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World Champions: Emus Retain World Cup in Dominant Performance
The Athelite Australian Emus successfully retained the Federation of International Touch World Cup overnight, crowned Opens and Masters World Champions in a dominant 7-day performance in Nottingham, England.
After an undefeated round-robin stage across all divisions, The Emus claimed the top position in each division pool, going on to claim twelve out of thirteen Gold Medals to retain the World Cup – last won by Australia at the 2019 World Cup hosted in Malaysia.
The 2024 performance tops the Malaysian campaign with the Emus claiming two more division titles in Nottingham, reaffirming Australia’s position as the global benchmark having never lost a World Cup.
The momentum was set up perfectly on Saturday by the Men’s 55s, Men’s 50s, and Men’s 45s teams who got the Emus off to a flyer, claiming three Gold Medals on the penultimate day of competition.
As the remaining ten teams took the field on Sunday, they found themselves coming up against traditional rivals New Zealand in eleven of thirteen Grand Finals, with host nation England meeting the Emus in the Women’s 27s and Women’s 35s deciders.
As expected, the Emus’ Opens (elite) teams faced strong New Zealand opposition with each game producing gripping encounters. After last year’s Trans-Tasman Test Series in Brisbane produced one of the all-time classic matches between the two powerhouses (Australia won in drop-off), the Men’s final was highly anticipated and expected to go down to the wire.
As he did in Brisbane, Touch Black Ifor Jones caused plenty of headaches for the Aussies, but it was a complete team performance from the Emus who found another gear over the last 12 months to claim victory 9-6.
Australia have only ever lost one World Cup game in the Women’s Open and Captain Kim Sue See ensured that record will stand with a captain’s knock Player of the Final performance ensuring the Aussie Women took home Gold – winning 6-2.
Similar to the Men, recent Trans-Tasman form suggested the Mixed Open division was going to be hotly contested, and boy was the form guide right!
In one of the matches of the tournament, the two old adversaries couldn’t be separated at the end of 40 minutes, tied at seven tries apiece and requiring a drop-off to decide the World Championship. In the end, it came down to a special defensive effort from James Hegedus and a match-winning try from Steph Maiolo which won it for the Emus 8-7.
The Masters divisions all did Australia proud, claiming all but one Gold Medal, with the Men’s 40s falling agonisingly short to New Zealand in a gallant effort 4-3.
The Women’s 27s reclaimed the World Title after being runners-up in Malaysia, led by an inspiring performance in the final by Stephanie Halpin to defeat host nation England 7-1.
In the other Ashes match-up, Serena Albert ensured ‘it was coming home’ to Australia in the Women’s 35s division with the Emus comfortable winners 10-2.
2024 was the first time a Women’s 40s division featured at a World Cup, and the Emus ensured it was a memorable experience winning the inaugural title in a tight contest over the Kiwis 4-1.
There were plenty of heart-stopping moments in the Men’s 30s and Senior Mixed finals, with both matches decided by a solemn try. Tommy Quinlivan starred in the Men’s 30s as the Emus won 5-4, whilst the senior mixed team sent retiring coach Danny Goodwin out in style winning 10-9.
The Men’s 35s proved too strong for the Kiwis with Australia winning 16-3.
Final results for all divisions are listed below.
GOLD MEDAL MATCH RESULTS
Men's Open
Australia 9 defeated New Zealand 6
Player of the Final
Ifor Jones – New Zealand
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: Lebanon
Coach's Award
Jordan Marshall-King
Players’ Player
Dylan Hennessey
Top Try-Scorer
Shaun Francis – 33
Women's Open
Australia 6 defeated New Zealand 2
Player of the Final
Kim Sue See – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
Tiarni Bryce
Players’ Player
Ashleigh Kearney
Top Try-Scorer
Katherine Stevens – 23
Mixed Open
Australia 8 defeated New Zealand 7
Player of the Final
Stephanie Maiolo – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
James Hegedus
Players’ Player
Stephanie Maiolo
Top Try-Scorer
Olivia Goodsell – 34
Women's 27s
Australia 7 defeated England 1
Player of the Final
Stephanie Halpin – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: England
Bronze: South Africa
Coach's Award
Rebecca Cachia
Players’ Player
Courtney Trenerry
Top Try-Scorer
Haylee Murphy-Evans and Dymphna Smith – 20
Men's 30s
Australia 5 defeated New Zealand 4
Player of the Final
Tommy Quinlivan – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
Jordan Dart
Players’ Player
Madalitso Masache
Top Try-Scorer
James Sharp – 25
Senior Mixed
Australia 10 defeated New Zealand 9
Player of the Final
Justin Otto – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
Lucena Gill
Players’ Player
Kelly Butler and Nicholas Bale
Top Try-Scorer
Carly Walsh – 27
Men's 35s
Australia 16 defeated New Zealand 3
Player of the Final
Jai Ayoub – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: South Africa
Coach's Award
Scott Bradley
Players’ Player
Scott Bradley
Top Try-Scorer
Taki Luke – 20
Women's 35s
Australia 10 defeated England 2
Player of the Final
Serena Albert – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: England
Bronze: South Africa
Coach's Award
Kate Hilyard
Players’ Player
Serena Albert
Top Try-Scorer
Laura Bain – 18
Women's 40s
Australia 4 defeated New Zealand 1
Player of the Final
Relle Donovan – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
Vanessa Cooper
Players’ Player
Kellie-Jean Johnston
Top Try-Scorer
Kerrie Rendell – 13
Men's 40s
New Zealand 4 defeated Australia 3
Player of the Final
Michael Rawiri – New Zealand
Medal Recipients
Gold: New Zealand
Silver: Australia
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
Richard Foote
Players’ Player
Shaun Street
Top Try-Scorer
Troy Nichols – 19
Men's 45s
Australia 8 defeated New Zealand 2
Player of the Final
Drew Davies – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: France
Coach's Award
Shane Warman
Players’ Player
Shane Warman
Top Try-Scorer
Adrian Vallelonga – 24
Men's 50s
Australia 8 defeated New Zealand 2
Player of the Final
Alan Woods – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
Cristin Davidson
Players’ Player
Graham Knights
Top Try-Scorer
Cristin Davidson – 34
Men's 55s
Australia 6 defeated New Zealand 4
Player of the Final
Edward Fong – Australia
Medal Recipients
Gold: Australia
Silver: New Zealand
Bronze: England
Coach's Award
Derek Duguid
Players’ Player
Ian Jordan
Top Try-Scorer
Amir Ayoub – 13
