Hill's heroics see Wheelaroos win through to semi-finals
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Australia have booked their spot in the semi-finals of the Wheelchair World Cup after defeating Spain 52-32 in their final pool match.
The Wheelaroos' victory will now see them face off against two-time defending champions France, who have been irrepressible through the tournament so far, with a semi-final showdown set for Sunday at The EIS in Sheffield.
After a tight start, a stunning six minute hat-trick from James Hill blew the scoreline open for the green and gold, with his two length-of-the-field efforts giving Brett Clark's side a commanding 32-10 lead at the break.
Hill would then add a fourth early in the second half to put his side well in front, with Australia doing enough to maintain a late comeback from Spain to book their spot in the knockout rounds of the competition.
Match: Australia v Spain
Round 3 -
home Team
Australia
away Team
Spain
Venue: The Copper Box Arena, London
Peter Arbuckle got the match off to the perfect start for the Wheelaroos when he crossed after just three minutes with Diab Karim doubling the lead soon after.
Theo Gonzalez — who was easily Spain's best on the day — hit back with a try of his own to cut the margin back to six, but Karim would soon restore Australia's two-try advantage after a clever short side play from the energetic Bayley McKenna.
With the game hanging in the balance at 16-10 midway through the first half, it was Hill who single-handedly put the Wheelaroos in a commanding position with tries in the 28th, 32nd and 34th minute giving Australia a 32-10 half-time lead.
Hill's fourth try just after the break negated Gonzalez's dramatic sideline effort to keep the green and gold in front, but the Spanish star was not going away quietly and began to spark an unlikely comeback for El Toros.
After setting up tries to Joel Lacombe and Yannick Martin in the space of three minutes, Gonzalez had brought Spain within two tries and had the Wheelaroos under pressure given their early dominance in the contest.
A relieving penalty goal from Karim with 20 minutes to play pushed Australia back out in front by 14 points, before Cory Cannane showed great speed to race along the right touchline and extend the lead out to three converted tries.
Fittingly, it would be the captain Brad Grove who secured the result with nine minutes to play — the skipper wrapping around the ruck perfectly to collect a pass from Karim and score untouched next to the uprights to secure Australia's progression through to the sem-final against France.
What the result means
The fourth-ranked team in the world, Australia will now face off against world champions France in a sudden-death semi-final showdown on Sunday, with the winner moving through to the Wheelchair World Cup Final.
For Spain, the defeat sees their World Cup campaign come to a close in somewhat familiar circumstances after they narrowly lost to Australia in the quarter-finals of the 2017 campaign last time around.
