Plenty of Canberra Raiders players were involved over the weekend for their respective countries in the Rugby League World Cup.
Joseph Tapine retained his place in the second-row for New Zealand as they crushed Scotland 74-6. Tapine managed to bag himself a try in a 60 minute hit out. His Raiders teammate Jordan Rapana was rested for the clash as New Zealand get ready for a top of the table match with Tonga.
Junior Paulo, Joseph Leilua and Josh Papalii were all in action for Samoa as they fell to rivals Tonga in Waikato. Junior Paulo was a strong performer for Toa Samoa making 131 running metres whilst completing 18 tackles. Papalii was also solid, playing the entire 80 minutes and contributing with 21 tackles.
Elliott Whitehead and Josh Hodgson both started for England as they recorded their first win of the tournament with a 29-10 victory over Lebanon at Allianz Stadium. Hodgson was particularly impressive making 36 tackles and putting on a try assist to steer his team to victory.
In Port Moresby Kurt Baptiste and Kato Ottio put on another impressive performance in front of a sold out home crowd as Papua New Guinea fought hard to defeat a determined Irish outfit 14-6. Ottio played the entire match while Baptiste contributed with 42 minutes.
In other matches Italy bounced back with a big 46-0 win over the USA while Fiji thrashed Wales 72-6.
