Rugby League World Cup XIX - Everything Thread

[West Phoenicia]

Full nation name: The Empire of West Phoenicia
Short nation names: West Phoenicia
Trigramme: KWP
Nicknames: West Phoenician Cyclones
Colours: Lavender, Gold and White



Team Manager: Charlie Glücksburg
Head Coach: Octavian Bellacourt
Assistant Coach: Bertie Young
Team Physician: Dr Sofia Swann
Team Physiotherapist: Dr Caleb Ngyuen

The Team:

Captain: Carson Devon

No. Position      Name                 Age             Place of Birth
1   Full Back     Carson Devon          30           Jackson, West Phoenicia 
2   Right Wing    Liam White            24           Jackson, West Phoenicia 
3   Right Centre  Paddy Maple           28           Helios Territory, West Phoenicia 
4   Left Centre   William Trackery      24           Jackson, West Phoenicia
5   Left Wing     William Belle         32           Debney Bay, West Phoenicia 
6   Five-eighth   Chris Lavender        25           New Dixie, West Phoenicia 
7   Half-Back     Jacob Lake            27           Titania, West Phoenicia 
8   Prop          Hans Frenaldo         19           Deception Bay, West Phoenicia
9   Hooker        Adam Dickerson        32           Agape, West Phoenicia  
10  Prop          Adem Dobar            29           Duchy of South Phoenicia 
11  Second Row    Pharoah Gurgaon       23          Jackson, West Phoenicia 
12  Second Row    Mitch Hayspeck        25          Fort Blackfoot, West Phoenicia 
13  Lock          Stephen Rosa          18           Unicorn Isles, West Phoenicia 


Reserves
14  Forward       Trace Cadbury         24            New Rome, West Phoenicia
15  Forward       Mohammad Leng         22           Cluella, West Phoenicia 
16  Forward       Travis Peterson       26           New Dixie, West Phoenicia 
17  Back          Grayson Foilè         27            Lower West Phoenicia 


Extra Reserves
18  Forward       Yung Shen             22          Scarlet Orient Isles, West Phoenicia 
19  Back          Edgar Donaldson       25          Lower West Phoenicia, West Phoenicia 
20  Back          David Donaldson       25          Lower West Phoenicia, West Phoenicia

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my Scorers: Yes
Choose Scoring Events: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes
RP Injuries to my Players: No
Godmod Injuries to my Players:No
Godmod Other Events:yes

[Kayangan]

HARIAN NEGARA

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Group C
Kayangan 3-6 West Phoenicia
@ONS DEG STADIUM

The history of the game of rugby was first introduced in Kayangan after the first world war. Historically, this sport originally started in Kota Langbuana. Several players including European officials have undergone training at the Datuk Menteri Field. Later, the first Rugby Club was established in the country. A total of 35 members have registered. From Langbuana City, rugby expanded to Suasapura Port, Kiambang City, Itam and Setanggi.

Rugby clubs were also established such as Langbuana Viper in Langbuana City, Kiambang Cobra from Kiambang City, The Itam All-Black from Itam. In the 30s, the first inter-state rugby match was held, to win the Kayangan Supremacy Cup. Itam All-Black emerged as the champion. Subsequently this competition was held every year until the 1960s. When the Rugby Association of Kayangan (RAK) was established, competition between these clubs was changed to the league system.

The Artaruna Raja Cup competition started a few years after the Kayangan Supremacy Cup. The pattern of competition is similar to that between clubs. In 1990, the Kayangan Supremacy Cup competition was changed to the Artaruna Raja Cup. Now, the Artaruna Raja Cup competition is the culmination of RAK activities every year in addition to the RAK Seven League. Now rugby is famous among the students so there is also a special competition for this level.


MD4
vs. TJUN-ia
@ONS DEG STADIUM

[Natanians and Nosts]

Three Ecological Tales

1.Moa
Natanians and Nosts debuted this Rugby League World Cup.The match was a 10x1 victory over Megistos.The Lemon Sharks started strongly,Ion Numa North scored a try at the 10th minute which was converted by João Mihai Ionescu.At the 20th,João Mihai Ionescu scored a penalty,that had resulted in a preventive substitution of Márcus Ion Apilescu by Mihai Ion Munteanu,furthering the lead by two more points.On the 25th,João Mihai Ionescu scored another penalty;some minutes after the team began to diminish in performance.The second period started almost as good as the first,but then Megistos began to improve its performance,which was culminated at the drop goal in the last minute.

2.The Scavenger
The game against Darmen was hard-fought.The game started with a fast long-distance drop goal from Darmen,which was more likely a strong passing kick that accidentally entred.Natanians and Nosts answered with a good penalty scored by João Mihai Ionescu at the 7th minute,but at the 10th,Darmen would take the lead again when Van Velázquez scored a try.At the 20th minute,Emyr Kersey managed to score a try after a sequence of rucks that lasted 3 minutes going back-and-forth;Proinias Duval scored the conversion and the eleventh point for Darmen.At half-time,The Lemon Sharks made substitutions with the aim of mantainig the team's stamina.At the 10th minute of the second half,Ion Mihai Apilescu scored a try,which was converted by João Mihai Ionescu.The now even-more tired Darmen team had no chance agains the fast dash of Paulus Públio North,who scored the second Natanians and Nost try.João Mihai Ionescu also converted this one.Nearing the 30th minute,and with Darmen making unsuccessfull substitutions to boost their "dieing" team,Ion Numa North scored a drop goal,from about 20 metres from the Darmeni goal-line near the touch-line.João Mihai Ionescu followed him two minutes later,with one more drop goal.The Lemon Sharks mantained their lead and even expanded it with two penalties scored byJoão Mihai Ionescu.

3.The Cinderella Dream
Trolleborg debuted in this Rugby League World Cup.After defeating Megistos and losing to Damen,hte team faced Natanians and Nosts.The game was quite suffocated,as there was nowhere to go,on both sides,Natanians and Nosts almost scored with João Mihai Ionescu,not putting the ball on the in-goal by 2cm!Trolleburg was different for the second-half,the middle was given up,so they coul try to reach by the sides,but always failed,until a extremelly questionable scrum marked by the referee,which gave them the ability to finally reach the Natanians and Nost unoccupied in-goal,scoring a try.Then,unfortunatelly for The Lemon Sharks,Trolleborg was able to score not one,but two penalties for Trolleborg,and to top it off,before João Mihai Ionescu hit the posts at a failed desperate attempt to score one point twenty seconds before the game ended,Trolleborg managed to score a drop goal.making Trolleborg second in the group.Natanians and Nosts is at third with two wins,two victories and one defeat and an ironic +9 point-difference,Darmen currently in first and Megisto in last with no wins.

[TJUN-ia]

TJUN-ian Rugby League had bearly gotten off the ground, but it has already shown up. 2 great wins over the first 2 games meant that the Jags were 2-0 entering MD3, a feat no one really saw coming. To reach the ridiculous highs of 3-0, the team had to take down The Jovannic, winless thus far but with great potential - even if their lineup was a bit gridiron-y.

This game was the most complete the Jags have done thus far, and it showed in the scoreline. 3 tries were scored in the 80-minutes, Henry Sharps in the first-40 with Peter Harmon and Tepu Tukomena in the 2nd, and everyone looked like a fierce machine. Everyone was clicking correctly and captain Jack Henderson was having a good day with his legs, kicking 3 conversions and 1 penalty, to round out the TJUN-ian performance. He certainly is the leader this team needs and while The Jovannic scored a penalty and a drop goal, that did nothing to spoil his and the team's performance when the hooter arrived.

