They have done it! The Ethanian Rugby League team, at the now called Rugby League WorldTrophy (previously World Cup), have managed to proceed to the round of 16, after beating the hosts in a thrilling match. In a game which saw the home team concede 12 penalties throughout the proceedings of the match, the Ethanian team stormed to victory, securing a winning margin of 10 points. Jacob Varger scored 2 tries, both of which were converted to gain the maximum 6 points, and he was backed up by Lucas Underbridge, who managed to secure another try in the dying moments of the match, which remained as just the try. The penalties which Oisinistan conceded granted 4 free 2 pointer penalties to the Ethane rugby team as well, which gave an extra 8 points, being one of the deciding factors in a game, which for the most part, was fairly closely fought throughout. 2 drop goals, both worth 1 point each, brought the Ethane team's total up to 26.
Oisinistan managed to hold off the few Ethanian attacks, which although there were few, they were brutal when they happened. Slipping through the hard- knitted Ethane defence many times themselves, Jason Murphy managed to score 2 tries for his team, one of them which were converted, taking the Oisinistan total up to 1 points. The inexperience of the Ethane rugby team was shown, however, through the amount of penalties conceded, albeit many of them not in their own half. Oisinistan managed to gain 6 points off the 3 easy penalties gifted to them, seeing them up to their total of 16 points.
Other matches during the group stages saw the Ethane team destroy Fluvique in an extremely one- sided encounter, which saw Fluvique only score 7- 1 try, a penalty and a drop goal. in comparison to Ethane's 30 points from the game, and another one- sided encounter for the Ko-Oren team, which obliterated the so- called 'solid' Ethane defence, beating the Ethane's 36 to 10. The win and the draw has seen Ethane through to the round of 16, after a disappointing run by the hosts themselves, which saw them face 2 losses during their campaign, only beating the untested Fluvique team, albeit by another large margin of 34-10.
In what has been seen by Ethanian fans at home as a fairly easy group in comparison to others, many of these fans have still been doubting the capabilities of the Ethane team, especially the defence, against the stronger teams, after their battering from Ko-Oren in the second game of the group stages. Mnay pundits at home have been doubting how far this fresh rugby league team can go, after facing an easy group, which saw one of the weakest unranked teams get obliterated by all 3 teams, and saw the hosts crash and burn, after fielding a weak team themselves, in all the confusion of the tournament. The only test the team have really had was against Ko-Oren, and although they are 4th in the world, many people point to this as an example of the Ethanian team not being ready for the international stage yet, suggesting that they should have waited another cycle before entering this tournament. Even with all the doubters though, many people, and the team, still have hope that they can upset some big teams, and surprise the doubters in this tournament. All that can be said is that everyone is going to be waiting, tense, for the round of 16 group stage to start, where the Ethanian team are going to have to play the best they have ever played in their lives, when they face Neu Engellon, who happens to be the 2nd best team currently in the world. Many people will be hoping for a miracle, but for most people, they just don't see it as a reality, and see this match as the end of the road for Ethane at this tournament.
Focused With the confusion of the WorldTrophy, many people have been put off coming to see the matches in Oisinistan, which have been a detriment to Oisinistan's finances and economy, which just recently took a tumble, after it was announced that viewership figures had been a lot lower than expected on many TV channels, including ENTV, which has led to lower payments to the official sporting federation in Ethane, leaving a large hole in the budget of the world cup.
Criticised by many for the mishandling of the World Cup, which led to this disaster taking place, many people had called for the tournament to be rebranded, so as not to disgrace the name of the world cup, which has a long, prestigious history to it, often run by many experienced hosts, who have overcome the challenge of budgeting for these events, as well as organising all the matches. Being Oisinistan's first sporting event in their own country, many people did expect there to be a few problems along the way, a few issues that always happen to a new host, but ones that could easily be fixed. However, in wake of the recent crises in this tournament, many countries have threatened to pull out of the tournament, and find a new host country, so that the tournament could be resumed as normal. While this has not happened, many of the critics of Oisinistan, which now happen to be almost all the participants, have got their way in the rebranding of this tournament to the WorldTrophy, so to not scar the name of the historic Rugby League World Cup. While many countries have remained in the tournament, there has been a notable lack of effort put into the games by many of the teams, with many of the teams not really seeing the point in participating in such a terribly organised event, which has confused many of the rugby players, who have had games changed or cancelled left right and centre, which also saw Ferret Civilisation win their first match, only to be told that the result is invalidated and that they would have to play again, which was a match that they then went on to lose when replayed.
