It was difficult to believe Matt Parish at the time, but the Samoa head coach’s promise in the aftermath of their humbling at the hands of England four weeks ago has proved to be quite prophetic. “We will build from this,” he said at St James’ Park after watching his side lose 60-6 in the opening match of the tournament. “We have a group of guys that are determined to do something at this World Cup.”
Less than a month on from a day when everything went right for England and everything seemed to go wrong for Samoa, the two nations meet again at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday with a place in next Saturday’s World Cup final at stake.
It has been quite a turnaround for Samoa, who caused an upset last weekend in defeating Tonga to reach the last four for the first time. But things have been smoother for the hosts with convincing victories at every stage, most recently the 46-6 win over Papua New Guinea in the quarter-finals.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, confidence is high that the hosts can reach a first final on home soil since 1995. “We’re just worried about ourselves, not them,” the England forward Victor Radley says. “They’re going to be stronger from the opening day, but we’re going to be stronger too. They’ve got a talented team and it’ll take 17 tough Englishmen to stop them. Luckily, that’s what we’ve got.”
There is no doubt circumstances played a part on the opening day. Samoa’s squad had trained together as a whole only twice in the run-up to that England game, with the six players who featured in the NRL grand final arriving into camp late. “I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say they were out celebrating after the grand final in Australia,” Samoa’s assistant coach and the Castleford Tigers head coach, Lee Radford, says. “We knew we would be a bit off. Not that far off admittedly, but since then we’ve grown.”
There will be tactical differences to watch out for too, with Samoa identifying the speed of the ruck – or lack of it – as a major factor in why they were punished so badly in Newcastle. With most of Samoa’s squad playing in Australia, England identified the ruck as a place where they could find joy in Newcastle and they succeeded.
“What shocked the NRL boys is the tempo and speed of that ruck,” Radford says. “We had players holding their hands up and apologising for infringements but in reality they should have been in there doing a bit more. We won’t make that mistake again on Saturday.”
England Tomkins; Young, Watkins, Farnworth, Makinson; Welsby, Williams; Burgess, McIlorum, Hill, Bateman, Whitehead, Radley. Interchange Knowles, McMeeken, Thompson, Cooper.
Samoa Sua’ali’i; May, Crichton, Lafai, To’o; Luai, Milford; Paulo, Brown, Hunt, Sao, Su’a, Kaufusi. Interchange Papali’i, Harris-Tavita, Tuilagi, Leniu.
Radford’s insight and knowledge of the England squad will be vital. But England have their own insight into the Samoan stars, including the full-back Joseph Sua’ali’i, who is a teammate of Radley’s at Sydney Roosters. The 19-year-old, along with Penrith’s Jarome Luai, is perhaps key to Samoa stunning the hosts on Saturday afternoon.
“He’s a freak,” Radley says. “Everyone talks about players being once in a generation but he genuinely is, and we’ll have to do a job on him. We’ll take care of it, though.”
But England have their own stars and it is difficult to single out one player for special praise given how well Shaun Wane’s side have acquitted themselves. England have scored 242 points in four games, and conceded only 34.
But this is their first real test – a Samoa side who do not have the rustiness of four weeks ago. Six of the England squad reached the final five years ago including the Salford centre Kallum Watkins.
“The group who played in the final in 2017 stands us in good stead,” he says. “That experience and heartache will help ready us for what we hope is a huge couple of weeks.” Tom Burgess is another who was in the side beaten 6-0 by Australia in Brisbane. “You always draw on your past experiences and that World Cup final is something I look back on as an opportunity missed,” he says. “That’s there as a driving factor for me.”
A crowd approaching 45,000 will be at the Emirates Stadium to see if Wane’s side can deliver. Given what we have seen so far, it is safe to say England expects.
