First World Cup try means more than meets the eye

VETERAN FULLBACK and try scoring hero Ben Jones Bishop has stressed how much his late score – Jamaica’s first-ever Rugby League World Cup four-pointer – has meant to both his fellow squad members and the sport’s attitude towards the expansion of the game around the globe.

Media and supporters, both the almost 7,000 at the game plus countless television viewers, even opponents New Zealand, were enthused by the gutsy rear-guard display against one of the competition’s favourites, despite the 68-6 final scoreline.

The 34-year-old Sheffield Eagles player’s touchdown, five minutes from time prevented the Kiwis, who were closing in on their biggest ever win, from surpassing the 74-0 mauling of Tonga in 1999.

And that statistic is highly significant because in just over two decades since that demolition at Carlaw Park in Auckland, Tonga have emerged as one of the top five most fancied nations in the betting prior to this World Cup.

Having already beaten Papua New Guinea and Wales to qualify for the quarterfinals and reached the last four in the 2017 competition, the rapid rise of the South Sea Islanders is seen as inspiration to nations like Jamaica, who strive to follow in those massive footsteps.

FINAL GROUP

Despite two heavy defeats, the Reggae Warriors have genuine self-belief ahead of Sunday’s final group game against Lebanon and former Super League star Jones-Bishop, who now plays in the second tier of English rugby, said: “It (the performance against New Zealand) is a stepping stone for us and the magnitude of it is unbelievable.

“We looked at the first round of fixtures (in qualifying) and we were the only side (out of 16) not to score a try, so it was good that our efforts were eventually rewarded with our first try against the Kiwis.”

Wild celebrations followed all over Hull’s MKM Stadium and both sides formed a guard of honour to applaud Jones-Bishop off the field at the end of what was his 300th career appearance.

“It was a surprise because Jermaine (Coleman – lead coach) took us aside while doing his pre-match talk and mentioned that they had agreed to do a guard of honour, so it was something that was organised behind the scenes between the two countries, and I’m massively grateful and have massive respect for the Kiwis for doing that.”

“It’s a big stepping stone for us and we definitely improved on our performance against Ireland the week before (losing 48-2), then we watched Scotland lose to Australia to another big score (84-0), so I think our effort and desire, with only two full-time players and three players in the New Zealand game coming straight from the domestic competition on the island, deserve praise.

“It was a building block, helping us improve so we can hopefully get ourselves regularly in these events.”