Distraught boss Shaun Wane fought back tears as he tried explaining England's agonising World Cup exit.
They suffered a shock 27-26 semi-final loss to Samoa in Golden Point extra-time. Stephen Crichton's drop goal proved the difference after England consistently threw away leading positions and coughed up the ball when it mattered most. England had beaten Samoa 60-6 in the group stages four weeks ago but suffered badly here at a stunned Emirates Stadium. Wane insisted: "It wasn’t good enough.
“They were the better team. All credit to our players. They’ve been outstanding this tournament but we’ve just not done the small details today. It cost us dearly. They had better composure. They were the best team. We were just not good enough today on the biggest stage. We’ve got an honest group of players but we will get in this position again and we will do better.
“I can’t for one minute doubt the effort of my players – they are absolutely devastated, as is every member of staff. I’m absolutely wounded for the players – but I won’t make any excuses because Samoa were the better side.”
Asked how much it hurt him, missing out on a World Cup final and the chance to bring back the trophy for the first time since Great Britain’s 1972 success, Wane was visibly upset. “It’s bad,” he said, before passing on to captain Sam Tomkins to continue the press conference.
Catalans star Tomkins ushered a forward pass to give Samoa position for the decisive kick. The full-back said: “Not a lot’s been said in there. We’ll dissect it. There was a lot of effort today. I feel that was an example of effort alone not being enough.”
Wane had no issues with Samoa captain Junior Paulo only being yellow-carded for a spear tackle on Tom Burgess. Many thought it could have a red card but he said: “No, I was glad he wasn’t sent off. That’s not the way this tournament’s been officiated. I wouldn’t want him to have gone for that. And that’s not the reason we lost. We just weren’t good enough. And it hurts.”
Samoa now go on to play in their first-ever World Cup final against Australia at Old Trafford next Saturday.
