Luke Keary mirrored on some of the memorable moments of his profession after inspiring Ireland to a 48-2 victory over Jamaica of their opening recreation of the Rugby League World Cup at Headingley.
The Sydney Roosters half-back is a former NRL Grand Final winner however admitted the possibility to lastly signify his nation on the most important stage ran all of his glittering home experiences shut.
Keary, denied the possibility to compete for Ireland in 2017 attributable to damage, mentioned: “It wasn’t to be in 2017 but it is something that has been coming for a long time and it means so much to me and my family.
“I got a bit emotional last night when I finally got to see the jersey with my name on it. I’ve had some pretty special experiences but it is one of the proudest moments of my career.”
Ireland ran in 10 tries in opposition to the Jamaicans, who have been making their World Cup debut and earned one of many greatest cheers when Kieran Rush kicked their solely factors of the sport after the first-half hooter.
Louis Senior was the one man to cross twice but it surely was Keary who was given the house to steal the present and he admitted the scoreline might have been a lot harsher however for some gutsy last-ditch defending from Ireland’s outclassed opponents.
The efficiency earned reward from Ireland head coach Ged Corcoran, who mentioned: “I am immensely proud, not just of the group of the players but also the staff, and that is one box ticked off.
“But for the questionable penalty call we would have had a nice big fat zero, so I’m really proud of the scoreboard. We have set the benchmark but we have got to go up another 15 or 20 levels against Lebanon next week.”
Jamaica captain Ashton Golding praised his facet’s effort and dedication and insisted they’d been removed from overawed regardless of fashioning few probabilities to make an impression in opposition to their higher-standard opponents.
Centre Jacob Ogden was the one member of the Reggae Warriors to bother the video referee when he narrowly didn’t get on the tip of a grubber kick within the tenth minute.
Huddersfield star Golding mentioned: “It was a really special and emotional day. You don’t have to catch every ball or make every pass, you just have to be ready to take the next ball and I never saw us give up at any point.
“I would rather be part of a team like that than go out and win 50-0 easily, because it is such a good foundation and we know what we have to work on going into our game against New Zealand next week.
“People always talk about the destination and having got to the peak. But for me, once you’ve got to the top of one mountain there is always another one to climb.
“We’ve been on a long journey and we’ve had to dig into our own pockets at times, but you can’t fault the desire, attitude and effort from the boys. We will be going back into the dressing room as proud as punch.”
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk