world club challenge
Hull KR (18) 30
try: Amone, Minchella, Burgess, Gildart, Hiku Target: Morg 2, Martin 3
Brisbane (4) 24
try: Shibasaki 2 Carrigan, Sailor, Staggs Target: Reynolds 2
Hull Kingston Wanderers withstood a ferocious second-half counterattack from NRL champions Brisbane Broncos to win the World Club Challenge.
The defending Chinese Super League champions, who have recovered from the brink of extinction in the past 25 years to win the domestic treble, shocked Australia with a first-half performance.
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Mitch Lewis’ kick forced a series of errors from the Broncos, while tries from debutants Tom Amon, Elliot Minchella, Joe Burgess, Oliver Gildart and Peta Hiku put the Broncos ahead 30-4, with Ghamath Shibasaki conjuring the only counter-attack.
The Broncos fell behind three times in last year’s NRL grand final series before claiming the title before scoring four times in 16 minutes through Patrick Carrigan, Deine Mariner, Shibasaki and Kotoni Staggs to the growing disbelief of the 24,000 fans inside MKM Stadium.
In a tense final, the depleted Robins somehow held on to become just the sixth English club to win the competition since it became a regular fixture in 1987.
The victory means Hull KR now hold all four major titles, the first club to do so since St Helens in 2006-07.
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The Robins showed no such weakness as they began their Premier League title defense with a humiliating defeat at the hands of newly promoted York City Knights last week, going straight into the attack with Lewis testing the visitors with his kicking.
The Broncos looked a little rusty in their first game since October’s NRL grand final defeat to the Melbourne Storm and made a series of errors, with Amon rushing in to score first on Tyrone May’s rude kick.
The Robins played to their advantage when Reece Walsh combined his mercurial brilliance with the occasional error to knock off another Lewis bomb, with the superb Jez Litten sending Minchella over the line.
Staggs’ counter-attack gave Willie Peters’ side another great attacking platform and Litten’s kick set up Joe Burgess, who scored a hat-trick for Wigan Warriors against Cronulla Sharks in the 2017 World Club Challenge, for another try.
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The Broncos were shocked, but they burst into life, launching a dangerous attack down the right and through a quick pass from Walsh, Josiah Kalabani brilliantly fed Shibazaki on the byline.
It looked like the first try of the second half would prove crucial as Lewis again hit a high ball which Marriner tipped over and Jay Whitbread quickly passed the ball to Oliver Gildart, Wigan’s other scorer against Cronulla nine years ago.
When Hiku crossed the finish line with another fantastic May kick, the game seemed to end with Hull KR’s 26-point lead, but that didn’t take into account the Broncos’ remarkable resilience.
Within two minutes, Carrigan backed up Ben Talty’s breakaway to score before Marriner raced past Lewis for another.
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As the jubilant home fans began to sink into nervous unease, Walsh set up Shibasaki for his second try and the Broncos’ third inside five minutes, with Staggs again converting with minutes remaining before Adam Reynolds badly missed the conversion.
Reynolds’ three missed conversions on the night, compared to two before Arthur Mogg went off with a shoulder injury, and three more from Rhys Martin, proved to be the difference between the two sides on the night.
Hull KR: Morger; Davis, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Amone, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella.
Transfer: Lucley, Whitbread, Martin, Lawton.
Brisbane: Walsh; Kalapani, Staggs, Shibazaki, Mariner; Mom, Reynolds; Jensen, Pekes, Haas, Gorszewski, Rich, Carrigan.
Transfer: Hunter, Willison, Tati, Tava.
referee: Liam Moore.