LAST night, Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands played out a highly-entertaining game at the home of the Warrington Wolves, the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The Cook Islands looked to cause the Kumuls a number of problems with the likes of former Super League star Anthony Gelling enjoying himself out wide.
However, PNG’s class eventually shone through and with the likes of Leigh Leopards stars Lachlan Lam, Nene MacDonald and Edwin Ipape running the show, they eventually overcame the Kukis with a 32-16 margin.
Though Rhyse Martin was awarded the man of the match for his brilliant display in the back-row, his world cup record will have to remain at joint first with 41, with the Leeds Rhinos star missing his first conversion of the night after a Rodrick Tai length of the field effort.
All in all, it was a great victory for the Kumuls and one that was richly deserved as they look ahead to a potential quarter-final clash with England if things stay the same in both groups.
With a strong PNG presence in the crowd at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, there was a decent atmosphere with BBC commentators Andrew Voss and James Graham being their usual entertaining selves.
The crowd number itself was 6,273 which has been the best attendance at Warrington’s home so far in this World Cup.
