SportMate Blog

0 GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES Kumuls barely got out of second gear as they ran in six tries in front of 6968 fans to round out the group stages of the tournament. The victory, which guarantees Stanley Tepend's side a spot in the 2025 edition in France, sets up a rematch of the 2017 quarterfinal with the English on Saturday (Sunday NZT) in Wigan. PNG were comfortably beaten when the two sides met in Melbourne five years ago. But in the intervening period they have knocked off the Great Britain Lions and pushed Tonga to the wire. Under the guidance of Tepend and his assistant coach Shane Flanagan the Kumuls have a new-found defensive steel. Along with their attacking panache and the form of Melbourne centre Justin Olam, who delivered his most impressive showing of the tournament so far, they will give England plenty to think about. Crafty five-eighth Kyle Laybutt put the Kumuls ahead after just eight minutes and the Kumuls followed up with tries to back-row pair Dan Russell and Nixon ...

  Former   Super Falcons stars Stella Mbachu and Chioma Ajunwa have expressed their displeasure over the continued exclusion of their fellow ex-international Maureen Mmadu from the honours list by the relevant authorities in the country. On September 11, 2007, Mmadu became the first Nigerian, male or female, to hit the 100-game milestone for the country, when she featured for the Falcons against Sweden at the Women’s World Cup in China. The match ended 1-1. In the process, Mmadu also became the first African woman to play 100 international games. But since then, the feat hasn’t received the deserved recognition, while three Super Eagles players Vincent Enyeama, Joseph Yobo and Ahmed Musa, who also hit the century of caps years later, were honoured. Last year, the Nigeria Football Federation gifted Musa N10m after the Super Eagles captain played his 100th Nigeria game in the Eagles’ 2-1 win over Cape Verde during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. “The NFF will give Ahmed Musa N10m...