Australia booked their place in the Rugby League World Cup final with a commanding victory over Samoa on Saturday. The match ended a week of speculation over the vulnerability of the Kangaroos, who answered their critics with a professional display and a completion rate of nearly ninety percent.
Pre-match tensions reached a peak during the traditional Siva Tau. The passionate ritual led by Junior Paulo brought the two sets of players face to face, as Samoan winger Brian To’o pressed his forehead against Australian prop Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in front of 41,529 fans.
Fa’asuamaleaui was met by six tacklers on the opening carry of the match. A high shot by the Australian prop on Jermaine McEwen conceded an early penalty, allowing Samoa to take the initial lead from the boot.
Australia soon seized control of the momentum. Halfback Tom Dearden exploited a gap between Jazz Tevaga and Francis Manuleleua from a scrum to score the opening try for the Kangaroos.
Substitute Pat Carrigan halted Samoan momentum by forcing an error from Spencer Leniu on his first carry. Tom Trbojevic crossed over shortly after to extend the Australian lead.
Samoa suffered a blow when a try by Stephen Crichton was disallowed by the video referee for a knock-on during an aerial contest with Reece Walsh. Walsh immediately extended Australia’s advantage at the opposite end of the pitch.
Cameron Murray opened up space just before half-time for Bradman Best to score in the left corner. Frustrations boiled over for Leniu, who received a yellow card and a spell in the sin-bin for an outburst at referee Adam Gee following the try.
Walsh dropped a Ronald Volkman kick early in the second half, allowing Crichton to finally claim a four-pointer for Samoa. Any hopes of a wider comeback were quickly extinguished when Walsh spun through the defensive line from a pass by Harry Grant.
Walsh completed his hat-trick with a flowing try set up by Cam Munster, finishing the movement with a half-swan dive. The celebration came despite instructions from coach Kevin Walters issued earlier on the broadcast for his fullback to avoid needless acrobatics.
Australia held their opponents to just a single line break throughout the fixture. The Kangaroos will now face New Zealand in next weekend’s men’s final at Lang Park.
