In the wreckage of World Cup blowouts, hope is where you find it

As it enters its second round of matches, just about every game of the Rugby League World Cup has become a battleground between true believers and sceptics.

The former point to the games of the opening week that attracted bumper ratings and healthy crowds for blockbuster contests like Australia against New Zealand or Tonga's clash with England.

Test football is better than ever, they cry, and these numbers prove it.

The latter scoff at the blowouts, feeling ever more justified in their derision as the scorelines mount when powerhouses old or new collide with teams who have been left behind.

Test football is a waste of time, they sneer, and these numbers prove it.

With the tournament entering a weekend where a close game will be hard to come by, the truth is firmly in the middle but hope is always where you find it, even among the wreckage of a smash-up.

For proof, look no further than Tonga's match against Lebanon in Parramatta last night.

The Cedars were 23-1 to win, making them the second-shortest-priced underdogs of a round when Australia will play Fiji, England take on France, Papua New Guinea host Samoa and Cook Islands do their best against New Zealand.

It will rain tries and apart from perhaps PNG-Samoa it will be a surprise if any match is closer than Tonga's 36-0 win over the spirited Cedars.

But you'd be hard-pressed to find a single one of the 25,605 strong crowd — the third highest of any match in history between two second tier nations — who'd call it a waste of time.

If you can pack that many people into a stadium for a result that was never really in doubt you've got something worth having.

Tonga's superior athleticism and cohesion across the field won them the day, with veteran halfback Tui Lolohea and rising fullback Lehi Hopoate both enjoying fine nights amid the rowdy atmosphere.

Western Sydney is a stronghold of both communities and Parramatta Stadium was awash in red, white and green, as it was drowned in cheers and buried in flags.

The only part of the ground that wasn't awash in colour and noise was the empty corporate sections which was fitting because this was not a game for the suits.

All through the 80 minutes beating of the Lebanese drums were answered by a chorus of Tongan voices, many of whom stayed well after fulltime to revel in their victory.

They have confirmed their place in the semi-finals but first must face their ancient rivals Samoa next week.

It will be a highlight of the tournament no matter who wins or what happens next, a meeting of the two new powers in these waters and it was not so long ago that they were copping the beatings rather than handing them out.

Back in 1999, Tonga lost to New Zealand 74-0 and nine years later, boasting a full team of NRL and Super League players, the Kiwis repeated the dose 56-8.

If those big losses killed Tonga off they never would never have transformed into what they are now, which is one of Test rugby league's apex predators.

Sticking with it despite heavy losses meant there was something for Tonga and Samoa's star players to come back to when they decided to choose their heritage and the result is what we have now — two extra high quality teams in Test football, making a gang of five where for years there was only three.

If you're outside that five, life can be much harder. With the streamlined World Cup format there will be fewer meetings of the high and the low, but some of them are unavoidable.

A team like Lebanon is trapped in a land of wolves and asking for them to undergo a Tongan style transformation into a heavyweight is not realistic.

They are at the mercy of what talent they can gleam from Australia's Lebanese communities and getting them all together for matches is difficult amid an already packed rugby league schedule, but they have found a way to make the most of it.

Young Canterbury halfback Alex Conti lost no admirers, nor did Tigers lock Alex Twal and some strong scrambling defence stopped the scoreline from getting to embarrassing territory.

What they wouldn't have given for a half like Mitchell Moses, who instead represented Australia, or Adam Doueihi, who is injured, given they only had one fewer tackle inside the 20 than Tonga but could not find a point to show for it.

It might be Lebanon's last big dance for a while. Since the last World Cup they were demoted to affiliate status by the International Rugby League and only qualified this time around because they were quarter finalists in 2022.

Major infrastructure changes will need to be made at a domestic level if Lebanon are even to be given a chance to qualify for 2030.

Their diaspora talent, which is considerable, will not be enough to shepherd them through and their tournament finale next week against France could be their last World Cup game for many years.

If that's so the tournament will be poorer for their absence but they could finish with a flourish.

Next week's game against les Chanticleers is winnable for them and will be played in a double-header with Samoa-Tonga.

It will give Sydney's vast Lebanese community one more opportunity to show their pride and love through their national side in a major sport, which is a chance they are rarely offered and one they made the most of on Friday night against long odds.

That still means something, which means the game is worth something, as sure as the Pasifika blockbuster will be and as sure as this game was.

Scorelines always matter and not every blow-out is created equal. Sometimes you can squint so hard looking for a silver-lining you may as well be blind.

But other times it's right in front of you, so clear you cannot miss it, as loud as the drums that hammered out into the night and as striking as the sea of red in the stands.