Australia were runaway 48-4 winners over Lebanon on the back of masterclasses from Josh Addo-Carr and Cameron Munster, but it was still their worst performance of the World Cup.
Australia’s defence and effort were there, but their constant changes is hurting cohesion and combinations ahead of their blockbuster semi-final likely against New Zealand.
Read on for the key talking points from Australia’s win over Lebanon.
Watch every match of the Rugby League World Cup LIVE & Exclusive to Fox Sports, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
FOXX STUNS WITH FIVE-TRY MASTERCLASS
Josh Addo-Carr came into the game two behind England’s Dominic Young on the World Cup try-scorer’s list, but finished three in front after a five-try blitz.
The man they call the Foxx finished with 113 run metres, two tackle busts, an offload, a linebreak and five tries to finish one behind Valentine Holmes’ Australian record.
Corey Parker and Greg Alexander heaped praise on Addo-Carr for scoring more than half his side’s tries in the nine try to one rout.
“Josh Addo-Carr was terrific with five tries,” Parker said.
“He had three in the first 20 minutes.”
Alexander marvelled at Addo-Carr’s ability to be in the right place at the right time to capitalise on even the slightest error from the defence.
“Cameron Munster provided a couple of pieces of genius play for Josh Addo-Carr,” Alexander said.
“But whenever someone scores five tries in a game and the score was only 48. So we are not talking 80 points. 48 points for Australia and Josh Addo-Carr has crossed five times.
“That’s the highlight of the game for me.
“His speed has been the difference and that’s what the fans love.
“The English fans would just love the speed of Josh Addo-Carr. He was in the right position a number of times.
MORE NRL NEWS
ROO ROUT: Foxx’s FIVE-try statement as Aus thrash Lebanon in WC demolition
PREVIEW: Kiwis ‘still burning’ after humiliation… but Maguire has a ‘game changer’
JIMMY BRINGS: Dogs enter race for $1m Moses signature as Gus pulls off Sydney raid
‘ALWAYS EVOLVING’: O’Brien undecided on Ponga switch amid Knights’ Brooks links
“He is having a great tournament.”
A typically humble Addo-Carr was happy to deflect to his teammates and believes the Kangaroos need to work on their discipline to progress to the final.
“I just thought it was ill-discipline,” Addo-Carr said.
“A couple of calls didn’t go our way, but once we started completing at the back end of the game we started finding some points, but it is what it is.
“I’m grateful for the five tries. We worked really hard through the middle and I’m just grateful to be on the wing. All I have to do is catch the ball and put it down.”
Addo-Carr’s 11-try haul has made a mockery of his brutal Blues Origin snub earlier this year, but the Kangaroos winger is just enjoying playing with his Australian teammates.
“No not at all, it just wasn’t my time this year to play Origin and I have said that many times before,” Addo-Carr said when asked if his World Cup has been about redemption.
“I just love playing with these boys and this coaching staff. I think we have got something special here.
“From the very first day coming into camp I think we just have a bond like no other and you can just see it on the field, that we are having lots of fun and just love having fun in front of the fans. It’s too deadly, it’s mad.”
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
AUSSIES ‘CLUNKY’ WOES CONTINUE IN ‘WORST’ DISPLAY
They may have got the job done easily on the scoreboard, but Australia were again far from their best with ball in hand against Lebanon with a number of glaring errors.
It begs the question could Mal Meninga’s rotation policy be affecting the players’ cohesion and combinations heading into the business end of the tournament?
Corey Parker believes Australia’s performance against Lebanon was their most disappointing of the World Cup to date.
“Coming into the game the Australians had built quite nicely in their first three games, but to be fair and call it as I see it, I think this was their worst performance of the tournament so far,” Parker said.
“Yes they get through 48-4 and quite comprehensively if you look at the score, but 14 errors from the Australians.
“The cohesion and some of the ball movement that we saw. Some of the basic errors that we saw just wasn’t quite up to standard from the Australians, particularly when it looks like they will go on to play the Kiwis next week.
“They got the job done, but I’m not too sure Mal Meninga would be quite impressed with that, particularly that second half.
“14 errors is just not good enough. I just thought at different stages Australia looked way off.”
Greg Alexander agreed Australia need to be much more clinical in attack to win the tournament.
“I agree and clunky is a word we have used quite often in the tournament,” Alexander said.
“The second half was as poorly as they have played.
“Some of the errors were basic. It kept the Lebanese team in the game.
“There is a lot to work on, but the improvement is there.
“This is a great side. This is a team full of great players and I’m sure when they line up against the Kiwis next week it will be a better performance.
“But it will need to be because if it is not going to be easy against New Zealand.”
MUNSTER MAGIC MASKS AUSSIE ISSUE AHEAD OF SEMI-FINAL
Australia are relying on individual brilliance rather than team cohesion at this stage of the World Cup and they need to improve their combinations to go all the way.
Corey Parker and Greg Alexander believe Australia are relying on the class of their players individually, but are yet to put in a clinical team performance.
“I thought performance-wise Isaah Yeo was very good,” Alexander said.
“I thought Liam Martin was good.
“I thought Cameron Munster provided a couple of moments of brilliance that only Cameron Munster can provide.”
Parker believes Australia have the best players in the world, but even they can be beaten if they don’t up their game as a team in the semi-finals.
“Cameron Murray was excellent coming off the bench to score a double,” Parker said.
“They have got too many great players to write them off, but we have got to call it how we see it and I thought that was their worst performance,” Parker said.
“They are going to have to be a lot better and they are going to have to hurry up if they are to go on and beat New Zealand.”
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga was happy to get through the game unscathed, but admitted his side have work to do on their attack.
“I’m happy to get through it all, we are fairly injury free,” Meninga said.
“James Tedesco just got a cork at halftime, so it gave Cherry-Evans a good opportunity to play at No.6 and Munster back to fullback, so we were really happy with getting through the game.
“It was a bit clunky with the ball tonight, but the ruck speed wasn’t great, but we are getting used to that sort of stuff. I was happy with the effort.”
Parker believes a change of mindset going into a game against a formidable opponent could finally bring out the best in Australia’s attack.
“The Australians go into the games and without being disrespectful to the other nations, they know they are going to win the game,” Parker said.
“So maybe their thought process is not quite where it needs to be. A pass might be pushed there. Their timing might be off at different stages.
“Semi-finals looks like it is going to be New Zealand. It is going to be a completely different build-up.
“The players approach the game completely different, so I expect there is enough big game players in the Australian side that they will get it right.
“But Mal used the word clunky himself. The cohesion just wasn’t there.”
Alexander believes Australia need to start building into their tries with clinical play rather than rely on individual brilliance, which won’t be enough on its own in the semi-final.
“Mal’s post match press conferences have all been virtually the same,” Alexander said.
“He is happy with the effort, defence has been great, we have played good field position, but with the ball we have just missed the mark a couple of times.
“I do agree with what he said about the ruck. The ruck is terribly slow.
“There hasn’t been many Australian tries even right throughout the tournament, even though they have scored a stack of them, that have resulted off the back of them building into the try.
“Mostly it is individual breaks. It is linebreaks and players being able to beat defenders. Not very often have they got into a roll.
“We are not building to tries. We are just breaking the line and beating tackles.
“That won’t happen as often against New Zealand. It will be more like an NRL game that one. It is the bets players out of the NRL playing each other.”