However, even with all the negativity surrounding this event, and all the confusion amongst the players about who was playing their games, and when, the Ethane team have stayed calm and relaxed, not letting anything that was happening to the actual tournament structure and organisation distract them, instead focusing on the end goal, which was to win, and if this would not be possible, at least get out of the group stages, into the round of 16. Going into the game with the right mindset is always key to success, and although they haven't won every match they have played, being beaten by a significantly more experienced and skilled rugby league team, a tournament in which Ethane is a debutant in, they have played every game in the moment with all their hearts, not worrying about the outside world, only about their performance, their game, their win. This has seen them progress out of the group stages with flying margins, winning 2 of their 3 matches by considerable margins, which included beating the hosts by 10 points, seeing them knock out the hosting team.
Tables One of the main criticisms of this tournament has been the lack of tables for the group stages, which has meant that no one has been able to see how well they have done in the group stages, disappointing many fans, who are used to seeing such tables, which help them to understand the results and the games. In partnership with SportsEthane, we here, at ENTV Sports, have decided to commission our own version of tables for the tournament, so that everyone in Ethane is able to see where their favourite teams have placed, and how well they have done. While this may be criticised by many, as it is the hosts job, and the host may have got round to doing it eventually, many fans have wanted to have access to these tables for a while, and they have felt annoyed that the hosts are not providing these now. Therefore, here are the tables.
Group A:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Pittastria 3 2 1 0 67 51 +16 5
2 Royal Kingdom of Quebec 3 2 0 1 69 45 +24 4
3 Frenline Delpha 3 1 1 1 60 58 +2 3
4 Wray 3 0 0 3 33 75 −42 0
Group B:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Ko-Oren 3 3 0 0 108 26 +82 6
2 Ethane 3 2 0 1 66 59 +7 4
3 Oisinistan 3 1 0 2 54 78 −24 2
4 Fluvique 3 0 0 3 29 94 −65 0
Group C:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sword Bloke 3 2 0 1 66 70 −4 4
2 Silvacometopia 3 2 0 1 51 63 −12 4
3 Nassau-Hessen 3 1 0 2 73 46 +27 2
4 Natanians and Nosts 3 1 0 2 54 65 −11 2
Group D:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Britonesia 3 2 0 1 94 45 +49 4
2 United States of Devonta 3 2 0 1 70 71 −1 4
3 New Solviet Russia 3 2 0 1 47 74 −27 4
4 Ferret Civilization 3 0 0 3 57 78 −21 0
Group E:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Nordey 3 2 0 1 70 47 +23 4
2 Jeckland 3 2 0 1 70 54 +16 4
3 Communist and Social Unions 3 1 0 2 53 66 −13 2
4 Korena 3 1 0 2 50 76 −26 2
Group F:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Neu Engollon 3 3 0 0 86 40 +46 6
2 Huelavia 3 2 0 1 66 56 +10 4
3 Abanhfleft 3 1 0 2 54 66 −12 2
4 The Serbian Empire 3 0 0 3 40 84 −44 0
Group G:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Racao 3 3 0 0 82 52 +30 6
2 Hutanjia 3 2 0 1 81 36 +45 4
3 Kaboomlandia 3 1 0 2 53 59 −6 2
4 Mycenia 3 0 0 3 28 97 −69 0
Group H:
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Elejamie 3 3 0 0 82 41 +41 6
2 Mattijana 3 2 0 1 79 34 +45 4
3 The Fair Republic 3 1 0 2 55 79 −24 2
4 Zadiner 3 0 0 3 26 88 −62 0
These are the Unofficial ENTV Sports Rugby League WorldTrophy Tables, these are not official, these are just tables made with the data presented.
Disclaimer: ENTV Sports, Ethane or SportsEthane are not liable for any mistakes that there may be in the above tables. If you wish to be provided with official tables, please speak to the leader of the sports federation in Oisinistan, the host country for this WorldTrophy. No copyrights have been infringed in the making of these tables. You may copy these tables as you please and use them for your own ventures, and you may use them for commercial purposes.