TJUN-ia is 3-0 after 3 games - a feat only 4 other teams have. It shows how brilliant this team has come from the starting blocks, with the Sevens converts certainly helping the progress. Already, the future of TJUN-ian rubgy in all codes looks bright. But we still have to play the reverse fixtures before discussions on knockouts can begin. A one-day break will be followed by our second meeting with Kayangan, looking to score their 2nd win of the tournament. GO JAGS!

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SCHEDULE (GROUP C) - All Games at Ons Deg Stadium, Ons Deg (48,000 Capacity)
MD1: TJUN-ia (UR) vs Kayangan (UR) - W 14-4
MD2: West Phoenicia (8) vs TJUN-ia (UR) - W 7-3 (1st)
MD3: TJUN-ia (UR) vs The Jovannic (UR) - W 20-3 (1st)
--------------------------OFF DAY--------------------------
MD4: Kayangan (UR) vs TJUN-ia (UR)
MD5: TJUN-ia (UR) vs West Phoenicia (8)
MD6: The Jovannic (UR) vs TJUN-ia (UR)

[HUElavia]

HUElavia National Rugby Team Squad

Starting XIII
FB Leandro Nascimento (23)
W Gabriel Moreno (19)
C Maximiliano Mendes (28)
C Mateo Pastor (25)
W Enzo Chauve (20)
58 Victorino Azevedo (24)
HB Stanislav Yaroslavovych (32)
P Unai Abad (21)
H Narciso Mendez (20)
P Joel Arriaga (28)
SR Jean-Luc Jullien (22)
SR Roku Shimura (30)
L Javier Botero (29)

Substitutions
FB Jaime Queiros (24)
W Rubens Amaral (18)
C Ramon Ferrero (21)
58 Caleb Lafrance (24)
HB Kingo Nakasone (28)
P In Hyuk (30)
SR Ivan Sokolov (31)
L Lisandro Roque (26)

RP Permissions: Just nothing involving severe injury or death for my squad

[Ko-oren]

Part I: Selpernim 1, WBC
Part II: Selpernim 2, RLWC
Part III: Selpernim 3, WBC
Part IV: Selpernim 3, RLWC

A summer of sports with Leligun Thernasthen

Selpernim 4/Sweltersky 4

Nitoya

Nitoya. Famous for the Nitoya Silvers, successful professional baseball team. What fewer people know, is that rugby league is the lifeblood of this town for the other 9 months of the year. Between the Nitoya Foxes (pretty successful professional rugby league team), and Yonomura, another league team from a very distant suburb, technically part of Nitoya but don't tell Yonomurajin that - it's a weird feature of how municipalities are organised at the lowest level of government. If you look at a map of Ko-oren and think: "Hey, that's a very strange municipality border," it's usually because it encompasses the major city, as well as several suburbs, nearby towns, even if there are several miles of open land between settlements. It's how we make our cities appear a little larger than they actually are, population-wise.

Something I've always wondered about Nitoya is how it completely managed to be silent about its rugby league teams. The Foxes have a decent following within the city, as well as entire western Leleia island, but also on the mainland - good, clear colours, not much to hate throughout its history, some prizes in between - but beyond that, the number of greats that have been born, developed, or just played within city borders is staggering. Katashi gets the name for its size and having two professional teams, but Nitoya is the engine behind both of those teams, as well as the Foxes themselves. I've even been told that there are several Plough Islanders who have some special ties with the team through the nickname alone.

Something else that's often glossed over, is the status of Aviansolan language over here. 29 percent of Yoshimans have Aviansolan as their first languages - quite substantial - but Yoshima is often seen as Japanese territory (spoken as a first language by 52% of the subdivision). If we extend this to just passive understanding, 79% of Yoshimans can undertand it - which is massive - and yet there's rarely media in this langauge. That's because a whopping 98% of Yoshima understands Japanese, and so it makes sense for anyone trying to market anything here to do that in Japanese. Aviansolan is barely used outside of Yoshima, and so it's a victim of being a big language, completely overlapped by an even larger language.

Aviansolan is a Gehrennan language, stemming from the same source as the 'national' language giving us such names as 'Maethoru, Mayara, Gaulthisoru, Monradhau' as place names and 'Juliasterinthen, Gakperinthen, Garagun' as last names. Aviansolan has been influenced by Japanese to such an extent that its phonology has nearly adopted the latter. None of those consonant clusters here. No th, dh, and more of that stuff. Instead, you can recognise Aviansolan names as looking Japanese, but with Vs - or that's the idea we get from far away, anyway.

It turns out that there are far more intricacies involved. English only has singular and plural. Gehrennan has six numbers (singular, few, many, all, none, and neutral/unknown). Japanese has none - there's no singular/plural distinction needed in speech, most of the time, unless you decide to mark something explicitly as plural by going warera instead of ware or watashitachi over watashi, for instance. That's put Aviansolan in a funny place: like Gehrennan, it inherited a huge number of grammatical numbers from a proto-Gehrennan language - but then moved into the Japanese direction by making almost all of them optional, or implying certain things by using certain numbers, etcetera. Aviansolan and Gehrennan, and Japanese as well, have a huge concatenative verb system - and here I'm quoting a linguistics student that I ran into in Nitoya, thankfully - which I asked about, and she explained it as 'basically, like, you've got verb stems, and then for every new function or nuance, you put an extra few sounds after it. So you go from warau to warawanakatta in Japanese ('laugh' to 'didn't laugh'), and from Arakh ('see') in Gehrennan to Arakhotakhajadek ('I'm able to always keep hearing that someone makes someone see'. Aviansolan goes the Gehrennan route, which looks like Japanese anyway, so get something like Aragu 'see' to Aragossavaideka 'I'm always able to know about multiple people seeing'.

That's for my language lesson of the day, and despite running around all day trying to find some evidence of this language, I was very disappointed with the street signs (all in Japanese), adverts (all in Japanese), even local newspapers (I found one in Aviansolan!) and trying out some phrases during dinner at a restaurant (everyone understood, nobody replied).

[Terre Septentrionale]

OOC: It seems that in rugby league, a try is 4 points and a converted one is 6 points? I always thought it was the same as in rugby union. I'm not familiar with rugby honestly, but it's a fun sport.

Rugby League World Cup: Mid-tournament report

Bed Deg, Copper Cuprum - The Rugby League World Cup is underway and Terre Septentrionale won two of their three games so far. The first game was against Logria and we won 23-20. Logria scored first at the 11th minute when Jack Conlan escaped for a try, which was converted, to take a 6-0 lead. Terre Septentrionale tied the game when Radoslaw Kordzielewski crossed the goal line with the ball. The conversion was good and the score was 6-6. Logria was penalized and Terre Septentrionale made two points out of it and took a 8-6 lead. Logria took the lead before the end of the first half when they scored following a defensive mistake by Étienne Mainville-Berthiaume, and the conversion was good. 12-8 Logria. Terre Septentrionale took the lead again early in the 2nd half when Olivier Michaud reached the endzone with the ball and the score was 14-12 for Terre Septentrionale. The Reprezentacja Nordycki added one point on a drop kick and the score was 15-12. Logria was then penalised and the score was 17-12. The Northmen were in turn penalised and it was 17-14. In the final minutes of the game, Tommy Jones scored a try for Logria, the conversion was good ans they took at 20-17 lead. Terre Septentrionale answered immediately on the final drive of the game when Valentin Gonzalez-Bousquet reached the endzone for a try and the conversion was good. The Nordiques werre leading 23-20 and this is the final score!

