But there were lots of positives. The game was on the BBC, Sky, in the newspapers. The spirit of some of the sides, namely Wales and Ireland was outsanding but the Welsh performance against the Kangaroos has to be the high point. But Australia once again showed unless you are prepared to put a lot of time and effort in with your young players, give them good grounding in the core skills, when they are under pressure they will be exposed. The system down under provides this.
Some players can be more dominant in the lower teams.
I thought Johns and Kimmorley were outstanding for Australia as were Gidley and Lockyer. What Harris and Cunningham did for Wales was magnificent while in France their centres showed great pace. We should remember France was the success of the tournament in terms of attracting crowds which is good for the long-term in promoting international rugby league.