England beat Samoa in last competitive match before World Cup

[josie andrews]

ENGLAND 30-10 SAMOA
England produced a positive performance to see off a dangerous Samoa 30-10 in the Pacific Test at Campbelltown Sports Stadium in Sydney.

The Pacific Islanders gave the tourists a scare in their previous meeting before going down 32-26 in the 2014 Four Nations Series in Brisbane, but they never threatened a repeat against an England side who controlled the game from start to finish.

Prolific winger Ryan Hall gave his side the dream start with his 32nd try for his country, while Stefan Ratchford, Josh Hodgson, James Graham and Jermaine McGillvary added others, and Luke Gale kicked five goals from six attempts as England acquitted themselves well in their last competitive outing before the World Cup.

Bennett's men could hardly have made a better start with man of the match Elliott Whitehead's crunching tackle on Suaia Matagi setting up an early attacking opportunity which produced a third-minute score for Hall, who accepted skipper Sean O'Loughlin's cut-out pass to maintain his remarkable scoring rate of a try a game on his 32nd Test appearance.

England's forwards were immense and the game management of half-backs Brown and Gale, chosen in the absence of injured duo Gareth Widdop and George Williams, kept their side on the front foot throughout the first half.

England's domination was not initially reflected on the scoreboard as lively hooker Hodgson was held up over the line and Sam Burgess and Whitehead were brought down just short of it.

They contented themselves with a 30th-minute penalty from Gale to stretch their advantage but a bold decision to run the ball from in front of the posts five minutes before the interval paid off when Ratchford took Gale's pass to sidestep past full-back Peter Mata'utia for the tourists' second try.

Gale's third goal made it 14-0 but Samoa briefly threatened a fightback when centre Joseph Leilua forced his way over for a try three minutes into the second half, with Anthony Milford adding the goal.

But normal service was resumed on 51 minutes when Brown produced some neat footwork to split the Samoan defence and Gale sent the supporting Hodgson over for England's third try.

Milford evaded the tackle of Gale to pull another try back for Samoa but England always looked in control and Brown capped an impressive show by sending Graham over for only his second try in 33 games and producing a delicate kick for McGillvary to run in his fifth in just six appearances.

http://www.rugby-league.com/superleague ... MbDst.dpuf

[Nezza Faz]

It was a good win and performance, Lockers made the first try with a long cut out pass to Hall. Defence looked solid against what was a strong team of 17 NRL players, with the forwards on top, although I don't see what Heighington or McQeen bring or add to the side - don't think they'll make the World Cup squad. The rest of the pack were immense.

Backs looked a bit clunky, and need to play more regularly, but the halves were only put together at the last minute and Hardaker is positionally never a centre. Must say, surprisingly, I thought Brown had a good game looking creative and a decent kicking game. Hall and McGilvary were good wingers, whilst Gale had a good game.

Need to build on this now for the World Cup and bring in more "form" players from the UK, like Percival, Williams, Taylor and others left out of this squad for various reasons.

[moto748]

Shame the whole country couldn't see it, then.

[Nezza Faz]

Shame the whole country couldn't see it, then.

They could Moto !

The match was available online through the RFL website and was just £3.49, well worth it with the superb Aussie commentators and coverage via Fox Sports.

[moto748]

Shame the whole country couldn't see it, then.

They could Moto !

The match was available online through the RFL website and was just £3.49, well worth it with the superb Aussie commentators and coverage via Fox Sports.

Yes, in theory, but in practice, nobody outside the North of England would even have been aware the game was on.

[doc]

highlights

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE1WBhgvK78[/youtube]

[moto748]

Well we'll have to agree to differ there, but I can't see how the RFL made more money out of a few thousand x £3.49, minus whatever they had to pay to Fox Sports or whoever, than taking the BBC's 'derisory' offer. Which would have meant it would have been seen by the whole country, on the national TV news, etc.

[wink]

As a matter of interest is it possible to find out just how many people subscribed to the game? Or will Redhall keep it a secret.

[fozzieskem]

Red hall seem to having a massive success on their hands and are refusing to release viewing figures...oh wait