 TEAMS
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 The 10 Captains of the 2005 International Cup
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New Zealand Crowned Champions
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Aug 14 2005
New Zealand have won the 2005 International Cup after defeating Papua New Guinea at the MCG. New Zealand got off to a great start but where not able to put it on the scoreboard and PNG made them pay when they kicked the first goal of the game. The Falcons hit back almost straight away to hit the lead and take a 2 point lead into half time. In the second quarter the game was very even, PNG had more of the ball but went forward with no real direction while New Zealand created space around ground when they went forward. New Zealand increased their lead slightly at half time, in the 3rd quarter New Zealand ran away with the game to take a 17 point lead into the last quarter and it seemed as if they where going to ran over the top of PNG and have an easy victory. But you should never write off PNG, and the PNG boys showed that they could win the game by kicking 2 goals in a couple of minutes to cut the lead to just 5 points and all of a sudden it seemed as though maybe PNG could pull off a great comeback. But it was not so be as New Zealand settled and kicked another 2 goals to seal the game with an 18 point victory 7.8.(50) to 5.2(32). New Zealand forward James Bowden was rewarded for his 3 goals by being awarded the best on ground.
Overall PNG had the majority of the ball and play but the crowded around each other to much which made it hard for them to go forward with an meaning. While New Zealand went the more direct root with long kicks into the forward line and they punished PNG.
In the other matches the USA defeated Ireland to claim 3rd spot, Samoa defeat Great Britain to finish 5th. While Canada claimed their first win of the torunament when they defeated South Africa to claim 7th place and Japan defeated Spain for the second time of the tournament to finish 9th.
Results of all matches:
Grand Final: New Zealand 7.8.(50) d Papua New Guinea 5.2.(32)
3rd Place Play-Off: USA 10.5.(65) d Ireland 4.6.(30)
5th Place Play-Off: Samoa 3.9.(27) d Great Britain 2.3.(15)
7th Place Play-Off: Canada 4.5.(29) d South Africa 2.6.(18)
9th Place Play-Off: Japan 11.7.(73) d Spain 2.1.(13)
Final Standings:
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All-Star Team Announced
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Aug 13 2005
Courtesy of the AFL website
Chief Executive Officer AFL, Mr Bill Kelty, Commissioner AFL, Bruce Billson, Parliamentary Secretary for Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs and the consul generals from all 10 nations.
A highlight of the event was the announcement of the 22 players named as the 2005 Australian Football International Cup All Stars Team. As well as being recognised for their performance the All Stars Team were presented with a commemorative jumper and congratulated by Essendon Coach Kevin Sheedy on their outstanding achievement.
2005 Australian Football International Cup All Stars Team
Navu Maha (PNG), David Gavara-Nanu (PNG), Stanley Tapend (PNG), Alister Sioni (PNG), Richard Bradley (NZ), Andrew Congalton (NZ), Craig Ashton (NZ), James Bowden (NZ), Todd Danks (NZ), James Brunmeier (USA), Donnie Lucero (USA), Michito Sakaki (Japan), Mtutuzeli Hlomela (South Africa), Steven Malinga (South Africa), Clifford Richardson (Ireland), Mike Finn (Ireland), Rob Burgess (Great Britain), Jose Francisco Lorente (Spain), Fia Tootoo (Samoa), Mateta Kirisome (Samoa), Rob McEwan (Canada), Paul Loghanne (Canada).
Other awards presented include:
2005 Australian Football International Cup Best & Fairest Medal Winners
Fia Tootoo - Samoa and Navu Maha - PNG.
2005 Australian Football International Cup Leading Goal Kicker Medal Winners
Craig Ashton - New Zealand (10) and James Bowden - New Zealand (10).
2005 Australian Football International Best Player from each Country(as chosen by each nations management team)
Great Britain - Vincent Carey
Canada - Paul Loughnane
Ireland - Mike Finn
Japan - Michito Sakaki
New Zealand - Matthew Callaghan
Papua New Guinea - Navu Maha
Samoa - Paul Maalona
South Africa - Steven Malinga
Spain - Jose Francisco Lorente
USA - Donnie Lucero
Kevin Sheehan, National Talent Manager AFL and Chairman of Selectors for the All Stars Team profiles the 22 players.
