Papua New Guinea 32 Cook Islands 16, Rugby League World Cup

The Warrington-based Kumuls needed a win and they got just that, beating the Cook Islands 32-16 in an entertaining affair.

It means a win over Wales in their final group game will see them advance to the quarter finals.

Tries from Rhys Martin, Roderick Tai and Lachlan Lam after the break got PNG out to a commanding lead, with Justin Olam rounding off their scoring late on.

Former Warrington Wolves centre Anthony Gelling was on the scoresheet for the Kukis, who trailed by just two points at the break thanks to Paul Ulberg’s try following efforts from Tai and Kyle Labbutt for the Kumuls.

Kayal Iro got a late consolation for the Kukis, who now face elimination unless they can beat Group D leaders Tonga in their final group game.

Here is the story of the game…

Kumuls stars shine when needed

The undoubted star names of the PNG side are full-back Alex Johnston – the NRL’s top tryscorer in the past three seasons playing on the wing for South Sydney – and powerhouse Melbourne centre Justin Olam.

Both players’ tournaments were yet to come alive after one-and-a-half games but when their side really needed them, they stepped up.

Johnstone provided a killer pass for Roderick Tai’s second try after selling the Kukis defence a dummy while it was Olam who punched a hole in the line and offloaded for Lachlam Lam to touch down.

The two then combined late on, with a silky Johnston step leading to him putting Olam over.

Yei goes from villain to hero

Kumuls forward Mackenzie Yei certainly had an eventful evening in the Warrington rain.

The Cook Islands reduced his side’s lead at half time to just two points while he was in the sin bin for a high tackle, but that seemed to light a fire under the PNG Hunters prop.

The first action of the second half saw him burst through the Kukis defence with a carry off the kick off and later in the same set, Rhyse Martin crashed over to stretch his side out to a lead they would not relinquish.

PNG fans bring the colour and noise

The attendance at The Halliwell Jones Stadium for last week’s clash between New Zealand and Lebanon was the subject of derision and while the crowd remained lower than organisers would have liked, there was a definite lift in atmosphere here.

That was solely down to the loud and colourful section of Kumuls supporters situated in the North Stand, who did not stop singing, drumming and chanting throughout.

While it was a far cry from Port Moresby, they certainly made Warrington feel like the home from home they were hoping for.

There were a few Cook Islands flag dotted around here and there, but much more evident was the red, yellow and black of the Papua New Guinea flag.

“Must-win” nature of game evident

This game was billed as being a decider in terms of who qualifies alongside Tonga from Group D – Cook Islands would secure it with a win, meaning PNG simply had to come out on top if they were to keep their tournament alive.

It certainly showed, with the endeavour extremely high on both sides as they strived for an advantage.

Indeed, high on endeavour but low on quality was perhaps a fair summation of the game – there were offloads aplenty and off-the-cuff wizardry but errors and indiscipline let both sides down at different stages.

Lack of half-backs telling for Kukis

With two centres-by-trade playing in the halves in Brad Takairangi and Esan Marsters, the Cook Islands’ weakness was clear.

They were certainly lively when it came to second-phase play and they tried to crash through the front door whenever they could, but things often broke down when they had to go wide with the exception of Paul Ulberg’s try while PNG were a man down.

The Kumuls certainly appeared to have more of a plan with ball in hand through halves Kyle Labbutt and Lachlan Lam, both of whom got themselves on the scoresheet.