There is one group still to get underway at the Rugby League World Cup and it does so on Tuesday evening when dark horses Tonga take on Papua New Guinea in a wonderful looking way to open up Group D in St Helens.
Tonga have put a decent squad together for this tournament and will be expected to dominate this section but Papua New Guinea have plenty of pride and passion and will be determined to put on a show of their own.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BBC Three channel. The build-up in St Helens begins at 7.05pm with kick off coming at 7.30pm. The action will also be on the BBC iPlayer.
Tonga
The Tongans were the semi-finalists in the World Cup back in 2017 and they are seeded to go that deep in the competition again but with the squad they have put together for the tournament it could very well be that they go one or two steps further than that. This is a powerful looking Tonga outfit and if they get on a roll they could really do some damage not just in this match but in the competition as a whole.
Tonga are clearly taking this tournament seriously. They have played a warm up match which they took France to the cleaners in. They will build from that and have a coach in Kristian Wolff who is sure to have them tight defensively. The key as the tournament progresses will be how the Tongan attack can look but with the power they have up the middle combined with the quality they have in the backs it is not hard to see why Tonga are fancied for success in this event.
Papua New Guinea
This will be the eighth successive time that Papua New Guinea have been to the World Cup. They are yet to go beyond the quarter final stage and getting to that position will be their first focus in this tournament. They are the second best team in the group on paper but we’ve already seen the odd shock result in this event so they can’t rest on their laurels. They have to show they are the second best team on the field not just on paper.
As was the case five years ago, there is a mix of players from the NRL and the Super League in this Papua New Guinea side but there are also a lot of part-time players and the success or otherwise of this side will be determined by how they go over the course of the competition. The one positive PNG have over some teams in the tournament is they have a reliable goal kicker in Rhyse Martin and in tight matches that could be significant.
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Team News
Tonga coach Kristian Wolff has chosen not to select St Helens stars Konrad Hurrell and Will Hopoate for this opening match on their home ground. Both are out with niggles while Agnatius Paasi is another who will miss out here. Skipper Jason Taumololo is suspended.
Papua New Guinea will be looking to the NRL try machine Alex Johnston to convert the openings which comes their way. Melbourne Storm duo Xavier Coates and Justin Olam will also look to show their class in this one.
Betting
Tonga are missing a few key players for this opening match of the tournament which might well give Papua New Guinea the chance of covering a fairly hefty looking handicap, although it wouldn’t look that big were Tonga not missing one or two players. I’m put off taking it though because Papua New Guinea were wiped out by a Prime Minister’s XIII back home before heading over to England for this event and that doesn’t bode well to me.
Instead I’ll head to the try markets for this match. David Fifita scored a hat trick in a recent warm up win over France a week or so ago and with Konrad Hurrell missing he could play in the centres or on the edge. We know Kristian Wolff likes his forwards to attempt to break the line and Fifita is such that if he breaks the line he can be a nightmare to stop. We’ve seen that in Super League plenty of times and I fancy we might see it again here. He is 5/4 to score a try and that looks a decent price to me.
Tips
Back D.Fifita Anytime Tryscorer for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Bet365
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