Not just pre-match entertainers Francis Rossi and Co’s hairstyles and denims which will

Not just pre-match entertainers Francis Rossi and Co’s hairstyles and denims, which will still be there for the game’s second centenary, but also the balance of power in the world of rugby league. It was not that England played badly, more that Australia had a more varied collection of riffs at their disposal. There were no attempts at excuses in the England camp for what had been essentially a one-note performance.
There were, to be sure, a number of line decisions that went Australia’s way, including their first try and a marginal one that denied Paul Newlove a touchdown from Martin Offiah’s run.Replays also suggested that Tim Brasher had tripped Tony Smith when the England stand-off set sail for what could have been a crucial try. Brasher, who would have been off the field if a trip had been detected, took Australia out of England’s range with another try that involved a close call.

But it was noticeable that the England captain, Denis Betts, did not believe after the match that Smith had been tripped. The referee, Stuart Cummings, agreed and Brasher was still there to clinch it for the Aussies.Betts was part of an England back row that failed to strike its form of the rest of the tournament. Phil Clarke, normally so reliable, made a couple of horrible mistakes, the first of them directly responsible for the opening try. There were other disappointments too, such as Bobbie Goulding’s kicking game, Lee Jackson’s inability to find space from acting- half and England’s collective failure to involve their wing men sufficiently.One man exempt from all criticism is Gary Connolly, brought in after a five-week layoff with pneumonia. Whatever frailties Australia exposed, none of them were his and he showed by the way he man-handled Brasher into touch early in the game that his illness had not robbed him of any of his strength “He deserved a medal,” Phil Larder, his coach, said. So did they all, but unfortunately they were the familiar runners-up variety.England’s failure should not detract from admiration for Australia’s strength, organisation and resilience.

Their coach, Bob Fulton, has also shown the ability to improvise his way out of a tactical impasse by giving players new roles. One of them, Andrew Johns, a half-back used as hooker and first receiver yesterday, was a clear man of the match.Nor should English disappointment spoil the lasting impression of a wonderfully successful tournament.Much disparaged and fretted over before it began, the Halifax Centenary World Cup has been a roaring success, raising the profile of the game and particularly its international dimension beyond all expectations. The future might be uncertain, with Fulton predicting yesterday that the two sides in the Super League dispute will have to reach a compromise if there is to be any international competition next year, but, for the most part political considerations have been kept on the sidelines.Rugby league may not yet be, as Quo suggested before the match, “Rocking All Over The World” but it has caused quite a stir in this little corner.Larder’s lot, page 30. BRYAN ROBSON was given a stirring standing ovation yesterday on his return to Old Trafford with the Middlesbrough team he now manages There the gifts and goodwill ended. Reduced to 10 men by the first-half sending off of Roy Keane for a retaliatory punch, United stirred themselves to a victory more comfortable in its scoreline than its achievement. Gary Pallister’s first goal of the season just before half-time and Andy Cole’s first in eight games just before full-time keep United snapping at the heels of Newcastle, in action today at Tottenham.

As for Middlesbrough, they played tenaciously enough, too much so at times, but are clearly in need of the sort of attacking invention that Juninho will surely provide.
The Old Trafford crowd these days is a one-eyed monster. When United are not steam- rollering the opposition, the atmosphere is flat, visiting fans still precluded because of building work. Curiously, it can work against United, their flowing movements traditionally fuelled by raucous support, and their best performances have been away from home so far.Perversely, Keane’s dismissal helped them. As the Middlesbrough assistant manager Viv Anderson noted: “We had silenced them, then the sending-off got them going.” Previously frustrated by Middlesbrough’s resistance and persistence, now the crowd roused itself and its team.

Any sense of injustice was misplaced, however; Keane struck Jan Age Fjortoft with a right-hander after having his shirt pulled. “Nobody could dispute it,” the United manager, Alex Ferguson, admitted.The applause for the departing Keane, whose hot-headedness often undermines his game, which has been impressive of late, was also misplaced along with the jeering of the referee, Stephen Lodge, whose handling of what became a tetchy game, with four Middlesbrough players booked, was properly rigorous.At first it seemed that United would pierce Middlesbrough’s three-man central defence easily enough Ryan Giggs sent Cole into space but his shot was blocked. Then Steve Bruce clipped a ball forward on to which Cantona turned swiftly, striking a fierce shot that Gary Walsh turned over the bar in the manner learnt on United’s training ground.But soon Middlesbrough illustrated why they came into the game having conceded only four goals in 10 league matches, the best defensive record in the Premiership. Nigel Pearson was in commanding form at the back and Robbie Mustoe and Jamie Pollock worked hard in midfield to deny United the space to instigate any flowing movement.Middlesbrough looked dangerous on the break, too, and might even have snatched the lead when Nick Barmby’s ball from the right found Fjortoft, who ferried it on to Chris Morris, catching United’s defence square, forcing Peter Schmeichel to save at his feet. Soon after, the goalkeeper also had to parry Craig Hignett’s near-post drive.Between the two chances came Keane’s dismissal, its roots possibly in his anger at a tackle – hard but fair – on Cantona by Pearson.