NAVU MAHA - Papua New Guinea
172cm, 80kg, 31 years Club: Central
Very creative player who mops up in defence and can play midfield or forward. Keeps his head over the ball. Kicked the sealing goal to get PNG into the Grand Final. Second time nominated for the All Stars Team. Joint winner of medal for 2005 Australian Football International Cup's Best & Fairest.
DAVID GAVARA-NANU - Papua New Guinea
183cm, 78kg, 26 years Club: New Ireland
Key defender with excellent leadership skills. Played with Melbourne University Blues. Consistent performer throughout the Cup.
STANLEY TAPEND - Papua New Guinea
174cm, 84kg, 23 years Club: Enga
Strong defender/midfielder with exceptional vision and clean hands. Has also played AFL in Malaysia where he is studying.
ALISTER SIONI - Papua New Guinea
185cm, 80kg, 20 years Club: West New Britain
Athletic medium forward with exceptional leap and smart around the goals. Trained with Brisbane Lions (AFL) last summer and then played in Queensland's AFL Cairns league. Exiting prospect.
RICHARD BRADLEY - New Zealand
186cm, 82kg, 22 years Club: Eastern Blues - Christchurch
Strong mark and courageous key forward who proved a terrific target for his team inside 50 metres. Features with some of the top contested marks of the series. Kicked 12 goals for the championships.
ANDREW CONGALTON - New Zealand
188cm, 90kg, 23 years Club: Takapuna Eagles
Strong marking key forward who captained New Zealand and showed terrific leadership as well as a fierce approach to the ball. Dangerous near goal.
CRAIG ASHTON - New Zealand
185cm, 79kg, 21 years Club: Takapuna Eagles
Lightly built but extremely courageous and strong marking forward who was a consistent avenue to goal. Capped off by four goal performance against the USA helping his team into the Grand Final.
JAMES BOWDEN - New Zealand
184cm, 83kg, 22 years Club: Eastern Blues - Christchurch
Clever medium forward who is very strong in the air and smart around goals. Reads the game well and is very agile.
TODD DANKS - New Zealand
182cm, 79kg, 28 years Club: North Shore Tigers - Auckland
Creative on-baller with good pace and evasive skills - can kick long goals and lift his team with his overall enthusiasm.
JAMES BRUNMEIER - USA
182cm, 85kg, 22 years Club: Milwaukee
Medium midfielder/forward with excellent aerial and ground skills. Currently studying language at Macquarie University (NSW) as part of the USA/AFL Scholarship.
DONNIE LUCERO - USA
188cm, 92kg, 35 years Club: Orange County
Captained his country and played consistently in defence being strong overhead and a good kick. Ex-Marine who has seen active service for his country.
MICHITO SAKAKI - Japan
165cm, 68kg, 20 years Club: Samurais
Small midfielder who played with tremendous heart for his team winning many possessions and hitting his targets with hand and foot. Outstanding all series including against Great Britain where he virtually set up all his teams goals.
MTUTUZELI HLOMELA - South Africa
167cm, 72kg, 24 years Club: Eldorado Park
Tutu was his teams captain and he led with great courage and skill. Has clear ball handling skills and kicks strongly. Had a year with Sturt (South Australia National Football League) in 1998 and will soon begin new full-time position as Head Coach of AFL South Africa.
STEVEN MALINGA - South Africa
171cm, 66kg, 21 years Club: Itoseng
Small forward who showed tremendous courage not only in the air, but at ground level and when the opposition had the ball. Takes spectacular marks, and kicked some team-lifting goals including 5 goals against Spain. Tackled bravely all championships for his team and played with great heart.
CLIFFORD RICHARDSON - Ireland
191cm, 98kg, 23 years Club: Midland Tigers - County Liatroim
Powerfully built key forward who marked strongly for his team and kicked important goals. Has a rugby background and currently studying in Edinburgh in Scotland.
MIKE FINN - Ireland
192cm, 92kg, 24 years Club: Midland Tigers - County Kerry
Talented Gaelic footballer who played in a range of positions and provided excellent drive for his team. Very athletic and strong in attack on the ball.
ROB BURGESS - Great Britain
180cm, 80kg, 28 years Club: Wandsworth Demons
Accumulated many possessions for his team in the midfield and also read the play well cleaning up across half-back. Fine contributor and hard worker throughout the Cup.
