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maltatoday SUNDAY 3 DECEMBER 2017 Sports 60 TENNIS INTERNATIONAL - RUGBY Novak Djokovic to team with Radek Stepanek RECENTLYRETIRED Radek Stepanek is joining Novak Djoko- vic's coaching team. The former world number one will continue to work with Andre Agassi at the Grand Slams and possibly other big tournaments but has been without a touring coach since splitting from long- time mentor Marian Vajda in May. Czech Stepanek, 39, called time on his playing career earlier in November after struggling to re- cover following back surgery. He reached a career high of number eight in the world in sin- gles in 2006 and won two grand slam doubles titles and two Davis Cups. The pair announced the new arrangement in a live post on In- stagram, where they pretended to talk about the possibility of Stepanek coaching Djokovic be- fore the Serbian opened a door to reveal the new member of his team. Djokovic said: "This is the new team, this is my new man. We are excited for the new season." "Radek is one of my very close friends on the tour and I was al- ways impressed with his level of determination, passion and love for the sport," the Serb later add- ed on his official website. "He has a lot of experience and knowledge, and he has played on a high level for many years. I am excited to join our forces together and cannot wait to compete again having a new team to back me up "On Andre's suggestion I pur- sued Radek, therefore I am sure the two of them will work well to- gether. The new season is about to start and there is a long way to go back to where I left off. "We are aware that I need to go step by step, not hurrying anything. I feel much better now, and I can't wait to play matches again." Although Stepanek's playing career does not compare to Djok- ovic or Agassi's, the Czech is con- sidered to have one of the sharper tennis brains around. A quirky character with a game to match, he also stood out on the court for his individual fashion sense. Stepanek's first task will be to help Djokovic work his way back to full match sharpness. The 30-year-old has not played a match since Wimbledon, after which he announced he would be taking the rest of the season off to allow an elbow problem that had dogged him for months to heal. Djokovic is due to return to action in Doha at the QatarExx- onMobil Open, which begins on January 1. Novak Djokovic Cordner try gives Australia World Cup title A first-half try to Boyd Cordner and desperate defence helped Australia win their 11th rugby league World Cup title with a 6-0 victory over England in a bruising final at Lang Park yesterday. Both sides smashed each other into exhaustion with punishing de- fence and a fast-paced game with Australia centre Josh Dugan saving two probable tries with his posi- tional sense and a desperate ankle tap on his opposite number Kallum Watkins. The only thing that separated the sides was Cordner's 15th-minute try as they both controlled the ball well, but England rued stupid errors or poor decisions early in the tackle count inside the Kangaroos' 20-me- tre area. "It's amazing to finally get a World Cup victory on home soil," Kanga- roos captain Cameron Smith said. "It was one of the toughest football games I've played in my career. A re- ally pleasing victory for the boys. "We spoke about defence winning games and winning tournaments and we just kept turning them (Eng- land) around." Smith's team had been virtu- ally unbackable favourites for the final after they romped through the tournament, while England had to overcome the weight of history with a 12-game losing streak to the Kangaroos and not having won the title since 1972 as part of the Britain team. The intensity of the game was set in the first hitup by England prop James Graham when he smashed into four Australian tacklers and reeled away with a cut above his left eye after an accidental head clash with Matt Gillett. The Kangaroos, who hammered away for much of the opening quarter at England's line, however opened the scoring in the 15th min- ute when Cordner crashed over dur- ing their third successive set of pos- session. A superb chase game by England on Luke Gale's tactical kicks, how- ever, gave Wayne Bennett's side field position only for errors and penal- ties to allow Australia to escape. Kangaroos standoff Michael Mor- gan crossed early in the second half but video referee Ben Thaler called it back for interference earlier in the play. Jermaine McGillvary and Watkins also stormed into open field, only for desperate Australian defence to again snuff out the opportunities. "Tough one to take," England's Graham said. "Both teams played well. 6-0 doesn't advertise it as a great game but what a spectacle." The Australian team celebrate with the trophy after defeating England in the final