Game 2 was a game to forget, we lost it 21-7 and our only try was scored by Conor O'Hagan and we also made a drop kick. Copper Cuprum made 3 tries, a penalty kick and a drop kick.

Game 3 was our best game, we blanked Jeckland 16-0. Jeckland was penalised early and Terre Septentrionale took a 2-0 lead. It was the score at the halftime. Then in the 2nd half, Marc Phélipponeau crossed the goal line with the ball, the conversion was good and it was 8-0 for the Nordiques. Terre Septentrionale added 6 more points with another converted try at the 61st minute when Grégory Robin escaped to the endzone. The Reprezentacja Nordycki made 2 more points on a penalty kick and the final score was 16-0.

After the break, Terre Septentrionale will play again against the same three teams but teams that were considered at "home" are now "away". Terre Septentrionale is tied in 1st place with two other teams, but someone needs to explain me how the tie break works because I don't understand. We beat Logria 23-20, so why we aren't ahead of them?

Léa-Maude Berthiaume,
La tribune Septentrionale

[Bostopia]

Rachel Home was concerned. Everytime the plane shook with turbulance the Emperor would get worked up. Another pocket of air was hit by the plane, causing it to shake violently, no doubt rattling the Emperor's brain around his skull a little more.

'Landing in 55 minutes.' Lewis Storm (a rather inappropriately named Pilot) called back matter-of-factly from the cockpit. 'You've got to be relieved by that, Rachel?'

'Bit, yeah' she replied. 'I'm not sure all of this turbulence is good for the Emperor at all.' 'Going to be smoother sailing from here on in' Lance replied.

Pausing for a moment, Rachel looked out of the window onto the green fields of Bostopia's East Isle, dissected by hedgerows, roads and occasionally a river. 'Lots of traffic this morning. Up bright and early to see the day in.'

'M-marbles' the Emperor said in a slur, causing Rachel to spin around, only to see that he had broken free from his stretcher and was now heading toward an exit door whilst pulling a parachute onto his back.

'Shit - Emperor - wait' she cried, though it was of no use.

[Sandwichs]

"Here is the first season of rugby for Sandwichs, fellow sandwich lovers. Here are our rugby players that'll participate in this round.


First, here comes Sanslertufbusan. He's on his cellphone at the moment, updating his blog on The Spider's rugby players. Note how his uniform doesn't have a single speck of dirt on it. I mean, there's not even a dirt molecule on his socks! How does he do that? He's putting on his jacket. Nice and puffy. But, what's he gonna do when the match really starts?

And there comes Tifomeshegifty coming down the field. She's rubbing her chin. Must be thinking about how to win this match. She's counting the money in her pocket. 58 bucks. And she's putting it into her purse. And she's setting it down. The match is about to start.

Woo! Examine, fellow viewers, Betasobons examining a photo of his former team, the Boston Welsh Kats! He is putting it in his pocket, and donning sunglasses!

And, here comes the Cyborg Sensors, Edoryoe and Ritotargheneh! Edoryoe is ... on her cellphone watching Genku's Ugliest Monsters? Hello? Rugby? And Rito's checking on his cows? What a great team.

Fierce Women, Finerdedtyonutregiffeheh and Hotrargn come walkin down this rugby field. Hotrargn is fanning herself off as Finerded is, I think telling a joke to her. Who even brings Jeeshee boots to a rugby match? Finerded, apparently. Nice dragon shirt, Hotrargn.

Nipednaw is running very quickly onto the field. Her tennie's soles must be hanging on to dear life! Wait, there's a sheet of paper in the shoe. It could be a plan to win the rugby match. She's smiling now. Hutanjia better look out!

And, entering the rugby field, Nekorgedinseogretrenuheryddeh! She's walking over to Edoryoe while checking out herself in her pocket-sized mirror! Hope it doesn't break whilst rugby-playing! And she is whipping her black hair while humming "Parade of All Black Welcomes You, Listener".

And here come our metaphorical parent-and-child duo, Tykasse and Kondritehndsnutewdey! Tykasse seems a bit too focused on Nipednaw, and Kondrite is looking like he's gonna vomit at the sight of ... the advertising be slightly askew? Geez, what's his big deal? And now Kondrite is telling Tykasse something, but she's refusing. Typical.

Here comes Rixatek ... driving? You're gonna need to step out of the car soon. Even if it is very nice. And he stepped out. Very nice. Now can we actually start the match? No, he's about to leave! Come back!

And, to close off this introduction to our rugby players, here comes Smug and Mean, Bradinershiswind and Gownthris! Gownthirs is drinking water out of her 6 kiloliter jug as Brad is looking ... sailor-like. Brad is looking very smug today, more smug that usual. And Gownthirs just said that she's cold, but "she likes it". Weird.

Now, onto the match!

[Hannasea]

Article posted on the sports section of the SuperBusiness website.

Hamsters Searching For Seeds Of Recovery (and Tasty Sunflower Seeds, Too)

The Hannasean Hamsters face an uphill task in the second half of the Rugby League World Cup group stage, needing to come back from their third place berth with at least a couple of wins. The latest setback was a tactically poor defeat to Elejamie that exposed the team’s shortcomings at international level.

They took a 9 – 8 lead into the half, all nine points coming through stand-off Jack Egan, who scored and converted his own try, kicked a field goal, and then on the cusp of the half broke the 8 – 8 deadlock with a drop-goal. But his decision to kick away rather than holding on for a try scoring opportunity – admittedly in a World Cup that has seen a higher than usual number of drop goals – came back to bite the Hamsters.

Elejamie, strong favorites against the Hamsters, had put in a poor first half performance, with only a Justin Green try and a couple of goals to show. But over the second half their superior full match endurance showed, with the Hannasean amateurs not quite able to go the distance at professional, international level. Tackles were broken, passes spilled, tired kicks ran out of steam. Fullback Jason Saunders was the chief beneficiary; his first try wrenched back the lead; his second killed the game.

After an extended mid-group break, during which some of the players had to briefly return to their day-jobs amid complaints about the lack of financial support from Rugby Hannasea, and Jack Egan hit the bar amid complaints about the lack of mid-match drinks furnished by the sponsors, the Hamsters will face the difficult job of overcoming the raucous Ancharmunn Squirrels and doing better at the second time of asking against Elejamie, or else face a return to such jobs on a much longer term basis.

[Kayangan]

HARIAN NEGARA

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For the first time, TV Persekutuan (TVP), in collaboration with SSN, brought all the matches involving Kayangan in Rugby League World Cup XIX live on TVP's TV-Sport HD broadcast. Springmont SpaceCom Network (SSN) is a regional-leading satellite operator providing reliable and secure satellite and ground communications solutions to broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers worldwide and in Kayangan.

SSN (A subsidiary of Mars Communication) possesses and works a fleet of 48 geostationary satellites that are complemented by a arrange of teleports and offices found around the globe. This far-reaching framework empowers our clients to reach 99% of the world’s populace and places SSN at the heart of the worldwide communications chain. For Kayangan, SSN is working the SpringSat 1G satellite from the orbital area of 31.5° East. Afterward in 2013 the all modern SpringSat 5B satellite will be propelled to serve the Kayanganese showcase from the same orbital area.

