Australia struck the first blow ahead of Saturday's Four Nations final with the appointment of their choice of referee. The Australian Matt Cecchin will be in charge of the Elland Road showdown between England
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It means an Australian will referee the final for a second consecutive year despite the presence of the Kangaroos. A year ago Tony Archer was in charge of the Brisbane final, in which the Kiwis beat Australia 16-12.
The New Zealander Leon Williamson refereed the last England-Australia final at Elland two years ago but Perenara effectively ruled himself out of contention with his blunders at Wembley, where he wrongly disallowed an England try and failed to show a red card to the Australian forward Tony Williams for the high tackle which subsequently earned him a one-match suspension.
Officials agreed a policy in advance of having neutral referees throughout the group stages and picking the best man for the final. England's clear preference was for the Warrington referee Bentham but he upset the Australia coach, Tim Sheens, after his side's win over New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament. Cecchin's name emerged on Tuesday from talks between representatives of England, Australia and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the final is heading for a sell-out after the Rugby Football League experienced a big rush for tickets since England booked their place with a rousing 28-6 victory over New Zealand last Saturday.
传世私服Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys Even though the upper tier at Elland Road will be open, the stadium's capacity is limited to just over 33,000 due to construction work on the East Stand.
"Ticket sales for the final have been strong for some time but the demand has been phenomenal since the weekend and sales currently stand at close to 30,000," said the RFL chief operating officer, Ralph Rimmer.
"This match really is firing up the imagination of the rugby league public and the atmosphere on Saturday is going to be really special. It goes without saying that we would love to post the 'house full' and the way things are going that looks likely to be the case."
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