Kangaroos outlast Sāmoa to secure another World Cup title

67,502 spectators descended upon Old Trafford as Australia proved too strong for a gallant Toa Sāmoa outfit coming away with a 30-10 victory to hoist the Paul Barrière Trophy for the 12th time in their proud history.

A Junior Paulo-led Siva Tau shook the hallowed Manchester turf as stars from both sides came face-to-face centre-field before Reagan Campbell-Gillard thundered off a claustrophobia-inducing back fence for the clash’s first contact.

Chanel Harris-Tavita, who started at hooker for Sāmoa after a raft of injuries left their depth chart razor-thin, was robbed of a 40/20 in the opening stages after the sideline official missed James Tedesco’s left boot scraping the chalk as he batted the ball back infield.

The cringeworthily-short in-goal areas first came into play moments later when a fifth-tackle, sideline-to-sideline Sāmoan attacking raid ended with a Stephen Crichton kicking going dead and again several sets later when a fairly-regulation Jarome Luai chip nearly went dead on the full laying the platform for Jack Wighton to sprint back to the 20 and link up with Valentine Holmes who raced downfield.

Wighton went within inches of a dummy-half try later in the set before Ben Hunt earnt the Kangaroos a repeat set.

The subsequent set saw Latrell Mitchell burst through the line – after his opposite Crichton shot up to shut down the previous play and found himself infield – off a fine delivery from Nathan Cleary, shrug away from fullback Joseph Sua’ali’i, and plant the ball down for the first points of the contest.

Cleary’s England-based, goal-kicking struggles continued as the halfback failed to reach the distance on his conversion attempt.

The Kangaroos’ absurd attacking firepower was again on display in the 18th minute when Josh Addo-Carr heard referee Ashley Klein call a player offside and made a beeline for the gap created next to the ruck, slipped away from a few tackle attempts, and hit Tedesco back up the middle as the Australian lead improved to 10.

Addo-Carr looked poised to add his own name to the scoresheet not long after but was dragged down by some desperate Sāmoan cover defence before Mitchell went within inches of his second but lost possession of the ball.

Down 10-0 and having defended their line stoutly, Sāmoa earnt themselves some field position and went painstakingly close to bagging their first try after Sua’ali’i flew through the air to reel in a Luai kick and found Crichton on his outside who attempted to toss the ball on to winger Brian To’o but was denied due to an Addo-Carr pinkie knocking the ball down.

Gifted six more tackles, Harris-Tavita nearly crashed over off a Paulo offload but was held-up before halfback Anthony Milford came up with an unforced drop.

Off it, the Kangaroos charged downfield and found points on the fifth tackle through Liam Martin who fell over the line down the short side off some sharp ball-playing courtesy of hooker Harry Grant.

Chasing points, Luai was bundled into touch after Sāmoa found some space off a last-tackle shift before the Kangaroos again threatened as halftime neared but were unable to penetrate the Sāmoan defensive line as they took a 14-0 lead into the sheds.

The second half began in bizarre fashion when, in a dead-ball situation, a stray Angus Crichton forearm caught Harris-Tavita on the cheekbone knocking him out.

Crichton was binned and Harris-Tavita was assisted from the field for perhaps the final time with the 23-year-old stepping away from rugby league indefinitely.

Sāmoa went close to finding points after a Sua’ali’i offload found Taylan May who grounded the ball, however, it was deemed forward.

A Patrick Carrigan drop gifted the Sāmoans more field position, however, the Kangaroos managed to hold out several shots before May grubbered the ball dead.

As they crossed halfway, Mitchell came up with another Kangaroos error before a characteristic Cameron Munster strip ended Sāmoa’s attacking raid.

On the final tackle of the set, Cleary hit Cameron Murray running a pinpoint, edge-forward line as he dived over to balloon the Australian lead out to 20 despite being a man down.

Crichton bungled a try-scoring opportunity for the Kangaroos just shy of the hour-mark leading to a seven-tackle set for Sāmoa which ended with a Luai cut-out narrowly breezing past the outstretched arm of Mitchell to hit Kelma Tuilagi who moved the ball on to To’o for Sāmoa’s first points.

Any slim hopes of a Sāmoan fightback were dashed in the 68th minute when Hunt, Cleary, and Munster combined to lay a try on for Tedesco in a play reminiscent of some of the great Kangaroos that came before them.

Sāmoa were rewarded with another moment in the following set when Crichton picked off a Hunt short-ball in familiar fashion and raced 40 metres downfield for their second four-pointer.

Mitchell bagged his second try moments before the final hooter to put the cherry on top of a 30-10 World Cup Final victory for Australia.

Tedesco was awarded Player of the Match honours for his two tries, 234 run metres from 22 carries, seven tackle breaks and two offloads as his resumé continues ascending towards some of the sport’s greatest.

Isaah Yeo was at his usual best also running for 138 metres from 18 carries and making a game-high 44 tackles without a miss in 80 minutes.

Cleary assisted on three tries whilst Addo-Carr assisted on another and ran for 181 metres with nine tackle breaks.

Paulo, who has enjoyed a legendary tournament for Toa Sāmoa and year as a whole, played 72 minutes in the middle, ran for 156 metres with five offloads, and made a team-high 38 tackles.

Josh Papali’i, meanwhile, ran for a team-high 170 metres from 19 carries off the bench to go along with four tackle breaks and 36 tackles whilst To’o scored a try and ran for 144 metres.

Australia’s victory caps off a momentous World Cup that was chockful of history, action, and passion.

The coming years firm as influential ones in the future of international rugby league with the list of truly competitive nations steadily growing ahead of the 2025 Rugby League World Cup in France.

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