By Brian Lowe 

The opening round of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup is in the books, and it couldn’t have been a better start for the game’s international showpiece, with two upsets and huge television viewership numbers over the weekend.

The pair of upsets both came at the end of the round on Sunday, with Ireland downing the more highly fancied Italy and Lebanon upending France.

The Rugby League International Federation released its updated world rankings just days before the World Cup kicked off in the tournament's host countries of Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, giving everyone an idea of how the games might go.

It all got underway Friday with the much-anticipated Pool A showdown between top-ranked Australia and No. 3 England in Melbourne, Australia, and while that game turned out to be more of a defensive arm wrestle, it was still action-packed.

The co-host Kangaroos eventually got away with an 18-4 victory, although the final scoreline flattered them somewhat as they scored an 80-meter intercept try right at the death when center Josh Dugan collected a loose ball and ran it all the way to the try zone.

While losing the game, England also lost probably its biggest name when back rower Sam Burgess left the field with a knee injury that is likely to sideline him for at least 3-4 weeks. That means he won’t be available until the knockout rounds.

Lebanon Shocker

In the other Pool A matchup, No. 18 Lebanon surprised everyone but itself by defeating sixth-ranked France 29-18 in Canberra, Australia. This was after the scores were all tied up at 18-18 well into the second half.

It was the first-ever World Cup win for the Cedars and weren’t they excited about it. One of their veterans, Tim Mannah, tweeting afterwards, “What a day man!”

The Lebanese squad is coached by former Australian Test player Brad Fittler and contains NRL players Robbie Farah, Mitchell Moses, and Mannah, and they all had a role in the victory. The win puts Lebanon in a good position to make the playoff rounds, while the French are now in danger of being bounced early unless they can somehow beat England or Australia.

Ireland Over Italy

The other boilover was No. 8 Ireland beating No. 12 Italy 36-12 in a Pool C/D crossover match in Cairns, Australia. While the Azzuri are ranked lower, they have a bunch of NRL’ers in their squad, whereas the Irish don’t. The Wolfhounds are comprised mainly of English championship players, and they came to play.

Ireland was quicker to the ball, had far more energy than the Italians, and was clearly on a mission right from the get-go. The Irish scored first and never looked back. The closest Italy got was when it closed the gap to 20-12 in the second half before Ireland pulled away for good.

One of the stars of the Irish show was Toronto Wolfpack winger Liam Kay, who bagged a pair of tries.

USA Thumped

That Irish result helped No. 10 USA, which lost its opening Pool D match to seventh-ranked Fiji 58-12 on Saturday in Townsville, Australia. The score doesn’t truly reflect the tireless effort put in by the Hawks, who were simply outgunned by a side loaded with professionals.

One of those Fijian standouts was Jarryd Hayne, who equaled the all-time try-scoring record in World Cup history. The five-eighth playing in his third RLWC, two for Fiji and one for Australia, now has 13 tries to his name, the same as Australian-record holder Bob Fulton.

The Americans face off against Italy next Sunday in round two in what will now be a pivotal game for both teams as they try to stay alive in the race for the quarterfinals.

PNG Wins At Home

Elsewhere in Pool C, as expected No. 16 Papua New Guinea responded to having home-field advantage by pounding a hapless Wales team 50-6 in front of a sellout crowd in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The ninth-ranked Welsh were never in it and were completely overwhelmed by a rampaging Kumuls side.

Tonga Defectors Roll

There has been a lot of talk about rugby league’s big three now being a big four following the player defections to No. 11 Tonga. Players who qualify for more than one nation have the option of choosing their affiliation, and several Tongan-New Zealander players surprised everyone by choosing Tonga over the more highly regarded New Zealand team.

You'd figure, then, that the Mate Ma’ would be pretty good, and they took their first step in proving themselves worthy of that tag with a 50-4 triumph against No. 4 Scotland in a Pool B contest on Sunday in Cairns.

To be fair, the Scots fielded an understrength team, but that said, they weren’t really in the same league as Jason Taumalolo, Michael Jennings, Andrew Fifita, and company.

New Zealand Still Good

The other Pool B matchup saw second-ranked New Zealand show it is still a top-notch side despite players flip-flopping by taking care of business 38-8 against No. 5 Samoa on Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand.

Viewership Up

RLWC 2017 organizers will also be tickled pink with TV audience numbers for round one.

In Australia, 2.59 million people tuned in to watch Friday night’s match between Australia and England, and those numbers are expected to grow. To put this in perspective, it compares to 700,000 total viewers who watched the Bledisloe Cup rugby match a week earlier.

FloRugby Live Coverage

For fans in Canada, Uruguay, Chile, and select Asian nations, the Rugby League World Cup will be shown on FloRugby. Go here for more.

Round 1 results:

Australia 18, England 4

PNG 50, Wales 6

New Zealand 38, Samoa 8

Fiji 58, USA 12

Ireland 36, Italy 12

Lebanon 29, France 18

Tonga 50, Scotland 4

- Brian Lowe