Jamaica made history by qualifying for their first tournament as they beat the United States to reach the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
The Reggae Warriors beat the USA Hawks 16-10 in the final of the Americas Championship in Jacksonville to become the 11th nation to clinch their place in the 16-team tournament.
Jamaica opened the scored with two penalty goals by Jy-Mel Coleman which they followed up with two tries to Joel Farrell, and Keenen Tomlinson to lead 16-0.
The Hawks hit back with two quick tries through halfback Conor Donehue and Ryan Burroughs closed the gap as Jamaica led 16-10 at the break.
Jamaica were forced into some desperate defence in a scoreless second half to hang on to their six-point lead and create history.
The team celebrated with a Facebook post saying: World History! We are goin' to the World Cup, with the hash tag #CoolRuckings - in refrene to the movie Cool Runnings.
Rugby League in Jamaica has a small history which first started in 2004 when the Jamaica Rugby League Association. In 2009 they played their first ever international against the USA.
They've also previously played France and Wales - who have also secured qualification for the 2021 tournament.
The Hawks, who qualified for both the 2000 and 2017 World Cups, will have a second chance to book their place for 2021 via a repechage competition in 2019.
Other teams to have already secured qualification include the Kiwis, Australia, England, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.
Newshub.
