Sat 12th Nov: RLWC SF: England v Samoa KO 14:30

[Chrispmartha]

Just now, The Masked Poster said:

But England playing to their proper potential when it matters, just might. 

And what if Samoa play to their full potential and beat Australia?

England simply weren’t good enough when it mattered

[The Masked Poster]

While we are here, can we forget about blaming the coach? We've done this a 100 times and it's more deep rooted than just changing the guy in charge. 

[mmck]

were the players coached on a golden point scenario because they lost their heads  

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Just Browny said:

Not sure anything I say in the aftermath of that will be particularly sensible. But fair to say I'm hoping not to see Radley or that gob##### Welsby in an England shirt again.

Fair play to Samoa, they grafted their guts out and took every opportunity that presented itself. England basically let the first half happen to them and were far too passive for long periods.

Radley was easily one of our best.

[Roy Haggerty]

Makinson, Whitehead, Bateman, Farnworth, Radley, all played to their potential. Hard to say with McMeeken because of the lack of minutes. Young, Welsby, Williams, Watkins, McIlorum well below standard. The rest were so-so. 

There's a generation of England players who won't be there in 2025, and the worry is who do we have as replacements.

[Wendigo7]

2 minutes ago, N2022 said:

BBC sport headline 'England fans gutted by defeat in Auckland' (Women's RU) can now be joined by 'England fans gutted by defeat in London'. Guess those will be down by the time the cricket one would appear. Actually more confident for that, but do wonder whether we have a mentality problem in team sports to choke at big tournaments.

We do. The occasion gets to us, including the fans. 
Most countries are excited by semi finals and final games, the fans in England and the players get giddy and freightened. I’ve seen it too many times for it to not be the case. 
 

also we are very conservative and revert to type. We always play safe ineffective stuff in sports because it’s a safe and comfort zone, that won’t work in a semi where looking at Samoa, they threw the kitchen sink at it. We retreated into our shell.

[Live after death]

3 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

The single greatest message from this World Cup is that to succeed you need as many NRL players in your squad as possible.

No thats male genitals, what we need  in Super league the worlds second biggest domestic comp is British players playing not every side half full of players who cannot get in the NRL get the quota to 3 and increase the cap.

[dkw]

2 minutes ago, 7723 said:

I still can’t understand the thinking behind the first set of 6 in golden point. Why would you not just play a simple set. Then a fantastic charge down by Whitehead rescues England and they go and do the same thing!! Just play simple rugby!

It was moronic, why go wide then, no idea who's call it was but it was the wrong one.

[The Masked Poster]

1 minute ago, Chrispmartha said:

And what if Samoa play to their full potential and beat Australia?

England simply weren’t good enough when it mattered

Samoa can play out of their skins, they still won't beat Australia. 1000% they won't. We both know it. 

[Chrispmartha]

For once I agree with Wilkin - why are people shocked? Samoa were tipped to be one of the teams of the tournament 

[Tommygilf]

Just now, Live after death said:

No thats male genitals, what we need  in Super league the worlds second biggest domestic comp is British players playing not every side half full of players who cannot get in the NRL get the quota to 3 and increase the cap.

Thats a nice aim, not going to happen though (in the short to medium term).

[Wellsy4HullFC]

I'm not getting into the blame game. We just weren't good enough on the day. Pressure got to us. 

We'll go again.

It was an amazing game to watch though. What a great pair of semi finals we've had. 

Tos Samoa for the final!

[Mojo]

Ref had some shocking calls against samoa the whole match and England still lost

[Irish Saint]

Well played  Samoa .  Repaid me in spades for keeping the faith.

[The Masked Poster]

4 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

To the extent that I don't see them being interested in playing teams that aren't majority NRL players outside of World Cups at all. 

Yes, this is why it's such a disaster. Not simply because England lost, but the consequences that will follow. 

[DavidM]

5 minutes ago, N2022 said:

do wonder whether we have a mentality problem in team sports to choke at big tournaments.

Course we do 99% of the time . The other 1% is great and a happy shock. They even set the comp out for us and we still bombed 

[Spidey]

So much for That fudged draw to help England 

[barnyia]

Did the occasion get to England? They looked drained for most of the game, too hyped up? Overtrained and planning for the final and not the semi? They didn't look full of energy anyway, 

[Just Browny]

2 minutes ago, 7723 said:

Radley was easily one of our best.

He was better in the 2nd half but persisted with useless tip ons when we needed straight running and they got their reward when Crichton read the script.

[UBranger]

An exciting game, good crowd and it doesn't hurt as much as losing to Australia. Come on Samoa next week.

[Chrispmartha]

Just now, The Masked Poster said:

Yes, this is why it's such a disaster. Not simply because England lost, but the consequences that will follow. 

It isn’t a disaster, unless you just want NZ, Australia and England to constantly compete in finals

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Right I've taken a breath. 

Well done Samoa, I'm very happy for you. It was a well deserved win and it will do wonders for RL.

[Balmainboy]

Hope Samoa win the final! Will be tough, and they’ll need a lot of luck but would be awesome. 
 

tbh I thought both teams played near their best. I just think they’re very evenly matched sides, with Samoa a bit better in the forwards. This was a side that had a player in the bin and lost their only hooker 15 minutes in as well. 
 

england rl need to stop blaming refs, lack of internationals, and Australian arrogance and start looking at themselves if they want to get themselves out of this hole. I hope they do because rugby league is worse off without a strong super league and a strong England. 

[OMEGA]

2 minutes ago, Roy Haggerty said:

Makinson, Whitehead, Bateman, Farnworth, Radley, all played to their potential. Hard to say with McMeeken because of the lack of minutes. Young, Welsby, Williams, Watkins, McIlorum well below standard. The rest were so-so. 

There's a generation of England players who won't be there in 2025, and the worry is who do we have as replacements.

I’m not sure how you can include Young and Williams in the below standard group, Young made one mistake that didn’t cost us and Williams was the only creative half on the field.

McIlorum was poor and Welsby played like he’d bet his house on Samoa to win

[Damien]

1 minute ago, DavidM said:

We were average and lost in golden point and we gave them an interception. We missed opportunities . They were good but weren’t that great tbh , that’s what makes it all worse . It was there but we totally bombed it 

Indeed, Samoa were gifted every try really and all came from bad England mistakes, either directly or shortly before.

Too many players lost their heads completely, particularly the playmakers who needed to compose things and play the percentages. Welsby, Tomkins and Williams seemed to be having a personal battle as to who could set up the most tries from kicks, no matter the tackle count, instead of just building pressure.

That Samoan team will tire easily, England barely kept the ball to do that and we played right into their hands.