England downplay hopes amid Tonga outrage

England downplayed their World Cup final hopes against Australia next weekend as debate raged yesterday over whether they were legitimate winners of the semi-final against Tonga.A day after escaping with a 20-18 semi-final win over the Pacific islanders in Auckland, more than 45,000 people had signed an online petition calling for an explanation.It said rugby league officials should state why Tonga were denied a potential match-winning try in the last play of the game.England coach Wayne Bennett was adamant there was no try and his side deserved victory, albeit a close one.But he was less certain about England’s prospects in Brisbane next Saturday in the final against a rampant Australian side that thrashed Fiji 54-6 in the other semi-final.“Probably not,” the laconic Bennett said when asked if he believed his side could win.“But we’ll be there next week — we’ll still go to the game.”England dominated for most of their semi-final until the closing seven minutes when Tonga stormed back from 20-0 down to 20-18.With time up, Tongan forward Andrew Fifita appeared to have the ball stripped from his grasp before he regathered possession and crossed for what looked to be the winning try.But referee Matt Cecchin instantly said the ball had been knocked on and disallowed the try without referring the contested decision to the video referee.Bennett backed the referee and said if Fifita’s move had been reviewed the video would have shown England’s Jermaine McGillvary losing the ball in similar circumstances a moment earlier.“Why didn’t he give us a penalty when the ball got stripped off McGillvary, exactly the same thing happened,” he said referring to how the Huddersfield wing lost the ball in a tackle and it was judged a knock on.“The referee has allowed play on. It was a one on one.”An Australia-based Tongan fan Vai’Ana Ta’ai started a petition on the change.org website which had gathered more than 45,000 signatures by mid-Sunday afternoon.“England claims a stolen win,” the petition stated.“To referees, it is just another day of work, but for the Tongan players, it is heart, soul and their world. Tongan players are not playing for money, but for their country, heritage and their families. The game was not a fair one, in fact, England knew they had not won.“Referees need to be held accountable for their choices, and there needs to be a legal process to ensure games are scored with fairness and integrity — like the old days. Let us have an understanding and an explanation from NRL officials on why this final try was not counted.”Tonga coach Kristian Woolf believed that in such a close finish, Cecchin should have used the available technology to ensure the right decision was made.“The game’s on the line, it’s the last play of the game. You look at other tries 10, 12 times and you don’t have a look at that. I really don’t understand that,” he said.