SSN is in particular successful in serving the Broadcast industry and major customers include TV Persekutuan, TV Angkatan Tentera (TVAT), all from Kayanganese and many others. Also, SSN is successfully operating an end-consumer TV platform in Springmont (HD+). SSN is headquartered in Springmont and operates worldwide through dedicated regional teams. The SSN are listed on the Springmont Stock Exchange (SSE). Kayangan is a major growth market in SSN industry and SSN would like to expand its local activities with Kayanganese customers, market partners and Institutions. SSN in particular wishes to grow its business with Kayanganese strategic partners who are interested to team up for procuring and operating Television business or other communications solutions inside and outside Kayangan.

MD4
vs. TJUN-ia
@ONS DEG STADIUM

[Ancharmunn]

Finn Joyce winced as Hamish McColl replayed the clip on his phone once again. Usually, Joyce, a battle hardened mountain of a prop barely batted an eye at the heavy hits in rugby league. Currently however McColl had replayed the incident where Joyce had been struck hard in the head as he touched down to score for his first international try in Ancharmunn's previous match, a 34-18 win over Northwest Kalactin. "Kapow, look at it, he just smashes right into your head, but you barely even notice!", grinned McColl.

Despite the knock Joyce had somehow managed to avoid having to undergo a Head Injury Assessment and had remained on the field for the remainder of that match, although a later assessment had diagnosed him with concussion and ruled him out of part two of the Battle of the Rodents against Hannasea. "Rodents," he chuckled, trying to put the disappointment of having to miss out on playing to one side, "all these teams have these fearsome or mighty nicknames, Stallions, Malay Blood, Jaguars, and yet two nations thought to themselves, 'you know what'll sound impressive, rodents! - and those two nations ended up drawn together." Occasionally glancing out of the window and taking in the sights of Pad Deg as the team bus made its way to the stadium for the evening's match against Hannasea, Joyce continued to muse on this whilst trying to avoid having to watch his head get smashed in yet again. Peering out the window and once more he finally caught sight of the stadium, relieved that they'd be there before too long.

Games like this were the type that Joyce played rugby for, potentially a vital fixture in deciding who would progress from the group, the excitement around the ground was palpable. Ordinally Joyce would’ve been one of the first players out on the pitch to warm up. Assuming his seat in the stands however, although feeling a tinge of regret, he felt mainly confidence. Looking down upon his team-mates warming-up he could tell they were pumped up for the match. “Squirrels! Squirrels!” rang out a long drawn out, repeated chant as Charmunnry fans gathered around up as kick-off came closer and closer, and he couldn’t help but join in.

[Elejamie]

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Group F Round-up - Part An
Elan Raetolil (aka RubiFaman) - Pad Deg, Copper Cuprum

Well they've been a fun set of games, haven't they? Three straight wins with plenty of action to compliment each win. Sure it may have been against realitvely easy opponents due to the amount of absences. It may be because we're not just the only ranked team in the group but also there are only two groups with more than one ranked team in it. Whatever the case, we're riding high on this massive wave and I don't really see it. They might rock the boat once or twice, though, and I could imagine a decent amount of close games. But it should be fun to see what'll happen next. With all of that out of the way, let's reflect on what we've done so far and dive right into our opener against Northwest Kalactin.

Paete AEtomir, who's having a bit of a weird
one this tournament. from somehow getting
hurt by falling wrong in one game to
arguably rubbing a drop goal in the
opposition's faces in another.

The first half went just as you'd expect, plenty of action and thrills. Not as much scoring, though, but plenty of good opportunities and times when everyone came close before an interception or they hit the magic number. But, ultimately, it'd be us who'd score the first set of points in the 25th minute. After a scrum following the ball going into touch Ryan Pritchard, Shane McGinley, Nathan Westerman and Jason Saunders all began their campaign to ground the ball. Something that Saunders was able to do after four tackles and at least 79m gained. The grounding wasn't in the best of places but de Vargas managed to add the extras without any issues. Westerman would score try number two in the 33rd minute, making a mad dash for the line when he was in the clear but he had to ground the ball as soon as he got there due to the opposition being able to catch up meaning that a much safer grounding would be unlikely. Not that de Vargas had any trouble there, as he was able to get another goal quite easily. There wasn't much that was worth reporting on afterwards and the half ended Elejamie 12-0 Northwest Kalactin. Decent but we could've done better in a few aspects.

The second half was more of the same. Plenty of close calls and plenty of moments where it'd seem like one side was going to score a try only for their opposition to nip them in the bud. This did lead to one or two bad moments, the worst of which was José Diaz Escobar accidentally high-tackling one of their players (I can't remember which one, sadly) and that would lead to them scoring a goal to give them their two sole points for the entire match. Even more so when another one of their players ended up tackling Paete AEtomir, he ended up falling quite badly and had to be replaced by Felipe Herrera for the rest of the match. Fortunately, said player was sin-binned for a period and that lead to Herrera scoring a try of his own during that period, with de Vargas easily making it 18-2. With exactly 70 minutes on the clock and time starting to run out, de Vargas would not only ground the ball in between the posts on tackle number five but would easily put the final nail in the coffin with a spectacular goal to make it 24-2. He'd also get the drop just past the 80th minute, as in the hooter went off just as he kicked the ball and the ball sailed through the uprights a couple of seconds later, just to make the final score 25-2. Not the best ending to a match we dominated but there have been worse. Besides, it's best not to rub salt in the wound.

And then came the second match, this time against Ancharmunn. They were having a decent run so far. Well, as decent a run one could have after one game, where they had beaten Hannasea 22-6. As previously mentioned, they're also our biggest rivals for first place, given that they're the only other team in the group with a known professional league with professional players which meant that they would pose a serious challenge. However, we had made it to the finals once whereas they were newcomers, so we had that experience going for us. Yes, I know I'm just filling this paragraph up so, in order to stop me from doing that any longer, I'm going to talk about the match itself.

The first half could easily be summed up as "one try, one goal". Simply because that was the only real highlight of the first half. On the upside, at least it was for us as you'd expect. Courtest of Paete AEtomir, who was able to make a return following that nasty fall he had in that tackle during the last game. He managed to budge his way past Tadhg Cudgegong and George Curran, who was trying as hard as they could to prevent the try before the ball was safely grounded. It even went to the TMO who would confirm that, yes, it had been grounded past the line. While it may not have been in an ideal position, de Vargas would still convert it from 33m out, just scraping the edge of the post before it passed through the uprights. Other than that, it was pretty much what you'd expect, a hard-fought game where both sides came close to upsetting their opponents before strokes of luck and unluck swooped in to ruin the proceedings. All of which resulted in a disappointing-on-paper 6-0 lead for us at half-time.

The second half, however, was definitely more action-packed. For a start, with 53 minutes on the clock, the Squirrels would score their first try of the evening, with Lurcan Eugowra being the lucky scorer for his side. After all, he managed to worm his way past Vítinho and Brad Clement and safely get the ball down past the line to make it 6-4. And then we were introduced to the kicking feet of Liam Brannigan, a man I will mention later on, who expertly levelled the scores with a swift but precise kick of the ball. Some time after that, Brannigan had to be sin-binned due to an argument he had with the referee. During that time, we'd eventually get a penalty following Charmunnry prop Ossian Flannigan high-tackling McGinley, an incident that saw both men lucky to avoid injury or a card. De Vargas lined up his shot from 35m out, he gave it a powerful kick and it easily made it through the posts to make it 8-6, thus pushing his team ahead.

