The Rugby league world cup final in 2021 was the first final for Samoa in any major sports event. Samoa finally progressed to the finals after a terrific performance against the host nation – England.
The win for Samoa against the English team came in extra time after a Stephen Crichton drop-goal. Samoa’s win against the English side meant they would face the Australian team in the finals. The Australian side is considered the best international team in the world, and everyone knows their prowess and skillful ability to upset any team. However, the fitness of the Kangaroos of Australia was questioned by spectators after their poor performance against the New Zealand side in the semi-finals, which they won by just two points.
Stephen Crichton’s drop goal to send Samoa to their first World Cup final makes our top 10 moments of rugby league in 2022…#RLWC2 021 | @Six_Again pic.twitter.com/lN4OncEruq
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) December 23, 2022
Pre-game anticipation
Australia and Samoa both progressed to the finals after facing their toughest challenges since the start of the tournament. After the brutal semis, everyone anticipated a thrilling final match between the two teams. Most people were already checking out the rugby league betting odds and placing bets for the game. Journalists, bloggers, fans, bettors, and other sports lovers were giving their verdicts and predictions for the final match against Australia and Samoa.
Following the semi-final match, the Kiwis of New Zealand had exposed a playbook that Matt Parish’s Samoa team could follow to plot a victory for themselves in the finals against Australia. Some people went as far as trying to predict the player who would score the first point of the game.
Players like Australia’s Josh Addo-Carr, who was having a swell time at the tournament, and Samoa’s Brian To’o known for his ability to score from anywhere, were often chosen. Nevertheless, the Kangaroos of Australia were the favourites for the win. At the same time, the Samoa team were seen as newcomers that could turn dreams into reality and clinch the title for the first time in their history.
Source: Pexels
Match day results
It’s match day, and the fans of both sides are seated, waiting for their teams to walk onto the pitch and battle for the prestigious rugby league world cup title. The first-half kick-off took place around 16.03 GMT. At 9 minutes after the kickoff, the score was still 0-0 and Samoa were competing well, off-loading well, and putting the Kangaroos under tonnes of pressure.
A few minutes later, Australia was 4 points ahead of Samoa courtesy of Latrell Mitchell of Australia as he broke past Josh Suaali’i of Samoa to score his side’s first try. Eighteen minutes into the game, Australia scored again and this time it was James Tedesco, the Australian captain, after a fantastic skill from Addo Carr that broke the Samoa line.
Halftime ends with Australia up 14 and Samoa at 0. A few minutes after the second-half kick-off, Cameron Murray scored the fourth try for Australia, and the score was now 20-0. At 61 minutes, Samoa got one back through a fantastic run by Jarome Luai, which set up the chance for Brian To’o to score a try and take the game to 20-6.
In less than 10 minutes, Australia replies, and James Tedesco scores his second try of the game, extending Australia’s lead to 24-6. Stephen Crichton of Samoa scored his side’s second try of the game at 70 minutes, making the game score – Australia 26 and Samoa 10.
After some minutes of game action, Latrell Mitchell scores the fifth try for Australia taking the game to a final close at a 30-10 scoreline and winning the Rugby League World Cup for Australia once again. Commenting on his team’s performance, Matt Parish, Samoa’s coach, said that he was disappointed with the result but was proud of his team’s performance and effort in the game.
