Rugby League World Cup rolls on with Pool A action featuring Samoa v Greece, which we’ll have to check our Sports super computer to see if this clash has ever happened before in any sport. Maybe something at the Olympics.
Our Group A Samoa v Greece Match Centre has a preview, stats, team lists before the game and a summary of the match afterwards. More than you could ever need or want.
If you want more information on all the squads – follow this link here.
Samoa 72 Greece 4 Match Summary
Those who had written Samoa off for the World Cup after their flogging by England in the first match will need to reconsider after they destroyed Greece in their Group A clash.
It took 57 seconds for the Samoans to go from kick off to scoring their first try, Brian To’o the try scorer in the corner after grabbing the Chanel Harris-Tavita cross field kick. Stephen Crichton slotted the first of what looked like it was going to be many goal attempts.
Next set and Samoa went further ahead, with Junior Paulo being the tryscorer courtesy of a Jarome Luai offload that bounced into a Greek player before landing in the in goal area.
A momentous occasion at 6:36 as Greece touched the ball for the first time in attack. And for a period there in the first half held their own. Their cover defence stopped a certain try, and they looked ok in attack with the very good kicking game of Lachlan Ilias.
But eventually the class of Samoa shone through, and in the 16th minute the Samoans extended their lead through Danny Levi who was supporting on the inside following a Jarome Luai line break. The easy conversion made it 18-0.
Five minutes later and Samoa scored again. This came after a 60 metres break from Brian To’o set up the attacking play, and Chanel Harris-Tavita scored with ease under the posts after a sharp ball from Jarome Luai a few tackles later. Samoa were up by 24-0, going at a point a minute like other teams over the weekend.
Samoa’s next try was pretty soft, belying the decent effort Greece were putting up in defence. Royce Hunt was the try scorer this time, and he broke through a few poor attempts to tackle to score under the posts. Samoa were 30-0 and going OK for points against the clock.
Jarome Luai got a try for himself the very next set after setting up a few already, this time Luai was in support after Tim Lafai made a break down the left hand side. Luai’s try needed some video confirmation as he cheekily got within millimetres of the in goal lime despite having no defenders. Samoa led 36-0, so we guess Luai can place the ball down for a try however he likes.
And Samoa ensure they beat the clock for point a minute when Tim Lafai scored after running down the blind side from dummy half. Perhaps being the blind side Greece didn’t see him, as he wasn’t really challenged.
HALF TIME – SAMOA 42 GREECE 0
You could say if Greece were any chance they had to score first in the second half. Well realistically the comeback wasn’t going to happen, but the first try of the second half certainly did for Greece. Lachlan Ilias was the scorer and creator, as his chip kick for the wing found his mark, and then was in support when the pass came back inside. A moment to celebrate for Greece, and it was to be their only moment for the game.
It didn’t take long for Samoa to regain the initiative and score some quick fire tries. The first going to Fa’amanu Brown as he scurried over from dummy half from 10 metres out to score.
Stephen Crichton got among the scorers in the 56th minute, as he was on the receiving end of a Joseph Suaali’i try assist that was thrown between his legs. Crichton’s missed the conversion but got an earlier penalty for a 52-4 lead.
The next set the Samoan halves combined for another try, Chanel Harris-Tavita scoring under the posts from a Jarome Luai grubber.
A Stephen Crichton line break set up the next try as a few tackles later Mathew Feagai scored in the corner as Samoa simply went through the hands. That was four tries in 11 minutes to blow Greece away after they had the audacity to score.
Another Samoan try came six minutes later when Danny Levi scored. The hooker was backing up when Oregon Kaufusi busted a few tackles and got a lovely offload away to Levi.
Samoa had time for one last try in the last minute, and Tim Lafai was the lucky recipient, but not after a Brian To’o break set it up and Jarome Luai was on hand to throw the final pass. Crichton missed the conversion, but at 72-4 it didn’t matter.
What did matter was the bounce back for Samoa after the England loss, and what a win. Greece weren’t terrible, but Samoa sure were good, and it now sets up a mouth watering clash with Tonga in the knockout stage. Tonga would be quite worried after seeing this Samoan performance tonight.