JOSE FRANCISCO LORENTE - Spain
178cm, 80kg, 19 years Club: Madrid Bears
Hard working inside midfielder who lead the Bulls on-ball brigade with desperation and energy. Studying law in Spain as a result of his relationship with Spain's coach Jeff Callow - who himself practices law.
FIA TOOTOO - Samoa
187cm, 93kg, 28 years Club: Moorabbin Kangaroos / Fasitoo-Uta Tigers
Strong marking key position player who provided a target up forward when needed for his team or a physical presence on-ball and in defence. Star in the first International Cup for his country in 2002 and backed it up again with some top performances being a joint winner of the 2005 Australian Football International Cup Best & Fairest medal.
MATETA KIRISOME - Samoa
180cm, 85 kg, 22 years Club: Fasitoo-Uta Tigers
Medium sided midfielder with terrific hands who worked hard for his team and was very creative setting up many forward moves.
ROB McEWAN - Canada
183cm, 85kg, 33 years Club: Windsor Mariners
Medium midfielder who is strong in the contest and sent his team forward on many occasions. Played an excellent game for his country against Ireland in his best performance. School teacher in Windsor.
PAUL LOGHANNE - Canada
180cm, 78kg, 31 years Club: Mississauga Demons
Skilful rover who has good game sense and smooth skills. Has the ability to find space which could be attributed to spending some time in Ireland playing Gaelic football. Excellent against Samoa.
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Papua New Guinea v New Zealand
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Aug 11 2005
intense battle right from the start when the teams went face to face during the Haka. New Zealand went into the match without being challeged by any opponents while the US where match hardened with tight matches against Ireland and PNG. New Zealand jumped out of the blocks and managed to kick a goal in the first minute of every quarter, and although the USA did put up some resistance they where never really in the match. New Zealand ended up running away winners 10.4.(64) to 5.2.(32).
In the second match of the day Great Britain took on Japan and Great Britain flew out of the blocks kicking 4.3.(27) in the first quarter to nothing. The match tightened up after that but the Japanese where unable to reduce the margin and ended up loosing 9.9.(63) to 3.5.(23).
In the third match of the day Samoa took and South Africa, the Samoans dominated the first quarter but could not kick any goals so only took a 4 point lead in quarter time. The second quarter was very even with South Africa improving a lot, both teams kicked 2 goals in the quarter and Samoa ended up taking a 2 point lead into half time. South Africa kicked the first goal of the 3rd quarter to hit the lead and that was what Samoa needed to get them into gear because after that they kicked 5 goals to 1 to win the game 7.8.(50) to 3.3.(21).
The final match of the day was the 2nd semi-final between PNG and Ireland, a rematch of the 2002 Final. PNG controlled the match for the first half but in the second half the Irish came out stronger but could not put pressure on the scoreboad. PNG had their lead stretch out the 16 points and it looked like they where going to run away with the game, but you should never write Ireland off and with a goal after the siren the margin was cut back to 10 points and the Irish felt they where a real chance. In the final quarter the Irish started strong and where eventually rewarded with a goal and a point to cut the margin to just 3 points with about 5 minutes to play. The PNG boys where starting to get a bit nervous and the Irish continued to press forward but could not kick a goal and with less then a minute to play PNG kicked a goal to seal the game. When the final siren went the bench was cleared and the PNG boys went nuts, the final score was PNG 5.4.(34) to 3.7.(25).
Scores for the day:
Canada defeated Spain due to forfeit.
New Zealand 10.4.(64) d USA 5.2.(32)
Great Britain 9.9.(63) d Japan 3.5.(23)
Samoa 7.8.(50) d South Africa 3.3.(21)
Papua New Guinea 5.4.(34) d Ireland 3.7.(25)
As a result of these matches here is the draw for Saturday:
Final: New Zealand v Papua New Guines
3rd Place Play-off: Ireland v USA
5th Place Play-off: Samoa v Great Britain
7th Place Play-off: South Africa v Canada
9th Place Play-off: Japan v Spain
Predictions For Finals:
In what will be a great final I think that New Zealand will prove to strong for PNG although it would not surprise me at all of PNG get up and win.
