AS we look forward to all the games in week three, the most remarkable thing is the demand for tickets to see the clash between Tonga and Samoa, which is being played at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta.
The game has been sold out for weeks, with 30,000 tickets having been sold, and the NRL was recently trying to engineer a move to Accor Stadium, which holds 80,000, to cater for the massive demand from frustrated fans who have been unable to buy tickets for Sunday’s game.
Unfortunately because of a music event taking place at Accor on Saturday they won’t be able to shift the game there.
But the interest in the game should cause us to reflect on how the interest in the South Pacific teams has grown so substantially in recent years.
Back in 2005, the Samoans and Tongans met in a Test match at Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney and they drew a crowd of 2,500 to see Tonga win 34-20.
Thirteen years later they drew a crowd of 17,802 to the same venue to see Tonga win again, 38-22, but by this time the crucial factor was that Jason Taumalolo had declared his intention to play for Tonga rather than Australia and other players followed his example.
And since then interest in the South Pacific teams has exploded.
Unfortunately the same thing hasn’t happened with teams in the northern hemisphere.
The home nations used to play in the World Cup but they don’t any longer, and it’s difficult to see them making a comeback at this stage.
Looking ahead to this weekend, however, I still struggle to understand the fixture planning behind the World Cup.
England and PNG playing in Wollongong doesn’t make much sense to me, given that the Kumuls have already played two games in Port Moresby. And I’m not sure why the game should have been selected for Friday night.
New Zealand will play Fiji at Cbus Stadium on the Gold Coast on Saturday, rather than in Auckland, which is where the game surely should be played.
Given how the Fijians played against Australia on Sunday, that game doesn’t look as clear-cut for the Kiwis as it might have done a week ago.
And in terms of the semi-finals, it’s a winner-take-all game, so I hope it will draw a good crowd and it should draw a strong TV audience.
Australia then play the Cook Islands in Townsville, also on Saturday, and I’m sure that will draw a big crowd simply because the local fans will have the chance to see their national team, which is a rare event in North Queensland.
On Sunday we then have a double header at CommBank Stadium, with the game between Lebanon and France preceding the clash between Tonga and Samoa. I’m not sure why the organisers saw fit to have a double-header when the Tongans and Samoans could sell out the venue themselves many times over.
Meanwhile the Women’s World Cup has been experiencing even more one-sided matches than the men’s tournament.
It’s clearly a problem for the competition when the Jillaroos are so superior to every other side.
After beating England 78-0 on Saturday they now play Wales on Sunday, who England defeated 76-0 in round one.
It’s difficult to imagine what the final score might be in that game but I would like to wish the Welsh girls the very best of luck.
I hope they won’t be too damaged if and when they experience a very heavy defeat.
