Australia 48 – 4 Lebanon

Josh Addo-Carr went through the whitewash five times as Australia advanced to the World Cup semi-finals; England take on Papua New Guinea on Saturday in the weekend’s second quarter-final at 2.30pm before New Zealand take on Fiji and Tonga against Samoa on Sunday.

Josh Addo-Carr celebrates after scoring Australia’s seventh try against Lebanon

Five tries from Josh Addo-Carr took Australia through to the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals as they cruised to a comprehensive 48-4 win over Lebanon at Huddersfield.

In a player of the match performance, Addo-Carr continued in the try form he enjoyed throughout the tournament, scoring his hat-trick in the opening 18 minutes to put Australia on a try before to add another. score in the second half to make him the tournament’s top try scorer so far.

Latrell Mitchell also scored a first-half try before Cameron Murray passed twice in the space of five minutes to send the Kangaroos up 30-0 at half-time.

A try after 10 minutes of the second half from Josh Mansour gave Lebanon a glimmer of hope but, after applying pressure for 10 minutes, Addo-Carr came back before Liam Martin charged in for the Kangaroos.

Despite the 48-4 loss, Lebanon will be happy with their performance, with coach Michael Cheika now tasked with coaching Argentina in their rugby union clash against England at Twickenham on Sunday.

History of the game

Lebanon came out firing in the opening minutes but, after some fumbling, the Kangaroos capitalized on their first real possession, Addo-Carr slotting into the corner after just four minutes to make it 4-0.

The ‘Foxx’ then scored their hat trick in the first quarter of the game, backing up James Tedesco on the break to pass his second try in the 15th minute before diving into the corner for his third after a strip of the ball near the line to make it 14-0.

Addo-Carr was in fine form, scoring his hat-trick after 18 minutes.

Mitchell then joined in the scoring fun after 22 minutes, taking advantage of a midfield break by Isaah Yeo to finish after a string of passes down the left side, while fending off two Lebanese players.

With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Murray completed his double, going under twice before Nathan Cleary converted to make it 30-0.

Lebanon got their first chance just five minutes from the end of the first half as they had a scrum just 10 yards from the Kangaroos line, but they couldn’t make it count.

Australia came out in the second half and replicated the start of the first, Addo-Carr flying over into the corner after a forward from Lebanese territory to the winger.

Isaah Yeo covered huge yards as Lebanon defenders struggled to contain the Penrith man

Lebanon weren’t ready to give up just yet, and after a kick from Mitchell Moses on the final tackle, Mansour flew in to place his team on the board and make it 36-4.

However, after losing momentum for 10 minutes, a clever Cameron Munster kick was delivered by Addo-Carr for his fifth of the night to put Australia in control, followed by Martin driving to add four points additional to bring the final score to 48-4.

Australia will now face the winner of the clash between New Zealand and Fiji in the semi-final next Friday at Elland Road in Leeds.