Samoa 72 Greece 4 Scores
SAMOA 72
Tries: Brian To’o 0′ Junior Paulo 4′ Danny Levi 15′ Chanel Harris-Tavita 21′ Royce Hunt 29′ Jarome Luai 32’Tim Lafai 36′ Fa’amanu Brown 52′ Stephen Crichton 55′ Chanel Harris-Tavita 59′ Mathew Feagai 63′ Danny Levi 69′ Tm Lafai 79′
Goals: Stephen Crichton 10/13
GREECE 4
Tries: Lachlan Ilias 48′
Samoa v Greece Best
3 Pts Jarome Luai
2 Pts Brian To’o
1 Pt Danny Levi
Samoa v Greece Teams
SAMOA
1 Joseph Suaali’i
5 Brian To’o
4 Stephen Crichton
25 Tim Lafai
19 Mathew Feagai
6 Jarome Luai
20 Chanel Harris-Tavita
8 Josh Papali’i
9 Danny Levi
10 Junior Paulo
11 Ligi Sao
12 Jaydn Su’a
13 Josh Aloiai
15 Royce Hunt
17 Martin Taupau
21 Fa’amanu Brown
23 Oregon Kaufusi
GREECE
1 Chaise Robinson
2 Siteni Taukamo
3 Terry Constantinou
4 Nick Mougios
5 Johnny Mitsias
13 Billy Magoulias
6 Lachlan Ilias
10 Stefanos Bastos
9 Peter Mamouzelos
12 Nicholas Flocas
14 Jake Kambos
25 Adam Vrahnos
16 Sebastian Sell
15 Myles Gal
17 Theodoros Nianiakas
19 Liam Sue-Tin
23 Nikolaos Bosmos
Samoa v Greece Pre Match Stats
- Samoa have now failed to win their last six World Cup fixtures, with their last win coming against France in the 2013 edition.
- Samoa have a W4 D1 L3 record v tier two European sides in World Cups.
- Greece have won 4/5 against Pacific nations – Niue, New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Samoa v Greece Preview
Well, that didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. Samoa were the dark horses, bursting at the seams with NRL talent, and they were thrashed like a minnow by England. It would have been a humbling experience for the squad, and in particular the Penrith players who wouldn’t be used to such a loss.
There’s still so much talent in the Samoan side, and after their defeat to England, surely there will be a response against Greece.
It’s not even worth comparing the squads given the gap in NRL experience, although we do highlight some players to watch from Greece below.
The simple fact is that Samoa should win, and win well. But they need to turn up, because Greece were quite good against France in their first game, and the French weren’t playing badly at all.
Who knows, the England game might be the tiny of speed bumps on the way to a Samoan dark horse World Cup trophy win. Whether we can still take them seriously will depend on this game, because if they play like they did against England, they won’t beat France, or maybe even Greece.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Who to pick from Samoa? So many to choose from, so many trying to make for last week’s big loss to England.
Jarome Luai is a polariser, so it was no surprise he received the lion’s share of the social media finger pointing for Samoa’s loss. But he is a superstar, and so much will rely on how he bounces back and if that rebounds picks his Penrith an Samoan team mates up.
Hard charging Jayd’n Sua might be a key for Samoa, and will test the relatively inexperienced Greek wide defence. He was one of only three Samoan players to make the top ten metre eaters v England, and was fifth for post contact metres and made 29 tackles (5th most).
Of course the biggest game breaker Joseph Suaali’i was very hot and cold v England and has another crack at breaking the game open from fullback (we presume before official teams are announced).
If we’re asked 100 times which player to watch for Greece, it would probably be Billy Magoulias 90-odd times, he’s just our kind of player. Full of skill, plenty tough, a game changer. Greece will need him to fire to get close. But also a word for Jordan Meads who did some very nice work in the match against France with quite a good kicking game. With Lachlan Ilias as a third prong in creativity, Greece are not out of this for an upset. If Samoa fail to turn up this weekend.
PREDICTION
Samoa 30 Greece 16
