THE inaugural rugby league World Club Series was a tale of two whitewashes, both in the series as a whole and in the main event.

Warrington and Wigan put up valiant displays against St George and Brisbane respectively, but were unable to defeat their Australian opponents, while St Helens were trounced 39-0 by a ruthless South Sydney Rabbitohs side. 

The first two games were supposed to be support acts for the World Club Challenge between Saints and the Rabbitohs, but these earlier confrontations offered more of what fans of the sport, and its organisers, would hope to see in the future of this new competition format.

The first game, played out at a drizzly Halliwell Jones Stadium, saw a tough, competitive Warrington side come up just short in a heated encounter in which visitors St George Illawarra Dragons were lucky to keep all 13 men on the pitch.

Super League referee Ben Thaler refused to send St George winger Eto Nabuli to the sin-bin for a dramatic high tackle more at home in the wrestling ring on Warrington’s Kevin Penny, merely awarding a penalty to The Wire.

One of the stand-out moments from the series, from a Super League perspective, was Gareth O’Brien’s excellent solo try early in the first half of this game. He broke through the Dragons line before dummying Josh Dugan to cross for Warrington, but these moments of inspiration were few and far between for the English club.

Travelling up the M6 to Wigan for game two, league fans were treated to another hard-hitting, often fiery encounter between two of the game’s historic heavyweights. The English side again narrowly failed to defeat their NRL opponents, Brisbane Broncos, on a heavy pitch at the DW Stadium.

As has been the case in many matches at the start of 2015, it’s difficult to report on these games without mentioning the odd questionable refereeing decision, but ultimately some carelessness and ill-discipline at vital times cost 2014’s Super League runners-up. 

This came to a head in golden-point extra-time when a penalty was awarded in front of the posts for a ball steal, which Corey Parker slotted over on the second attempt, after his initial kick was illegally charged down by Wigan centre Anthony Gelling.

Again there was one moment of class from an English player, this time from exciting Wigan winger Joe Burgess, who sprinted the length of the pitch just as the players’ tanks seemed empty, exchanging passes with George Williams on his way to touching down in the corner. But as at Warrington the night before, it wasn’t quite enough.

The real disappointment came at Langtree Park, where St Helens were on the end of a record breaking defeat at the hands of the current NRL champions. South Sydney Rabbitohs put in a performance which left no doubts as to who is currently the best club rugby side in the world.

The one-sidedness of this main event was saved somewhat by the presence of high-profile actor and South Sydney co-owner Russell Crowe, whose decision to attend the game rather than go to the Oscars ceremony created some extra publicity for the event.

While the early rounds of Super League XX have been overshadowed by Rugby Union’s Six Nations tournament, the New Zealand actor’s Hollywood pedigree attracted increased coverage of this league showcase.

With this extra attention, it’s even more of a disappointment that the main feature in the World Club Series didn’t live up to the curtain-raisers that preceded it and, as much as South Sydney will be overjoyed with their emphatic victory, Super League champions St Helens will be bitterly disappointed with their weak showing on the night.