Thrashings are not pretty but Rugby League World Cup needs its minnows | Rugby league

The main purpose of a World Cup is to grow the game, raise awareness and generate income that can be used to promote the sport to new audiences and territories. The performances of Lebanon and – despite their thrashings in the final group games, Greece and Jamaica – should have done that.

There will always be one-sided scorelines. The bottom seeds have to play the top teams at some point, even if scheduling those games at the end of the groups – when they are low on energy and high on homesickness – seems . . .