The first weekend of November saw the continuation of the 4 Nations and the final conclusions to the European Nations Cup.
To open up proceedings with the Aussies taking on an under strength France at Paris’ Charlety Stadium. As expected the first half showed great resistance from the French team to only be down 8-0 at the break, but the the expected flood came in the second half when Australia’s backs went up and wreaked havoc on the French. Jennings and the Morris Brothers starring bagging six try’s between them. Australia winning 42-4 This win secures a finals spot for Australia as most pundits expected, the only question was who would be their opponents?
This was decided a few hours later when the English took and stung the World Champion Kiwis. In what was a fairly physical encounter the English were on song from the get go. Unlike their previous two games where they had slow starts the 3-Lions came out and troubled the Kiwis from the first minute. In the end the English had won 20-12 in front of 19,000 at the Galpharm, which sits in Rugby Leagues heart, Huddersfield. The English fans obviously are very optimistic and in reality an England v Australia Final is the best there could have been for this tournament. This match should be a sell out next weekend.
Final standings in the pool matches:
| 4 NATIONS | ||||||
| Country | P | W | D | L | PD | PT |
| Australia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 5 |
| England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 4 |
| New Zealand | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 3 |
| France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -110 | 0 |
The European Cup finally come to a conclusion this weekend. With the absolutely shocking weather the relegation and ranking matches were moved to the Old Parish in Maesteg while the final was still at Bridgend.
The relegation match saw what was an upset to many. With Italy having a big win against the Serbians 42-14. This means that next year it will be Italy that stay in the European Cup to play for a spot in the 2011 4 Nations tournament while the Serbians go back down to the European Shield to face old enemies Germany and the Czech Republic again. In the ranking match Lebanon got some revenge over the Irish by defeating them 40-16. This in many ways was sweet revenge for the two draws in the qualifiers of the World Cup which Ireland eventually qualified into.
The Final saw the Welsh take on the Scots at the Crusaders Brewery Field. In what was once again a tight contest the Welsh were able to beat their Celtic rivals 28-16. This was vindication for their narrow loss to the Scottish to qualify for the World Cup. This has been new coaches, Iestyn Harris, first silverware and only his fourth match at the helm of the national side. The last times Wales won the European cup was in 1995 and this win also signals the start of what is hoped as Wales’ re-emergence as a rugby league power house once again.
The final rankings for the European Cup are:
Build up for the Atlantic Cup continues with more sponsors coming on board, this time Three Olive Vodka. The press conference as been called for the 13th of November as well the emblem for the Atlantic cup has been released.
The teams for Jamaica and the USA have also been released:
USA Tomahawks squad: GARETH BAXENDALE (New York Knights), LOUIS TULIO (Aston Bulls), NATE SMITH (Connecticut Wildcats), DERRICK ROMA(New Haven Warriors), GENE GIALLOMBARDO (Aston Bulls), APPLE POPE (Jacksonville Axemen), SEAN TAYLOR (New York Knights), SIOSE MULIUMU (New Haven Warriors), CURTIS CUNZ (Connecticut Wildcats), KEA MISIPEKA (New Haven Warriors), MIKE BRAZILL (Aston Bulls), BOB KNOEPFEL (Jacksonville Axemen), JOHN GRACE (Aston Bulls), EWAN ROBINSON (New Haven Warriors), TACO POPE (Jacksonville Axemen), KEIKEOKALANI MISIPEKA (New Haven Warriors), MICHAEL CARTWRIGHT (New York Knights)
Jamaican squad: Duane Nelson (Dudley Hill ARLFC), Wayne Allen Rettie (York City Knights RLFC), Michael Brown (Hunslet Hawks RLFC), Joseph Brown (Gateshead Thunder RLFC), Damon Gayle (Duhaney Park Sharks), Daniel Thomas (Dudley Hill ARLFC), Roy Calvert (Duhaney Park Sharks), Stephen Price (Player / Coach), Jamaine Wray (Keighley Cougars RLFC), Jode Sheriffe (Featherstone Rovers RLFC), Brian Hutchinson (Vauxhall Vultures), Duain Scott (Student Rugby League International), Lamont Bryan (Harlequins RFLC), Claude Yen (Vauxhall Vultures), Jason McFarlane (Jamaica Defence Force Warriors), Orien Smith (Jamaica Defence Force Warriors), Carlye Burgher (Vauxhall Vultures)
Atlantic Cup is on the 14th of November in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
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