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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's 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

 

Player's Player

Ian Jordan

 

Top Try-Scorer

Amir Ayoub – 13