Match Preview - England v Samoa

[josie andrews]

England v Samoa

Saturday 25th October 2014, 07:00am at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

On paper this may look the easier of England's three games however Samoa made a big impact at last year's World Cup and will be looking to improve on that and upset many pundits.

With a raft of players from the NRL, the Samoans will come into the game battle hardened and with plenty of experience. As with any Pacific Island nation a physical game can be expected for Steve McNamara's side.

England's forward will need to be on their best form in order to lay the platform for the backs to excel and get some points on the board. The new half-back partnership of Gareth Widdop and Matty Smith will need to flow from the off whilst the hooking position will be under the spotlight for England with both Josh Hodgson and Daryl Clark making their international debuts.

Captain Sean O'Loughlin misses the game due to injury so debutant Joe Westerman takes his place at Loose Forward. Wigan's Josh Charnley, Joel Tomkins and Liam Farrell along with Matty Smith all start the game.

Matt Parish is without Rani Maitua, Tautau Moga and Sauaso Sue with the trio all missing for disciplinary reasons. Super League duo Pita Godinet (Wakefield) and Mose Masoe (St Helens) start on the bench.

Teams

England: S Tomkins (NZ Warriors), J Charnley (Wigan), K Watkins (Leeds), M Shenton (Castleford), R Hall (Leeds); G Widdop (St George Illawarra), M Smith (Wigan); G Burgess (South Sydney), J Hodgson (Hull KR), J Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs, capt), L Farrell (Wigan), J Tomkins (Wigan), J Westerman (Hull)

Replacements: D Clark (Castleford), B Ferres (Huddersfield), T Burgess (South Sydney), C Hill (Warrington)

Samoa: T Simona (Wests Tigers); A Winterstein (North Queensland), R Leutele (Cronulla), J Leilua (Newcastle), D Vidot (Brisbane); B Roberts (Melbourne), K Stanley (St George Illawarra); S Tagaetese Cronulla), M Sio (New Zealand Warriors), D Fa'alogo (Newcastle), F Pritchard (Canterbury Bulldogs), L Ah Mau (St George Illawarra), J McGuire (Brisbane)

Replacements: P Godinet (Wakefield), J Sene-Lefao (Manly), I Liu (Sydney Roosters), M Masoe (St Helens)

Key battles
The forward battle is always key in any match of Rugby League and none more so than this fixture, Samoa are renowned for their hard hitting and tough tackling and England will certainly need to combat this.

NRL Prop of the year James Graham has been outstanding for Canterbury Bulldogs in their run to the Grand Final and will captain the side in the absence of O'Loughlin. In the front row he will come up against David Fa'alogo, the former Huddersfield forward has been in fine form the Newcastle Knights defying his age of 34 as he continues to put in some dominant performances and lead from the front.

In the backs Antonio Winterstein will be a ‘go-to' man for the boys in blue, his 15 tries in 21 appearances helped propel North Queensland Cowboys into the play-offs. England will look to Wigan's Josh Charnley to add some points, Charnley became the first player to score 40 tries in a Super League season during 2013 and crossed 21 times in 19 appearances during 2014.

Gareth Widdop will be vital for England in this game and tournament, the St George Player of the Year will start at Stand Off and call the shots for the side alongside Wigan's Matty Smith. Castleford bound Ben Roberts is a key part of Samoa's attack and will take on added responsibility with Kyle Stanley, usually a Centre, joining him in the halves.

England - LWWWL

L 20-18 V New Zealand, Wembley Stadium, 23rd November 2013 - World Cup semi-final

W 34-6 V France, DW Stadium, 16th November 2013 - World Cup quarter-final

W 34-12 V Fiji, KC Stadium, 9th November 2013 - World Cup Group A

W 42-0 V Ireland, John Smiths Stadium, 2nd November 2013 - World Cup Group A

L 28-20 V Australia, Millennium Stadium, 26th October 2013 - World Cup Group A

Samoa - WWLWL

L 18-12 V USA, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, 19th July 2014 - Friendly

W 32-16 V Fiji, Sportingbet Stadium, Penrith, 3rd May 2013 - Four Nations qualifier

L 22-4 V Fiji, Halliwell Jones Stadium, 17th November 2013 - World Cup quarter-finals

W 22-6 V France, Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan, 11th November 2013 - World Cup Group B

W 38-4 V Papua New Guinea, MS3 Craven Park, Hull, 4th November 2013 - World Cup Group B

Say what?