And then the incident happened. If you thought it was awkward watching it on the television, you had no idea how awkward it was watching it live at the stadium. Shortly after his return, Brannigan would be 25m out on the sixth tackle and in a good position to set up a try to give his side a lead for the first time in the match, with the potential extras potentially hammering the point home and giving them a shock underdog victory. What does he do? He kicks for a field goal and, while everyone was standing there either confused, he acted as if he scored the winning point and thus pulled off an unlikely upset. Trust me, the entire crowd was silent at that point. You could hear a pin drop or a facepalm. I'd hate to imagine how his coach reacted, though a look at one of their local papers said that he was "busy angrily rearranging the furniture in his coaches box" so I could imagine. AEtomir would score a drop of his own not too long after, apparently taking advantage of their opponents confusion from earlier instead of safely going for the try, though I wouldn't be surprised if he also did it to remind them of that mistake even if that was a bit unsporting. Either was, a 9-7 win for us wasn't as bad as it seems on paper and, indeed, was a commendable result for the Squirrels, derp moment aside.

Raul de Vargas, who's been
having a brilliant tournament
as far as kicking goes just as
long as you ignore the first
half against Hannasea.

Finally, we had Hannasea. As previously mentioned, they were an all amateur-side with no proper league, presumably because their rugby federation isn't that interested in appealing to a niche market even though there are probably enough fans to support a small league. Which I feel is a bit unfair because it means they have to rely on wowing foreign teams Not to mention that they made a bit of a comeback in style following that disappointing loss to Ancharmunn in their opening game when they managed to edge out Northwest Kalactin 12-9, so naturally there is something there worth developing on back home. Still, despite what I just said, we were the favourites going into the match and an easy win was definitely on the cards.

However, it would be the Hamsters who'd be the dominant force throughout the first half. For a start, Jack Egan would score their first try 13 minutes in, on the fourth tackle after a bit of back and forths between him, Logan Barling and Ryan Dickinson. He would even get the extras to make it 6-0, made a lot easier by the ball being grounded a decent distance away from the posts. Fortunately for Coach Wallace, Justin Green would score the first try for his side 18 minutes in, with de Vargas just about getting the extras. The kick was a bit sloppier than we would've liked but it still did its job. In fact, de Vargas would have three more penalties in the next fifteen minutes (fortunately they weren't anything severely bad, given that the all-amateur Hamsters are one of the fairest-playing teams we've came across, but rather due to accidents or mistakes you can't really be upset at them for) but, sadly, only one of those would be a successful two-pointer. Egan would go on to level the scores in the 34th minute with a penalty from 29m out and, in the last play before half-time, he'd go on to successfully score a drop from 27m out to give his team a slight lead at half-time. Yes, this plucky group of amateurs were beating a world-class team 9-8 at the break.

Unfortunately for Egan and his teammates, the second half would not be the storybook ending they had hoped for. For a start, we came incredibly close to scoring a try to push ourselves back ahead, though sadly that run had to end due to an offside. Which is a shame because it was building up to be an incredibly good run but it was nothing worth worrying about, since we would probably get another chance soon enough. Egan had the opportunity to extend his side's lead shortly afterwards but sadly his kick went wide. That ended up summing up their half, as other attempts fell flat. Meanwhile, the away side would end up finding their mojo. Jason Saunders would score his first try 55 minutes in, first by taking advantage of an error by Hannasean winger Ethan Price 20m away from the Elejamian try-line and then working his way to theirs thanks to his teammates until, five tackles later, he managed to leap past the line and press the ball onto the ground to give his side their lead back. A refreshed de Vargas would have an easier time getting the extras. Saunders would get try number two fourteen minutes later, easily being able to outrun his opponents and placing it down in between the posts, thus avoiding any problems getting the extra two points. In the end, we were able to shut Hannasea out for the rest of the match to secure a 20-9 win, though I wouldn't be surprised if Mark Wallace decided to rest de Vargas for the next match considering how he was a bit out of it for the first half.

So where does that leave everyone? As expected, we currently sit top of our group. Three wins, zero draws and zero losses. 54 points for us, 18 against us. Not bad, not bad at all. Next up is Ancharmunn, whose sole loss was to us but still sit comfortably in second place with two wins and a loss making four points. Third is Hannasea, with only one win so far sadly but there's always the potential of them getting more. And, finally, we've got Northwest Kalactin bringing up the rear with zero points in total from three straight losses. But anything can happen and there's the possibility of there being one or two mix-ups. We could draw or lose, Northwest Kalactin could get their first point, Hannasea might make it through to the next round. We just have to wait and see.

So how about the other groups? Let's start off with those who also have a perfect 100% record so far. There are quite a few, though whether or not they'll be able to keep them (and whether or not WE'LL be able to keep ours) is another matter entirely. Most of these names are complete non-surprisals as you'd expect them to get perfect records so far with groups like them. Hutanjia's dominating Group B after winning all of their games against HUElavia, Quebecois Acadiana and, most recently, Sandwichs [still sic]. Neu Engollon are running roughshod in Group D after high-scoring wins against Placely Placington and the Kingdom of Great Britain, as well as a not-so-high scoring win against the Mathuvan Union. And reigning champions Abanhfleft have nearly scored nearly 100 points in their three wins against Bostopia, Staypuftonia and Croblade. There is, however, a surprise in Group C with TJUN-ia being the lucky one to win all of their games so far but, looking at how well they're playing and how easily they've slipped into the role, I'd say they've definitely earned it. Everything else in the other groups are mostly what you'd expect, though there are two groups where the last placer has at least one point: Group D, where the Kingdom of GB has a single point from their 6-6 opening draw with the Mathuvan Union; and Group E, where the Fair Republic were able to snatch a shocking 6-2 victory over Ko-oren.

OK, I've talked enough now. Let's bring on round two. Let's hope for some brilliant plays, exciting tries and, most importantly, incredible matches. We might get some, we might not. Only one way to find out, really.

---

More from RubiFaman:

• Elan's Guide to the 19th Rugby League World Cup
• Elan's Blog: Copper [Cuprum] Mining
• Elan's Guide to the Shortened 2020 HBRL Season
• What Does This Whole Thing Mean For Rugby League?

[Copper Cuprum]

This is your fourth CUTOFF for the 19th Rugby League World Cup.
Who will rise today and stake their claim at the top spot of their respective groups?

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Group A
Jeckland 1–10 Copper Cuprum
Logria 26–0 Terre Septentrionale

  Group A                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Logria                     4   3  0  1   72  38 +34    6
2 Copper Cuprum              4   3  0  1   71  25 +46    6
3 Terre Septentrionale       4   2  0  2   46  67 −21    4
4 Jeckland                   4   0  0  4   16  75 −59    0

Logria ahead of Copper Cuprum on head-to-head results (Logria 11–6 Copper Cuprum)

Group B
HUElavia 0–10 Hutanjia
Sandwichs 9–4 Quebecois Acadiana

  Group B                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Hutanjia                   4   4  0  0   73  14 +59    8
2 Sandwichs                  4   2  1  1   34  23 +11    5
3 HUElavia                   4   1  1  2   28  54 −26    3
4 Quebecois Acadiana         4   0  0  4   17  61 −44    0

Group C
The Jovannic 24–14 West Phoenicia
Kayangan 4–8 TJUN-ia

  Group C                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 TJUN-ia                    4   4  0  0   49  14 +35    8
2 West Phoenicia             4   2  0  2   41  45  −4    4
3 Kayangan                   4   1  0  3   24  39 −15    2
4 The Jovannic               4   1  0  3   49  65 −16    2

Kayangan ahead of The Jovannic on head-to-head results (The Jovannic 11–13 Kayangan)

Group D
Placely Placington 18–5 Neu Engollon
Mathuvan Union 4–6 Kingdom of Great Britain

