ENGLAND V SAMOA PREVIEW

[josie andrews]

International Rugby League is back – and this time…the Samoans are coming!

With the Betfred Super League competition complete for 2024, now is the chance for fans to see their favourite Super League stars in action and representing their country - have you got your tickets yet?

Make sure you head over to our Rugby League website and England Rugby League social channels to view all things England Rugby League!

Shaun Wane’s England will face Samoa in a hotly anticipated ABK Beer two-match Test series starting on Sunday 27 October at The Brick Community Stadium in Wigan (K.O. 2.30pm).

The international game returns to Wigan for the first time since 2022, where England convincingly beat Papua New Guinea 46-6 to reach the semi-finals of the Rugby League World Cup and Tommy Makinson made history by becoming the first player to score five tries for England in one match.

The series, which will be Samoa's first ever in England, offers Head Coach Shaun Wane and his team an opportunity to avenge the bitter disappointment of their heartbreaking Rugby League World Cup Semi-Final defeat when these two sides last met in November 2022.

Stephen Crichton’s golden point drop goal sent Samoa to their first ever World Cup Final the last time they faced England.

Now, Crichton and his Samoan teammates will return to the Northern Hemisphere in Autumn to reignite this fierce, newfound rivalry.

The stage is set for two fiery encounters as Shaun Wane’s England side look to replicate last year’s dominant Test series whitewash win against Tonga.

England’s only previous home meetings with Samoa both came in the World Cup two autumns ago.

Wane’s team romped to a 60-6 win in the opening match of the tournament at St James’ Park in Newcastle, with two tries each for Dominic Young and Elliott Whitehead, and 24 points from Tommy Makinson - only for the Samoans to then claim dramatic revenge in the Semi-Final at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in London, snatching the 21-20 win.

In history, the sides have met just five times. Their first meeting came in Hull in the 2006 Federation Shield competition (38-14), before playing each other in the 2014 Four Nations (32-26) and 2017 Pacific Test (30-10) over in Australia.

England have won four out of five.

Both sides have named strong squads ahead of this year’s Test series, with Shaun Wane including two uncapped players, who were both Grand Final winners with Wigan Warriors – Junior Nsemba, the 20-year old Betfred Super League Young Player of the Year, and the competition’s top try-scorer for 2024, Liam Marshall.

George Williams is also ready to captain his side to hopefully another strong Test series victory, while Matty Ashton and Mikey Lewis are set for their second successive Test series. Wane has also selected six Australian-based players who are set to feature.

The full England squad details can be found here.

Toa Samoa head coach Ben Gardiner has selected a 23-man squad to be led by superstar Jarome Luai, fresh from his fourth consecutive NRL Grand Final triumph with Penrith. This also includes Luai’s Panthers team-mate Izack Tago, the cross-code New Zealand international Roger Tuivasa-Sheck – who is set to represent the country of his birth for the first time – plus John Asiata and Ricky Leutele, who have been team-mates at Leigh Leopards for the last two seasons.

Full details of the Samoa squad can be found here.



England v Samoa's first Test will take place on Sunday 27 October at The Brick Community Stadium in Wigan (K.O. 2.30pm), followed by the second Test at AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds, on Saturday 2 November (K.O. 2.30pm), which is a double header with England Women v Wales (K.O. 12pm).

All will be televised by BBC Sport domestically and on SuperLeague+ overseas.



England squad:

Matty Ashton (Warrington Wolves), John Bateman (Warrington Wolves), Tom Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Daryl Clark (St Helens), Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves), Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Ethan Havard (Wigan Warriors), Chris Hill (Huddersfield Giants), Morgan Knowles (St Helens), Matty Lees (St Helens), Mikey Lewis (Hull KR), Liam Marshall (Wigan Warriors), Mike McMeeken (Catalans Dragons), Harry Newman (Leeds Rhinos), Junior Nsemba (Wigan Warriors), Kai Pearce-Paul (Newcastle Knights), Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters), Harry Smith (Wigan Warriors), Morgan Smithies (Canberra Raiders), Luke Thompson (Wigan Warriors), Danny Walker (Warrington Wolves), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (Warrington Wolves), Dom Young (Sydney Roosters)



Samoa squad:

Anthony MILFORD (DOLPHINS), Blaize TALAGI-SEUALA (PARRAMATTA EELS), Deine MARINER (BRISBANE BRONCOS), Francis MOLO (ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS), Gordon CHAN KUM TONG (MANLY SEA EAGLES), Izack TAGO (PENRITH PANTHERS), Jarome LUAI (PENRITH PANTHERS), Jazz TEVAGA (NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS), Jeral SKELTON (CANTERBURY BULLDOGS), Jeremiah NANAI (NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS), John ASIATA (LEIGH LEOPARDS), Josiah PAHULU (GOLD COAST TITANS), Junior PAUGA (SYDNEY ROOSTERS), Keenan PALASIA (GOLD COAST TITANS), Lazarus VAALEPU (MELBOURNE STORM), Luciano LEILUA (ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS), Paul ROACHE (NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS), Ricky LEUTELE (LEIGH LEOPARDS), Roger TUIVASA-SHECK (NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS), Shawn BLORE (MELBOURNE STORM), Simi SASAGI (CANBERRA RAIDERS), Terrell MAY (SYDNEY ROOSTERS)



Tickets for the England v Samoa two-game Test series are available to buy now at rugby-league.com/tickets with prices starting per test match from £25 Adults and £12.50 Under 16s.