The USA will defeat Ireland for the second time of the tournament.
Great Britain will make it 3 wins in a row to upset Samoa.
Canada will collect their first win of the tournament with a win over South Africa.
Japan will again be to strong for Spain (assuming they play).
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PNG & New Zealand remain undefeated after 4 Rounds
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Aug 9 2005
After 4 rounds of the International Cup the 4 Semi-Finalist have been decided. New Zealand who finished undefeated and on top of the ladder will face the USA who dropped from 2nd to 4th on the ladder with a narrow 1 point loss to PNG. Irleland who had the easiest draw of all the Semi-Finalist will take on PNG who also went undefeated.
In round 4 action Ireland ran away comfortable winners by 47 points over Japan. Great Britain had their first victory of the tournament with a narrow 2 point victory over Canada who have now lost all of their matches. PNG scraped home by a point over the USA while South Africa scored more points against Spain then what they managed in all of their first 3 matches to have a big win over Spain. In the final match the New Zealand finally learnt how to kick straight to defeat Samoa.
Round 4 Results:
Ireland 7.11.(53) d Japan 1.0.(6)
Great Britain 3.7.(25) d Canada 3.5.(23)
Papua New Guinea 7.5.(47) d USA 7.4.(46)
South Africa 12.12.(84) d Spain 2.1.(13)
New Zealand 16.2.(98) d Samoa 4.3.(27)
Ladder After Round 4:
Draw for Qualifying Finals and Semi-Finals:
QUALIFYING FINALS
A 10.00am Canada vs Spain
B 11.45am Japan vs Great Britain
C 1.30pm Samoa vs South Africa
SEMI FINALS
A 11.00am New Zealand vs USA
B 2.30pm PNG vs Ireland
Predictions For Finals:
Canada will hand Spain a thumping.
In a close match Great Britain will just do enough to defeat Japan but I don't say that with much confidence.
Samoa will have a comfortable win over South Africa.
New Zealand will be to strong for the USA.
PNG will prove to classy for the Irish.
If these results turn out to be right then this is how the final days play will pan out:
Playoff for 9th - Spain v Japan - Japan will do this easy.
Playoff for 7th - Canada v South Africa - Canada will prove to strong.
Playoff for 5th - Samoa v Great Britain - Samoa easily.
Playoff for 3rd - USA v Ireland - USA all the way.
Final - New Zealand v PNG - New Zealand with to many big guns to hand PNG their 2nd runners up medal.
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Canada loose their 3rd close game in a row
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Aug 8 2005
All the results after Round 3:
Ireland 10-9(69) d South Africa 1-4(10)
USA 5-11(41) d Spain 2-0(12)
New Zealand 11-12(78 ) d Japan 1-0(6)
Samoa 7-4(46) d Canada 6-6(42)
Papua New Guinea 8-11(59) d Great Britain 2-2(14)
Ladder After Round 2
Predictions for Round 4:
Ireland v Japan: Ireland will prove to strong for Japan and will be amaing to boost their precentage to get up as high as possible.
USA v PNG: PNG will prove to be to skillfull for the US.
South Africa v Spain: South Africa will collect their second win of the tournament.
Canada v Great Britain: Canada to collect a well deserved win.
Samoa v New Zealand: I would give this the match of the day status, I think Samoa will push New Zealand all the way and although I believe New Zealand will win I would not be to confident about it.
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New Zealand the stand out after 3 rounds
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Aug 7 2005
In the second match the USA took on Spain and before I go to the match summary I must say how disapointed I am with Spain as they have a number of Australians playing for them. I consider this to be a discrace, not only is it against the rules of the tournament, it is also bad sportmanship and is bringing the game into disripute. If the AFL is serious about this tournament they should investigate all teams rosters better and make sure this does not ever happen. It does not matter so much with Spain because they are that bad anyway but if another team was to field a handfull of Aussies and happened to win some matches then it makes the tournament and all results meaningless. By rights Spain should have all points they have scored taken away and all of the Australians banned from the tournament straight away.
