Halfback poser lingers as rusty 'Roos win

Five-eighth Munster was man of the match at Headingley as defending champions Australia opened their Rugby League World Cup campaign with a solid if unspectacular 42-8 win over Fiji on a wet Saturday night in Yorkshire.

But intrigue surrounds the choice of his halves partner as Meninga prepares to hand Nathan Cleary his first cap against Scotland in Coventry next week.

Australia play Italy in their final group game ahead of the knockout stages the following week.

By the time the game with the Italians comes around, fans may know who has won the battle to be halfback between incumbent Cherry-Evans and Penrith's premiership winner Cleary.

Manly captain Cherry-Evans showed signs of rust but kept things simple against Fiji to allow Munster to work his magic.

"Nathan Cleary hasn't played yet and he's been one of the best players in the (NRL) competition at the moment," Munster said.

"We have got so many good players and it's obviously a good headache for Mal to have.

"It's great to be back playing with 'Chez' and obviously (fellow Queenslanders) Harry Grant and Ben Hunt as well.

"We've got that morale and combination but all the positions are obviously up for grabs."

Sluggish in the opening 15 minutes in front of a 13,366 strong pro-Fiji crowd, Australia failed to get out of first gear and were behind on the scoreboard before most fans had taken their seats.

Canberra's Semi Valemei dotted down after just three minutes but Australia found a spark through Grant's injections off the bench and Munster's constant scheming.

"I was happy with our defence," Meninga said.

"We were clunky and can improve with the ball but that was our first hit-out with seven debutants with just a week of preparation.

"I think we can get better definitely."

Lively debutant Jeremiah Nanai grabbed a try with just his second touch before a 95-metre try from Josh Addo-Carr and a strong barge-over from Angus Crichton put the Kangaroos in a commanding position at half-time.

They continued their rout into the second half with tries to newly-appointed captain James Tedesco, Grant and Latrell Mitchell, before Addo-Carr added a second to his name.

The only blight for Australia was a concussion for North Queensland forward Reuben Cotter, who failed his HIA after clattering headfirst into Fiji prop Tui Kamikamica.

"He's fine, we'll probably rest Reuben next week," Meninga said.

"We have Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Lindsay Collins sitting on the sidelines so they'll definitely get a run.

"The guys who didn't play will get a run next week."

Penrith's promising Fijian fullback Suni Turuva scored late on for the Bati but their coach Wise Kativerata was left to bemoan their inability to keep hold of the ball on a wet and windy night.

"We started really well but just gave up too much possession," he said.

"We still hung in there. We need to work on keeping it simple and then we will push every nation.

"It was our basics that let us down today."

Australian Associated Press