The new England RL shirt can also be purchased now from Oxen’s Elite Pro Sports online store.

[jobo]

Liam Marshall not in the squad. Looks like Young and Ashton will start as wingers.
Hope Marshall has a bit of a niggle as to leave him out for any other reason seems a bit bonkers to me.

[josie andrews]

England Squad named for First Samoa Test

England Men Head Coach Shaun Wane has selected his 19-player squad ahead of Sunday’s opening Test against Samoa at the Brick Community Stadium in Wigan.

NRL trio Herbie Farnworth, Kai Pearce-Paul and Dominic Young are all in line to make their first England appearances since the defeat against the same opposition at the Emirates Stadium in the Semi Final of the last Rugby League World Cup in 2022.

They are joined in the 19 by two more players who have flown in from Australia to link up with England: Tom Burgess, who will return to his native Yorkshire with Huddersfield Giants next season after more than a decade with the South Sydney Rabbitohs; and Victor Radley, the Sydney Roosters enforcer who is set to win his eighth England cap.

Three members of the Wigan Warriors team who completed a clean sweep of trophies in 2024 are in contention to play on their home ground – half-back Harry Smith, prop Ethan Havard, and second-row Junior Nsemba, the Betfred Super League Young Player of the Year who is the only uncapped player in the 19.

The venue is also significant for England’s captain George Williams, the Warrington Wolves half-back who was born in Wigan and launched his career with his hometown club and is relishing the prospect of leading his country in Wigan for the first time.

Shaun Wane said: “It’s been great to be back in camp with the players this week and I can’t wait for them to get back out on the field on Sunday wearing that England jersey.

“I’ve had to make some difficult decisions selecting my squad for this weekend as we have real competition for places and everyone across the 24-man squad can make a strong case to be involved.

“I’m really happy with how we’ll line-up on Sunday and I’m confident in the players I have picked to rise to what will be a tough challenge against Samoa.

“Hopefully the England fans turn out in force this weekend and get behind us in Wigan and watch two of the best sides i international rugby go head-to-head.”

England Men Squad v Samoa:

Matty Ashton
John Bateman
Tom Burgess
Ben Currie
Daryl Clark
Herbie Farnworth
Ethan Havard
Morgan Knowles
Matty Lees
Mikey Lewis
Mike McMeeken
Harry Newman
Junior Nsemba
Kai Pearce-Paul
Victor Radley
Harry Smith
Jack Welsby
George Williams
Dom Young

Ben Gardiner's Samoa squad to face England:

John Asiata, Shawn Blore Anae Ulisese, Gordon Chan Kum Tong, Luciano Leilua, Jarome Luai, Deine Mariner, Terrell May, Anthony Milford, Francis Molo, Jeremiah Nanai, Keenan Palasia, Junior Pauga, Paul Roache, Blaize Seuala-Talagi, Jeral Skelton, Izack Tago, Jazz Tevaga, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Lazarus Vaalepu

Tickets for the ABK Beer Test Series are available at rugby-league.com/tickets with prices starting per test match from £25 Adults and £12.50 Under 16s.

Tickets for England v Samoa on Sunday 27 October go off sale centrally on Friday at midday and will be sold online through Wigan Warriors' website up until game day. There will also be tickets available from The Brick Community Stadium ticket office on the day of the game (11am opening time).

The new England RL shirt can also be purchased now from Oxen’s Elite Pro Sports online store.

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/63 ... samoa-test

[Mike]

Shirt looks like the 80s england football shirt. What cant' we go back to GB?

[endoman]

Shirt looks like the 80s england football shirt. What cant' we go back to GB?

Just needs an Admiral logo and a perm...

[medlocke]

Why is Bateman still getting picked, he's shoite, his own club don't want him anymore and are even willing to pay a club to sign him

[Blackpool_Pie]

Why is Bateman still getting picked, he's shoite, his own club don't want him anymore and are even willing to pay a club to sign him

Jobs for the boys

[medlocke]

Why is Bateman still getting picked, he's shoite, his own club don't want him anymore and are even willing to pay a club to sign him

Jobs for the boys

Not wrong there

[moto748]

Is there any reason to think Bateman would start, though? Seems to me there's plenty of second-rowers in that squad.

[fozzie58]

Is there any reason to think Bateman would start, though? Seems to me there's plenty of second-rowers in that squad.

Because he’s Bateman and always was an un-dropable at Wigan and almost certainly now England