  Group D                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Neu Engollon               4   3  0  1   72  33 +39    6
2 Placely Placington         4   3  0  1   78  49 +29    6
3 Kingdom of Great Britain   4   1  1  2   15  51 −36    3
4 Mathuvan Union             4   0  1  3   20  52 −32    1

Neu Engollon ahead of Placely Placington on head-to-head points difference (Neu Engollon +28, Placely Placington +13)

Group E
New Lunenburg 0–2 Ko-oren
Lovisa 32–0 The Fair Republic

  Group E                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Ko-oren                    4   3  0  1   23   6 +17    6
2 Lovisa                     4   3  0  1   65  18 +47    6
3 New Lunenburg              4   1  0  3    4  31 −27    2
4 The Fair Republic          4   1  0  3   14  51 −37    2

Ko-oren ahead of Lovisa on head-to-head results (Lovisa 0–11 Ko-oren)
New Lunenburg ahead of The Fair Republic on head-to-head results (The Fair Republic 2–3 New Lunenburg)

Group F
Northwest Kalactin 1–9 Elejamie
Hannasea 22–7 Ancharmunn

  Group F                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Elejamie                   4   4  0  0   63  19 +44    8
2 Ancharmunn                 4   2  0  2   70  55 +15    4
3 Hannasea                   4   2  0  2   49  58  −9    4
4 Northwest Kalactin         4   0  0  4   30  80 −50    0

Ancharmunn ahead of Hannasea on head-to-head points difference (Ancharmunn +16, Hannasea +15)

Group G
Trolleborg 8–2 Darmen
Megistos 6–10 Natanians and Nosts

  Group G                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Trolleborg                 4   3  0  1   25   5 +20    6
2 Natanians and Nosts        4   3  0  1   40  27 +13    6
3 Darmen                     4   2  0  2   46  34 +12    4
4 Megistos                   4   0  0  4   13  58 −45    0

Trolleborg ahead of Natanians and Nosts on head-to-head results (Natanians and Nosts 0–9 Trolleborg)

Group H
Bostopia 20–31 Abanhfleft
Croblade 7–12 Staypuftonia

  Group H                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Abanhfleft                 4   4  0  0  125  45 +80    8
2 Bostopia                   4   2  0  2   68  77  −9    4
3 Staypuftonia               4   2  0  2   41  62 −21    4
4 Croblade                   4   0  0  4   24  74 −50    0

Bostopia ahead of Staypuftonia on head-to-head results (Staypuftonia 1–15 Bostopia)

[Bostopia]

In mid-air, the Emperor realised he had made a mistake. Diving out of an aeroplane was something he should have done a long time ago. Only his own foolish sense of self-preservation had prevented him from doing so before. Now this was all in the past.

On-board the plane, the scene was chaotic. There had been enough conversation between Rachel and the Emperor that the plane's altitude had been lowered enough so those on board would survive the door being opened.

Rachel herself was quite traumatised by the affair, and though she had seen the Emperor's parachute open, she wasn't convinced he would survive. Even though the parachute had opened, would there be enough height left to slow him down quickly enough so that he would do something other than dent the ground upon landing.

'Captain Storm to Zaering Tower, confirm we are all clear for emergency landing?' 'All clear BOS-1, land at your will.' Landing at Zaering was a bit of a challenge at the best of times, with its short runway being situated near a rather inconveniently built road linking it Copington. 'Landing lights visible' Captain Storm said out loud to himself, steeling himsef for landing as near to the start of the runway as possible.

A few miles away, meanwhile, the Emperor's blurred vision was causing him problems, as a herd of 10 cows he'd landed in the middle of now appeared to be 111 of them. 'Now, then,' he started, doing his best farmer's impression. 'You just be good little moocows and let me through and nobody has to end up being ate' he said, slowly shuffling his way past the curious beasts, who were slowly coming toward him out of wonderment more than anything else. Panicing, the Emperor turned, screamed and ran, heading towards the nearest tree.

'Lost is such a strong word. Use something a little less harsh like "misplaced"' Otto stated, trying to calm an upset Rachel.

'Misplaced?!' She screamed back at Otto 'oh fine, no worries everyone, we've misplaced the Emperor, let's hope his corpse isn't found in a bloody tree, no no, it'll be fine!' 'See, that's the spirit, there's no chance he'll be anywhere near a tree anyway' Otto said, though Rachel was still convinced they had killed him.

[Ko-oren]

Part I: Selpernim 1, WBC
Part II: Selpernim 2, RLWC
Part III: Selpernim 3, WBC
Part IV: Selpernim 3, RLWC
Part V: Selpernim 4, RLWC
Part VI: Selpernim 5, WCOH
Part VII: Selpernim 6, WCOH

A summer of sports with Leligun Thernasthen

Selpernim 8/Sweltersky 8

Alara

I'm very sorry to not let anyone hear from me in Teragaseki. I knew I planned it badly, but I expected to watch some rugby league from there anyway. Instead, my ferry came in late, I was looking for my hotel for far longer than I dare to admit, the three or so restaurants recommended to me were closed by the time I was in town for dinner, and when I finally grabbed something to eat, it was almost midnight and I hurried back to the hotel. The next morning I had a ferry to Alara at seven in the morning, so that was my entire stay. My apologies.

Anyway, that did give me an entire afternoon, evening, and the next morning in Alara instead.

So basically, the most interesting thing in Teragaseki should have been the food (special spicy fish, I'm not a gastronomic person), but I had a very mediocre hamburger. And that was all I had from the evening until I boarded in the next morning and the cafe opened up. Now I'm full and ready to go. Actually, I'm writing this from the hotel lobby, ready to get out there to speak to a few people. I just missed Lunaro Tsukida in Katashi, unfortunately, but I'm in Alara right on time for probably the only self-proclaimed expert on sports and politics in the country, Ashubi Detrarthen. I make my way from the harbour to the nearby tram station, which carries me right up the hills and into Alara's 'second floor' (out of four), the platform that has most of the dense residential buildings. There we meet in a small cafe, squeezed in between an apartment block on one side and a local library on the other, with another 10 floors of housing stacked on top of us.

We've talked before, though only briefly, and Ashubi dives straight into the subject matter. "Now that you've been here, and you've seen the islands of Yoshima, you've probably noticed a few things," she opens. I definitely have noticed some things, but not per se on the political side. "As much as the mainland thinks of Yoshima as one big place that's agreeing on the whole, it's absolutely not the case. You can actually see from the club colours used. Red and yellow are massive Yoshiman colours. Blue and green are mainlander." I ask her what she means by that - apart from the very obvious notion that colours are tied to political views. "Well, some club colours have later been claimed by political viewpoints. Red and yellow are pretty neutral, but orange is a big democratic colour here. Meritocracy, they see, is pushed onto us. And one island that has always been the centre of resistance - yeah, you thought it was Leleia - was Etena, actually. And orange is a big colour there, and as a result, that was claimed by a few certain, fairly extremist groups. Meritocracy, look, it's not the answer to life's questions, but it's a decent way of running a country. Meritocracy is also very tied to the central government, and these groups see the central government as bad, and that means that meritocracy must suck too - and Etena's clubs were then leveraged into some sort of counterculture stand against everything that's from the mainland, its political system, everything. So the Etena Vipers, the Teragaseki Dynamo, all-orange clubs. Their supporters turned into a small crew of dedicated people, and their clubs attracted fans from these political leanings, an effect that only further strengthened itself until, well, Teragaseki teams are political parties now. And would you look at that: votes for the Democratic Party are majorly coming in from Yoshima, and in particular, Etena island. A democratic fortress in meritocracy country, if you will."

