Australia Wins 2011 World Cup

21-Jul-2011

Australia has won the 2011 Federation of International Touch World Cup today, claiming five of the seven divisions on offer.

On top of this, Australia won all three Open divisions, something that hasn’t been done by the nation since the 2003 World Cup.

Australia came up against New Zealand in the Women’s, Men’s and Mixed divisions, and each game came right down to the final siren, with Australia digging deep to claim each title.

In the Mixed Open division, New Zealand got out to a flying start, scoring the first three touchdowns of the match, before Australia hit back to trail by one at half-time, 6-5. Kristin Boss starred for Australia in the first half, scoring four of her team’s five touchdowns.

An intercept by Nathan Wong, which consequently resulted in a touchdown to Sarah Spacie, turned things around for Australia, who ended up taking the game and the title 10-7.

Final result

Australia 10 (Kristin Boss 4, Sarah Spacie 2, Troy Malcolm 2, Ryan Pollock, Kylie Hilder)

defeated

New Zealand 7 (Toia Tiwha 3, Awhina Savage, Melissa Buchanan, Kimo Houltham, Jeremy Locke)

To watch highlights from the Mixed Open grand final, please click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TouchFootballAus?feature=mhee#p/u/3/hbdS4kgf1DU

The Women’s Open team were under pressure from the start, with New Zealand scoring the first touchdown of the game. Australia hit back to lead by one at half-time following two touchdowns to Alicia Quirk and one to Emilee Cherry, 3-2.

Australia continued their strong tournament form in the second half, with Quirk and Cherry both claiming another touchdown each, to take a 5-3 win.

The win continues Australia’s stellar undefeated run at a World Cup level in the Women’s Open division, spanning across seven World Cups and over 60 games.

Final result

Australia 5 (Alicia Quirk 3, Emilee Cherry 2)

defeated

New Zealand 3 (Tyla Nathan-Wong, Niall Williams, Megan Campbell)

To view the highlights from the Women's Open World Cup final, please click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TouchFootballAus?feature=mhee#p/u/4/ZXMz4QSMFqs

The Men’s Open game was just as entertaining as the two prior to it, with spectators receiving a real treat

New Zealand was the first team to score and from there the touchdowns see-sawed between the teams for the first 10 touchdowns, which were all scored in quick succession.

The teams went to the break level at five touchdowns a piece.

It took until almost halfway through the second half for either team to score a touchdown, with end to end action and solid defence preventing the teams from breaking the deadlock. Willie Bishop set up Dylan Hennessey with minutes remaining, to give Australia a one touchdown advantage, 7-6.

New Zealand fought hard to level the score, and when an Australian player was sent to the sin bin with less than two minutes remaining, it looked like the perfect opportunity for New Zealand to hit back.

But Australia were unstoppable in defence, holding out a set of six on New Zealand's attacking line, and spent the final seconds of the game in attack before the siren sounded, giving Australia the win.

Final result

Australia 7 (Jamie Stowe 2, Mat Bird 2, Scott Buckley, Dylan Hennessey, Matt Prowse)

defeated

New Zealand 6 (Dean Williams 2, Nazea Silbery 2, Ruamai Erueti, Mita Graham)

To view the highlights of the World Cup Men's Open grand final, please click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TouchFootballAus?feature=mhee#p/u/0/6LDgPy2DSlA

Comment

Go Back