Australia vs Sāmoa: Rugby League World Cup Final Preview

Australia vs. Sāmoa at Old Trafford, Manchester (Sunday 20 Nov, 03:00am AEDT)

Manchester’s Old Trafford will play host to one of the most-anticipated Finals in Rugby League World Cup history when Australia and Toa Sāmoa clash this Sunday morning with the Paul Barrière Trophy at stake.

The two sides have met just three times in their history and have not met since the 2017 World Cup when Australia came away with a 46-0 win.

Australia have come out victorious on all three occasions.

Mal Meninga’s squad are undefeated through their five World Cup outings having made light work of Fiji, Scotland, and Italy in the group stage before dispatching of Lebanon and New Zealand come the sudden-death playoffs.

Their last-start win over the Kiwis was their closest and most difficult challenge thus far with a mere two points proving the difference.

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The power and offloading threat of the Kiwi big men proved a handful for Australia who never looked completely comfortably and ultimately hobbled their way to the finish line.

Meninga’s decision to start Jake Trbojevic alongside Isaah Yeo fortified the Kangaroos’ middle defensively but left a dent in their yardage game which the back five was forced to offset, to varying degrees of success.

There is enough class across the park for the Australians that, even if they are contending with a general lack of cohesion, point-scoring opportunities should still present themselves at a semi-regular basis.

The Sāmoans, meanwhile, are fresh off a 27-26 golden-point upset over hosts England in a back-and-forth clash chockful of moments just a week on from upsetting Tonga in what was another tight affair.

It was a stark contrast from their week one clash against England in which they were demolished 60-6.

Sāmoa will comb through the footage of the Australia-New Zealand clash in an attempt to pinpoint potential avenues to exploit with ball-in-hand.

New Zealand’s first try came through an aerial contest that saw Joseph Manu weasel his way through several of his green-and-gold opposites, snatch the ball out of the air, and craft a pass to Jahrome Hughes whilst their second came through a late-set, left-side shift that caught out Jack Wighton and Valentine Holmes’ edge.

Australia’s kick defusals have proven somewhat of an achilles heel throughout the tournament whilst Wighton and Holmes have played little football together and are defending away from their usual, club positions.

Three of Sāmoa’s tries in their last-start victory over England came down their left edge so expect Matt Parish’s men to send plenty of traffic at Wighton and Holmes.

Offloading presents as another key component of Sāmoa’s attack; they lead the tournament in total offloads by a large margin with Jarome Luai, Junior Paulo, and Tim Lafai all in the top 10 for total offloads.

If Sāmoa can manufacture a diverse kicking and offloading arsenal, they may have some success unsettling the Kangaroos’ defence which has proven to be near-impenetrable against traditional and unvaried attacking plans this tournament.

The Kangaroos, on the other hand, will be eager to contain Sāmoa’s powerful back three of Joseph Sua’ali’i, Taylan May, and Brian To’o who have been superb out of yardage and proved a handful last week against England.

To’o’s 250 average run metres is good enough for third-highest among all players this World Cup, whilst Sua’ali’i 222 ranks fifth, and May’s 181 ranks 12th.

The ability of those three to build early-set ascendancy and momentum allows the likes of Paulo, Josh Papali’i, and Jaydn Su’A to attack more freely and build a platform for the likes of Luai, Anthony Milford, and Chanel Harris-Tavita to play off.

The Kangaroos enter this one as short-priced favourites with bookmakers expecting them to claim a World Cup three-peat at The Theatre of Dreams.

Sāmoa will jog out onto the Old Trafford turf with the hopes of their passionate legion of supporters on their shoulders and the opportunity to cap off one of world rugby league’s great fairy tales with some silverware.

As the sport embarks on a journey of self-improvement, many will hope for a spark to ignite this Sunday morning at Old Trafford.

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