The point is clear, but I have no idea what that can turn into. "So, new fans of the club will inevitably run into their more radical supporters, and might turn into a democratic fundamentalist themselves. Not that democracy is necessarily a bad thing, not at all, but democracy here is so tied to Yoshiman values and autonomy, let alone independence, that it's going to be hard to see the ideology as entirely separate from that tendency towards autonomy that Yoshima keeps holding on to, despite entering Ko-oren about 150 years ago, after stints of going in and out of the union before that as well. Most people here know that Yoshima is not going to break away from the country any time soon, but hey, saying you're an Etena fan is a tiny act of rebellion, at least to some. Say, in other countries, some clubs are just much more socialist or fascist than others. Some are symbols of a local resistance movement or regional pride. And that last category fits the Vipers and the Dynamo."

After another 30 minutes of interesting, but too much conversation to note down here, I take the tram up to the fourth level of the city just for the view. The third level has the entertainment section, with plenty of residential areas still, some offices, but the restaurants and stadiums are here. This is where you find the Alara Spiders' Spider Stadium, also used by Advance Alara of Top League fame. Even further up, and up we go, the clouds not exactly in reach yet, but the tram line is steep enough that once I disembark, look down the tracks, my palms get a little sweaty. It doesn't get enough credit for being such a vertical city - but what a view. All levels down, towards the coast, and the endless sea beyond. Tomorrow, I'll set out again, to Schemerdrecht, back on the mainland. From here on out, I'm leaving rugby league territory until the very end of the tournament, when I'll be back in the capital of entertainment, Aminey.

[Krytenia]

(OOC: I didn't post as the wrong nation and you can't prove anything.)

[Logria]

SEVEN UP FOR SUPER SWANS

Logria consolidated their unexpected position atop Group A last night, and gained a bit of revenge for their opening day defeat, putting Terre Septientrionale to the sword in Bed Deg.

The Swans' third win on the trot was never in doubt from the moment George Lloyd bulldozed over the line in the sixth minute, as their opponents chased the game with increasingly fruitless results. The Nordiques' game gradually went south, as the Logrian defence hemmed the likes of Marc Phélipponeau and Martin Galibois, leaving the men of the Northern Land reduced to pressure relieving kicks out of their own half.

With the ball, Tommy Jones and Mal Thomas helped themselves to a brace of tries apiece, with Thomas' second - and Logria's fifth - seeing him break free of a Kameron Pitts tackle before sprinting a full sixty metres to score under the posts. Saints stand-off Jonathan Lomas, meanwhile, converted three of the Swans' five tries to complete a comprehensive 26-0 victory.

Logria should make almost certain of their place in the last sixteen with a victory over a hopeless Jeckland team who have precious little pride to play for. Indeed, if the hosts can avoid defeat to Terre Septentrionale in their next game, a win for the Swans guarantees a place in the knockouts - a place from which the boys in blue and gold have been missing from for far too long.

[Kayangan]

HARIAN NEGARA

---

---

Group C
Kayangan 4–8 TJUN-ia

The fourth match of Group C ended Kayangan losing 4-8 over TJUN-it with the only points earned through a try made by Kilat Menduga, While TJUN-it got two tries. The opportunity to advance seems to be closed to The Malay Blood. They finished third and 6 points behind the group champion, TJUN-ia. Meanwhile, in a related news.

The Rugby Association of Kayangan (RAK) will formulate a new training plan for the national U15 rugby squad following the announcement of the cancellation of the U15 Kayangan rugby tournament, yesterday.

RAK in a statement today informed that the training plan is to ensure that the national U15 rugby squad run by former Kiambang Cobra player, Anjang Petala is well prepared to face several international tournaments next year. The parent body informed that the national rugby team of seven men and women will undergo a training program set by the Rugby Association of Kayangan (RAK).

MD5
Vs. The Jovannic (UR)
@ONS DEG STADIUM

[Darmen]

Knock-on Costs Darmen Chance at Draw

AL DEG, COPPER CUPRUM - Javan Schmidt's fumble on a sixth-tackle diving attempt to score a try was the difference in Darmen's 8-2 loss to Trolleborg. The Right-center's attempt to touch down in the in goal area, had it been successful, would have given Neemias Cavanaugh at an excellent chance at goal for the conversion from just in front of the sticks. But the league gods wouldn't let it happen.

Darmen's campaign so far in Copper Cuprum hasn't gone much better. A 20-11 loss to Natanians and Nosts on the second matchday, in what was a battle between the two favorites in Group G, was the first sign of trouble for Darmen. After scoring all 11 of their points before the half, the Darmenis tired quickly and fell apart in the second half.

Last night's loss to Trolleborg leaves Darmen in third place with just two matches left. With the two nations ahead of it in the standings both having the advantage in the head-to-head tiebreaker, those two matches will be especially important. The final Group G participant, Megistos, has yet to win or draw a match and is now on a quest to just keep their pride intact.

Tuesday's match against Natanians and Nosts will kick off at 7:00pm and be broadcast on NBASN (Ch. 25).

[Sandwichs]

OOC: viewtopic.php?ns=1&f=7&t=488988&p=37483605#p37476232
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FIRST SANDWICHS MATCH EVER:

[POSTER 1]: Betasobons barely did anything to help his team!

[POSTER 2]: He just cried a bunch and made Hutanjia score that point.

[POSTER 1]: Yeah, and he said that it was the wind.

[POSTER 3]: Can't forget about that time Edoryoe, due to her amazing eyesight, gave Sandwichs its only win.

[POSTER 4]: But that was due to their opposing team being wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too smug!

[POSTER 3]: Still, having the best vision on your team is a huge benefit to your team.

[POSTER 2]: I had no idea what was going on that round.

[POSTER 5]: Me neither.

[POSTER 6]: All I know is that somebody failed to do their job.

[POSTER 1]: Who?


SECOND SANDWICHS MATCH! WOOOO!:

[Natanians and Nosts]

Natanians and Nosts accumulated one more victory on this RLWC.This time it was a 10x6 win over Megistos.
The Lemon Sharks started the game well,but at the 20th minute,a good scrum and a reception combined with a great run permitted Megistos to score the first try on the match,and despite the less-than-optimal angle,Megistos was able to convert the try.Five minutes later,João Mihai Ionescu shoot a great drop goal,scoring the first point for Natanians and Nosts.
Natanians and Nosts opened the second period with a try scored by Ion Mihai Apilescu in a sprint from Natanians and Nosts' half of the field.João Mihai Ionescu converted it,putting Natanians and Nosts in the lead.Márcus Ion Apilescu had a great chance on the tenth minute,but was tackled and the team did not secured possession in the ruck.On the fifteenth minute,João Mihai Ionescu scored a penalty.A little after the thirtieth minute,Ion Numa North had great game view and scored one more drop goal,makin the game Natanians and Nosts 10x6 Megistos.

[Hannasea]

Article posted on the sports section of the SuperBusiness website.

Hamsters’ Hopes Turn To (Saw)dust

Lack of big game experience cost the Hannasean Hamsters badly at the Rugby League World Cup. Despite turning the tables on Ancharmunn, running in four tries for an emphatic victory, sloppiness with a late turnover gave the Squirrels position within range of goal and Liam Brannigan promptly scored a smartly taken drop-goal. It made no difference to the result, but all the difference to the group stage standings as with that single point, Ancharmunn lurched past Hannasea on head-to-head points difference.

