cameron Smith on an easy 30 metre run to the line.
Hayne was involved again for the fifth try, a nice step sending him past Garvey, before offloading inside to Slater, who in turn sent Morris away.
The Kangaroos showed their talents close to the line too, as a set play involving Smith and Paul Gallen led to Cronk darting in untouched from 15 metres on the angle, and that was 30-0 after half an hour.
Morris then grabbed his hat-trick, taking a one handed offload from Inglis, and then climbed higher than opposite number Matt Petersen to take Cronk’s cross field kick, to make it 38-0 at the break.
For the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Tomahawks stood firm, and a big tackle by Roman Hifo on Slater saw the Melbourne Storm full back hobble off.
Inglis broke the brief duck, before Morris was denied what would have been a record breaking fifth try for an Australian in a test match.
Morris then turned provider, making a blistering break tight to the right touchline and setting up Hayne with a smart reverse pass back outside.
After substitute Daly Cherry-Evans, on for Slater, was denied a try by the video referee, Hayne added his hat-trick score off the back of an Australian scrum with less than 10 minutes to play.
Determined to get a score of their own, the USA knocked on the door, but just couldn’t find a way through, coming closest when hooker Tui Samoa was held up over the line by four defenders.
And as Morris searched for his record-breaking score, he was joined on four tries by Hayne, who bulldozed over Freed to score, with Thurston landing the goal on the hooter to round off a professional performance.
Australia: Slater, B Morris, Hayne, Inglis, Boyd, Thurston, Cronk, Scott, Smith, Tamou, Bird, Thaiday, Gallen. Interchanges: Cherry-Evans, Papalii, Fifita, Parker.
Scorers: Tries – B Morris 4, Hayne 4, Inglis 2, Smith, Cronk Goals – Thurston 7/12
USA: Freed, Faraimo, Welch, Garvey, Petersen, Paulo, Priestly, Offerdahl, Luani, Pettybourne, Newton, Shipway, D Howard. Interchanges: Samoa, Hifo, Cantoni, Soloai.
Venue: Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Attendance: 5,672