Scored historic first World Cup try through Ben Jones-Bishop, who scored

Despite going down to New Zealand 68-6 last night at the Rugby League World Cup (RLWC), under way in the United Kingdom, Jamaica scored a historic first World Cup try.

This was done through ex-Leeds Rhinos man, Ben Jones-Bishop, who scored the try on his 300th career appearance. This gave Jamaica plenty to smile about as the Reggae Warriors struggled to qualify for the tournament over the past decade.

They made their RLWC debut against Ireland last week in 48-2 defeat. While Jamaica suffered another big loss against the Kiwis, they ended the match on a high note with Jones-Bishop, the Jamaican fullback, pouncing on a New Zealand error late in the game to prompt the biggest cheers and celebrations of the night. 

Jones-Bishop was a fitting try scorer for Jamaica with the 34-year-old giving the reggae warriors much to cheer about.

“It’s surreal really. Three hundred games in the World Cup, against New Zealand, it’s great,” Jones-Bishop said post-game. 

Continuing, he said: “I’m just happy for the boys. I think we deserve something. I thought first half we really dug in there and showed some heart. I’m glad we’ve come away with a try. We’ve got things to build on, you’re playing for a nation here that effort and hard work is a given. It meant a lot. I don’t have many words. It’s just a great feeling.” 

Jamaica coach Romeo Monteith was delighted to see his side score their first try and stressed his hopes that this is just the start for the country as they look to become a RLWC regular. 

“You couldn’t have written a better script, except for a Jamaica win of course. But lovely of Ben to get that try. He had a brilliant game today at fullback despite the brilliance of New Zealand,” Monteith said. 

“From day one, when we started this project, it was always about doing something special. Just being in the World Cup is very special to us and we’ve tried for years to get here. Two failed qualifying attempts and now that we’re here, it’s a dream come true,” expressed Monteith.

Despite his side failing to keep out the Jamaicans, New Zealand coach Michael Maguire was delighted to see the nation make some history.

“Real credit to the Jamaicans. They’ve come together and we were actually able to spend some time with them a couple weeks ago in our warm-up match,” Maguire responded. 

“So to see those guys go out and perform like the way they did with the passion – that try will go down in history now, so good on them.”

Jamaica will finish the tournament against Lebanon next Sunday. 

The official attendance at the match was 6,829, which is a strong attendance and an improvement on last week. This number is around the average attendance of the World Cup so far, although Australia’s two fixtures have drawn five-figure crowds as did Tonga vs Papua New Guinea.

England, of course, attracted 23,000 last week, and 43,000 the week before.