Back to the match and Spain did pull a surprise by winning the first quarter 1 goal to 2 point. The conditions where not great and the USA's kicking in front of goal was terrible. In the end the USA ran out winners 5.11.(41) to 2.0.(12). Spain was extremely lucky in this game, not only did the US kick badly but the umpiring was boardering on criminal. It seemed as if the umpires where given instrictions not to pay free kicks to the USA that where obviously there and give free's to Spain that where no whee to be seen. In fact the 2 goals that Spain got where from free kicks that where taken down field and none of them should have been paid.
So although the US would be upset with not winning by as much as what they thought they would they can take heart in the fact that they won a game where everything seemed to be going against them.
In the 3rd match Japan took on New Zealand and from the start it looked like Japan was going to prove to be good oposition to the Falcons. Japan kicked the first goal and overall the first quarter was pretty tight with New Zealand leading by 9 points at the end of the 1st quarter. But after that the big strong Kiwis stepped it up a gear or 2 and proved that they just might be the team to beat in the tournament running out 72 point winners 11.12.(78) to 1.0.(6). If they can just learn to convert more of their scoring shots I think they may prove to be unbeatable.
Results of the other games will be updated soon as well as the ladder.
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US shock Ireland - Round 2
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Aug 6 2005
New Zealand 15.15.(105) d Spain 0.3.(3)
USA 2.5.(17) d Ireland 1.7.(13)
South Africa 4.6.(30) d Japan 4.4.(28)
PNG 5.11.(41) d Canada 4.3.(27)
Samoa 12.6.(78) d Great Britain 1.2.(8)
Ladder After Round 2
Prediction for Round 3:
South Africa v Ireland - I think Ireland will bounce back with a tight victory over South Africa.
Spain v USA - The US will continue on their winning way and hand out a thrashing to Spain.
New Zealand v Japan - New Zealand to have a comfortable victory.
Samoa v Canada - Probably the toughest match to pick in this round, at the start of the tournament I had Canada down for a win but the way Samoa has been playing I just can't go past them.
PNG v Great Britain - PNG have just been cruising along while Great Britain have been strugling so I expect the trend to continue.
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Japan lead the way after Round 1
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Aug 3 2005
second quarter Japan continued to apply the pressure to lead by 42 points at half time, but it could have been much more with Japan missing a number of opportunites. At half time the Spainish team was taken into the dressing rooms where the coach obviously gave them a spray because the started the 3rd quarter a different team and won the quarter by 2 points. Japan however where not going to let Spain back into the game and stepped it up a gear in the last quarter to run out 71 point winners 13.10.(88) to 2.5.(17). It should be noted that this is Japan's first ever when againts another international side.
Game 2: Ireland v Canada
This game was tight from start to finish with the Canadians just getting pipped 4.7.(31) to 3.5.(23). The game was there to be won for the Canadian, they took a 2 point lead into the last quarter. Ireland managed to kick 2 goals in the last quarter and despite the ball contantly going onto the Canadian forward line they could not take any of their chances.
Game 3: New Zealand v Great Britain
This game was pretty much won in the first quarter when New Zealand came out flying to take a 28 point lead into quarter time. Great Britain did however show that they where not going to lie down and won the second quarter by 7 points to bring some life to the contest, but that was snuffed out in the last two quarter with New Zealand running out 34 point winners 8.8.(56) to 3.4.(22).
Game 4: USA v South Africa
This game tought us one thing and that was that South Africa would be no walk overs this time round. THey matched the US around the grounds but where really let down when it came to finishing off goals. In the end the US only had 3 more scoring shots but ran out winners 9.8.(62) to 4.10.(34). It should be noted that at the last International Cup in 2002 the USA defeated South Africa by 128 pointes 20.12.(132) to South Africa 0.4.(4), so as you can see the South African have come a long way in 3 years and may upset a few teams this time round.
Game 5: PNG v Samoa
This was by far the best match of the day both in terms of skill and toughness. The Samoans came out strong and seemed to physically intimidate the PNG boys to took a 1 point lead into quarter time. PNG slowly edged their way in front over the 2nd and 3rd quarters to take a 5 point lead into 3 quarter time. The PNG boys managed to kick the first goal of the last quarter but the Samoans where not going to give up and continued to go forward. They got back within 5 points with a goal and looked as if they where going to run over the top of the PNG boys but a couple of sloppy frees given away and a couple that where not even there resulted in Papua New Guinea kicking the last 2 goals of the match to run out 17 point winners 5.6.(42) to 8.11.(59)
Summary:
After viewing all 5 games I can say that the player to watch out for is the number 12 for Japan Michito Sakaki.
The toughest and strongest team was diffently Samoa.
The team that showed they know how to dish put a good hip and shoulder would be Canada.
The thing that all teams need to work on is diffently there kicking, especially when it comes to kicking out after a behind, it seemed that only the US had a plan when it came to kicking out. The rest of the teams just bombed it long straight down the middle usually resulting in the ball coming staright back.
Keep an eye on this website as photos will soon appear.
Ladder after round 1:
Prediction for Round 2:
New Zealand will hand out the biggest ever thrashing in international footbal history to Spain.
The USA play Ireland in the second match and this is an extremely hard match. The teams have met twice before with Ireland winning both encounters and I think Ireland will probably just edge out the USA in a tight match.
Japan take on South Africa and this is another tough match to pick. The teams have never played each other, but after seeing the two teams play on Day 1 I think the the Japanese may prove to strong for The South Africians.
I think PNG will defeat Canada by about 4 or 5 goals in the first match between the 2 nations.
In the final match of the day Great Britain and Samoa lock hornes. This will be the first time that the 2 teams have met and although it will be a tight match I think Samoa will prove to be to strong.
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Ozrulzglobal Prediction for International Cup
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July 30 2005
After carefully studying the draw for the International Cup, tipping the winners for each match this is how I see the tournament panning out. PNG, New Zealand and Ireland will win all 4 of the preliminary matches with the USA, Canada and Japan each winning 2. Both Samoa and South Africa will each win one game. Great Britain who have an extremely tough draw will loose all 4 matches while Spain will also fail to register a win. Then comes the Qualifying Finals:
9th v 10th - In this match I predict Great Britiain will bounce back and defeat Spain
7th v 8th - Samoa to defeat South Africa
5th v 6th - Canada to teach Japan a lesson
Semi-finals
1st v 4th - PNG to outclass the USA and qualify for the final
2nd v 3rd - New Zealand to edge past Ireland in a thrilling match.
Then Comes the Classification matches
9th place playoff - South Africa will prove to strong for Spain
7th place playoff - Great Britain to finish the tournament on a high and defeat Japan
5th place playoff - Canada to edge past Samoa in a tought encounter
3rd place playoff - USA to spring an upset and defeat Ireland
1st place Final - PNG will prove to stong for New Zealand and take out the title.
So at the end of the tournament this is my predictions with each teams win loss ratio:
1st - PNG - 6 and 0
2nd - New Zealand - 5 and 1
3rd - USA - 3 and 3
4th - Ireland - 4 and 2
5th - Canada - 4 and 2
6th - Samoa - 2 and 4
7th - Great Britian - 2 and 4
8th - Japan - 2 and 4
9th - South Africa - 2 and 4
10th - Spain - 0 and 6
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Draw changed again as Nauru pull out
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July 30 2005
The 2005 International Cup has hit another bump before a ball has even been kicked with Nauru pulling out of the tournament with less then a week before the Cup is due to start. The result of this unfortunate event is that the AFL has once again had to change the draw. Now that it is an even 10 team tournament the AFL has elected to scrap the 2 pools and open up the field, the draw is still very similar with the team that previously had the bye now taking on the team that was due to play Nauru except for Round 3 where it has been swaped around a little bit.
One disapointing result of the new draw is that the 3 big nations, PNG, New Zealand and Ireland do not play each other at all in the early rounds which may result in them gaing an easy passage to the semi-finals.
New Draw
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New Draw For International Cup Released
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July 12 2005
With Denmark pulling out of the 2005 International Cup the AFL has had to change the draw for the International Cup. Spain has now left group B and is now part of Group A along with Ireland, USA, Nauru, Japan and South Africa. This makes for a very exciting group with both Japan and South Africa never before beating another international side and Spain making their debut. This group looks like it should be between Ireland and the USA but given that none of these teams have played against each other in the past 3 years it is impossible to say who will win the group.
In Group B the teams are PNG, New Zealand, Great Britain, Samoa and Canada. Both PNG and New Zealand are the hot faourites to take out this group with Canada looking to be the big improvers this time round |
