Rugby league’s showpiece event, the quadrennial men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments, kicked off on Thursday and Friday respectively and can be seen live in Japan on Premier Sports Asia. The men’s competition launched with a thrilling clash between the Kangaroos and Kiwis with the hosts securing a last-gasp 24-22 win in front of 41,255 fans in Sydney. Brisbane Broncos full-back Reece Walsh on the attack - Australian Kangaroos © Australia’s dream start also extended to the

Former NRL star and WWE wrestler Daniel Vidot is eying an upset when USA’s Hawks rugby league national team faces Wales at The Wern in Merthyr Tydfil on Saturday. Brisbane-form Vidot, 36, who burst onto the scene as a teenager at Canberra Raiders in 2009, scored 55 tries in 114 appearances in the NRL and represented Samoa at the Rugby League World Cup in 2013. The former Brisbane Broncos wing called time on his highly-lucrative league career in 2017 - at the age of just 27 -

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