It led to the bemusing sight of the 22 – 7 winners despondent after the game, while the Squirrels left the pitch with heads held high despite the scoreline. Cast into third place, the Hamsters will need results to go their way now if they have any hope of qualification, and have paid the price not only for their first game thumping at the paws of the Squirrels, but also their lack of game awareness even in victory.

The damp squib of an ending spoiled what had been a much improved performance. Tries from Luke Gould (2), Ethan Price and Jack Hume built the lead, while Jack Egan’s kicking mostly held up – though he sliced the conversion attempt from the latter of Gould’s tries, which would prove costly later on. Cutting down on handling errors – until the late spill that gifted Ancharmunn their opportunity – showed the Hamsters had made the most of their time off, and there were some crunching tackles. But it remains a team that needs to prove its brains can match its heart if it can progress in this tournament and beyond.

[TJUN-ia]

3 Games, 3 Wins. That was on the minds of many back in TJUN-ia heading into the 2nd leg of fixtures in the 19th Rugby League World Cup. TJUN-ia had no experience of XIIIs heading into their games in Ons Deg, Copper Cuprum but that didn't matter. The Jags turned up out of nowhere to be in the ranks of the unbeaten at the break - a feat no one really saw coming for the debutants. Still, the pressure was still on but it was simple maths in play when it came down to our 2nd meeting with the Kayangan Malay Blood - after West Phoenicia's unexpected loss to The Jovannic, it was "win and you're in" for this side. Who thought I'd be saying that in MD4? Exactly

Onto this match, which was another tight one. I don't know what it is about the Malay Blood, but points seem to be rare when we play Pertiwi Hikmat's side. The first 40 was a defensive effort by the Malay Blood and they scored the only points of the whole half, a try by Kilat Menduga but the conversion was missed. 4-0 down after the first hooter, but TJUN-ia knew what they needed to do. 2 quickfire tries from Henry Sharps and Mohammad Al-Kafa of all people gave the Jags a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Captain Jack Henderson missed both conversion attempts, but the Jags managed to hold on as the hooter sounded.

The team celebrated calmly, and what an achaivement it is. Not only is TJUN-ia going to the knockouts on debut, they won their fucking group on debut. Talk about making a statement early - TJUN-ia Rugby is an emerging machine in both codes. Now the final two games will not impact our position, but it might impact who joins us in the Round of 16. Victory over West Phoenicia could give the winner between Kayangan and The Jovannic an opportunity to snatch 2nd from the 8th ranked team. Many will be hoping, then, that we can make it 5-0 tomorrow. Unbelievable. GO JAGS!

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SCHEDULE (GROUP C) - All Games at Ons Deg Stadium, Ons Deg (48,000 Capacity)
MD1: TJUN-ia (UR) vs Kayangan (UR) - W 14-4
MD2: West Phoenicia (8) vs TJUN-ia (UR) - W 7-3 (1st)
MD3: TJUN-ia (UR) vs The Jovannic (UR) - W 20-3 (1st)
--------------------------OFF DAY--------------------------
MD4: Kayangan (UR) vs TJUN-ia (UR) - W 8-4 (1st/GROUP WINNERS)
MD5: TJUN-ia (UR) vs West Phoenicia (8)
MD6: The Jovannic (UR) vs TJUN-ia (UR)

[Copper Cuprum]

This is your delayed fifth CUTOFF for the 19th Rugby League World Cup.
For some teams, this is the time the tournament is practically over. For other teams, it's not the end just yet.

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Group A
Logria 24–4 Jeckland
Terre Septentrionale 12–13 Copper Cuprum

  Group A                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Logria                     5   4  0  1   96  42 +54    8   Qualified for knockout stage
2 Copper Cuprum              5   4  0  1   84  37 +47    8   Qualified for knockout stage
3 Terre Septentrionale       5   2  0  3   58  80 −22    4
4 Jeckland                   5   0  0  5   20  99 −79    0

Logria ahead of Copper Cuprum on head-to-head results (Logria 11–6 Copper Cuprum)

Group B
Sandwichs 9–3 HUElavia
Quebecois Acadiana 1–4 Hutanjia

  Group B                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Hutanjia                   5   5  0  0   77  15 +62   10   Qualified for knockout stage
2 Sandwichs                  5   3  1  1   43  26 +17    7   Qualified for knockout stage
3 HUElavia                   5   1  1  3   31  63 −32    3
4 Quebecois Acadiana         5   0  0  5   18  65 −47    0

Group C
Kayangan 6–0 The Jovannic
TJUN-ia 10–0 West Phoenicia

  Group C                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 TJUN-ia                    5   5  0  0   59  14 +45   10   Qualified for knockout stage
2 West Phoenicia             5   2  0  3   41  55 −14    4
3 Kayangan                   5   2  0  3   30  39  −9    4
4 The Jovannic               5   1  0  4   49  71 −22    2

West Phoenicia ahead of Kayangan on head-to-head results (Kayangan 3–6 West Phoenicia)

Group D
Mathuvan Union 0–9 Placely Placington
Kingdom of Great Britain 3–14 Neu Engollon

  Group D                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Neu Engollon               5   4  0  1   86  36 +50    8   Qualified for knockout stage
2 Placely Placington         5   4  0  1   87  49 +38    8   Qualified for knockout stage
3 Kingdom of Great Britain   5   1  1  3   18  65 −47    3
4 Mathuvan Union             5   0  1  4   20  61 −41    1

Neu Engollon ahead of Placely Placington on head-to-head points difference (Neu Engollon +28, Placely Placington +13)

Group E
Lovisa 38–4 New Lunenburg
The Fair Republic 0–12 Ko-oren

  Group E                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Ko-oren                    5   4  0  1   35   6 +29    8   Qualified for knockout stage
2 Lovisa                     5   4  0  1  103  22 +81    8   Qualified for knockout stage
3 New Lunenburg              5   1  0  4    8  69 −61    2
4 The Fair Republic          5   1  0  4   14  63 −49    2

Ko-oren ahead of Lovisa on head-to-head results (Lovisa 0–11 Ko-oren)
New Lunenburg ahead of The Fair Republic on head-to-head results (The Fair Republic 2–3 New Lunenburg)

Group F
Hannasea 15–0 Northwest Kalactin
Ancharmunn 0–14 Elejamie

  Group F                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Elejamie                   5   5  0  0   77  19 +58   10   Qualified for knockout stage
2 Hannasea                   5   3  0  2   64  58  +6    6
3 Ancharmunn                 5   2  0  3   70  69  +1    4
4 Northwest Kalactin         5   0  0  5   30  95 −65    0

Group G
Megistos 1–12 Trolleborg
Natanians and Nosts 31–28 Darmen

  Group G                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Trolleborg                 5   4  0  1   37   6 +31    8   Qualified for knockout stage
2 Natanians and Nosts        5   4  0  1   71  55 +16    8   Qualified for knockout stage
3 Darmen                     5   2  0  3   74  65  +9    4
4 Megistos                   5   0  0  5   14  70 −56    0

Trolleborg ahead of Natanians and Nosts on head-to-head results (Natanians and Nosts 0–9 Trolleborg)

Group H
Croblade 3–26 Bostopia
Staypuftonia 12–16 Abanhfleft

  Group H                  Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts
1 Abanhfleft                 5   5  0  0  141  57 +84   10   Qualified for knockout stage
2 Bostopia                   5   3  0  2   94  80 +14    6
3 Staypuftonia               5   2  0  3   53  78 −25    4
4 Croblade                   5   0  0  5   27 100 −73    0