England Coach Steve McNamara on the debutants in his side: "We have four players in the squad making debut. They are ready. They've been in our system for a long time. All four have been in great form during the Super League season."
George Burgess on how playing in the NRL helps England: "It's a bit of an insight into our opposition. In the past we've not always had a great deal of knowledge on who we're coming up against, but a few of us have come up against them every week back in the NRL so it's been good for that experience, so hopefully we'll be one step ahead of where we've been in the past few years."
Samoa half-back Ben Roberts on his sides Four Nations debut: "I don't think anyone's really giving us much credit or expecting us to do well which doesn't really faze us. We as a team know how well we can play, it's just a matter of us going out there and doing it together."

TV Coverage

LIVE - Saturday, 06:30 BST, BBC Two
Four Nations highlights, 13:00 BST, BBC One


http://www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... iXBT2cz.99

[medlocke]

Why is this not in General forum?

[josie andrews]

Why is this not in General forum?

Sorry my fault doin too many things at once

[josie andrews]

Hard game, England will need to up their game massively to beat the Aussies!!

[cow yeds]

Thought we were crap.

My team for the next game

1. Hardaker
2. Charnley
3. Watkins
4. Shenton
5. Hall
6. Tomkins
7. Widdop
8. Hill
9. Clarke
10. Graham
11. Whitehead
12. Farrell
13. O'Loughlin

[cpwigan]

I thought Widdop looks like he had improved considerably from previous seasons. Samoa were no mugs and the countlss mistakes England made put them on the back foot from the start. Obviously a repeat = defeat v both NZ and Aus.

[Owd Codger]

Good win considering we had lost players like Sam Burgess, Roby, Mcllorumm etc and also lost O'Loughlin prior to the game.

Plus the fact that unlike in the past, most of the Samoa team now play in the NRL with the odd one or two from the Super League.

Good job it was not a combined Pacific Islands team with the best players from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga as well as Samoa.

The only changes for the game against Australia should be O'Loughlin (if fit) for Westerman and possibly Whitehead for Ferres.

[cpwigan]

Not a huge fan of Westerman. He was hailed as this and that when he broke through to the pro ranks but there are weaknesses in his game all round and too many mistakes.

Thought both hookers did well personally.

[stevethegas]

It's almost a year since England RL played a competitive game, so the fact that we made heavy weather of the win isn't so much of a surprise. That said, Samoa's NRL team number 2 were no mugs and played a very hard fast game. They were seriously up for this one. As Jamie Peacock pointed out, they would regard the England game as one they could win - and nearly did.

I suspect Australia will be up for the next one though. They really won't want to lose a second game in this tournament.

So, can we do it? Of course it's always possible, but it'll be the game of our lives to do it. But the game of our lives isn't impossible any longer.

20+ years ago we could barely scrape an international team together. Now you only have to think of all the players who aren't in the squad to see how far we've come. Unfortunately though, so have all the other playing nations.

I'll be glued to the match next week. Keep the faith - you never know.

[wildbeast]

It's almost a year since England RL played a competitive game, so the fact that we made heavy weather of the win isn't so much of a surprise. That said, Samoa's NRL team number 2 were no mugs and played a very hard fast game. They were seriously up for this one. As Jamie Peacock pointed out, they would regard the England game as one they could win

I suspect Australia will be up for the next one though. They really won't want to lose a second game in this tournament.

So, can we do it? Of course it's always possible, but it'll be the game of our lives to do it. But the game of our lives isn't impossible any longer.

20+ years ago we could barely scrape an international team together. Now you only have to think of all the players who aren't in the squad to see how far we've come. Unfortunately though, so have all the other playing nations.

I'll be glued to the match next week. Keep the faith - you never know.

Our best chance of beating Aus but beware a wounded Aussie-Tim Sheens was not a happy man at all and will make sure next week that the real Australia turn up. Our forwards will have to up their game to a different level.