Sat 19 Nov: Men's World Cup Final: Australia v Samoa KO 4pm

[John Drake]

Discuss the Men's World Cup Final: Australia v Samoa here.

[moorside roughyed]

I'm so desperate for Samoa to win for what it'll mean to the country. They love their rugby and if they do it we'll probably feel its effects over here.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

Meh.....Australia will win and no one cares.

Including Australians 

When does SL/Champ start?

Edited November 13, 2022 by Bedfordshire Bronco

[frank]

Don't write of Samoa. When Tonga beat the Aussies they played the same kind of footy that Samoa played against England on Sat. At the end of that game the Aussie forwards had had enough. Samoa will be playing that type of footy on Sat and  it's a game not to be missed. The Islanders,  even  if they don't live in the Islands are very proud of their heritage

[SilentAssassin]

Australia by plenty. 

[Tosh]

3 minutes ago, SilentAssassin said:

Australia by plenty. 

That’s my fear also unfortunately.

[MatthewWoody]

It's gonna be tough against Samoa, who had 160 minutes of intense football in the qf and sf. 

[Alan Robertson]

Australia by whatever margin they desire, 20 points or more.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Alan Robertson

[Snowys Backside]

Australia had their final in the Semis. 
 

I hope Samoa give it too then but the Aussies are far too structured and disciplined. 
 

It will be comfortable I think

[MZH]

England let themselves down a little against Samoa, but I don't want to take too much away from them because they performed very well. Let's not forget that the week before they also beat a Tonga team that has won against Australia in recent times. It would be a big upset if Australia get beat, but I don't think this is a special Australia team by any means, and if Samoa get a bit of luck and their stars show up big then it could be a really good game.

[MZH]

6 minutes ago, Snowys Backside said:

Australia had their final in the Semis. 
 

I hope Samoa give it too then but the Aussies are far too structured and disciplined. 
 

It will be comfortable I think

I thought NZ were fairly rubbish all tournament. They did up their game against Australia, but it was a physical arm wrestle of a game and the quality of the attacking rugby on show was pretty low. If Samoa can match what NZ were able to do in terms of physicality and intensity then they will be right in this game.

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Australia by 18 - very close first hour then the Aussies pull away in the last quarter.

[Hopie]

Aus v NZ was a tough game with no real let up in the 80 minutes, like England, Samoa have not produced a performance where they didn't drop off the pace for some part of the game, so you wouldn't expect them to be able to do it in the final.

The small glimmers of hope would be that Samoa are on an upward trend in terms of performance, and NZ didn't exactly set the tournament on fire until they pushed the Aussies al the way in the semi.

[north yorks trinity]

I'd love it to be close but can't see it. I'd really love Samoa to win but I really can't see it!

England made so many errors in the game against Samoa, many of them unforced/brainfarts and Samoa only just won. As far as I could tell, Samoa brought pretty much their best game to the semi final. OK there were errors but I think an error free Samoa performance is unrealistic so I don't really see them playing better. Given that Australia just don't do errors in the quantity that England did and they certainly don't distribute the ball in as consistently sloppy a fashion as England did, I am really struggling to see past a comfortable and pretty uninspiring Australia win.

I hope I'm wrong and I live in hope but we all know how this ends I think.

Still...COME ON SAMOA!!!

[The Future is League]

This might be the best chance of Samoa ever winning the world cup as it's rumoured that come the 2025 world cup all countries will have to have at least 5 players from their own competition, or players that have been products of their own competition in an effort to encourage countries to produce players and not rely on heritage players

[Man of Kent]

Australia are obviously heavy favourites but there's a slightly other-worldly self-belief about this Samoa side that makes them dangerous for anyone. 

[Tex Evans Thigh]

Australia by 40+ in a half-full Old Trafford and the international game to go into another malaise with no planning and Australians not taking it seriously. 

[Blind side johnny]

32 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

This might be the best chance of Samoa ever winning the world cup as it's rumoured that come the 2025 world cup all countries will have to have at least 5 players from their own competition, or players that have been products of their own competition in an effort to encourage countries to produce players and not rely on heritage players

"Rumoured"!

So, only about 8 countries will be competing, at most.

[Blind side johnny]

12 minutes ago, Tex Evans Thigh said:

Australia by 40+ in a half-full Old Trafford and the international game to go into another malaise with no planning and Australians not taking it seriously. 

A lot of people who have already bought tickets will be staying away, will they?

[Wakefield Ram]

Think if Samoa played Australia 20 times, they'd win one. Let's hope it's this one. 

[shrewsbury roughyed]

21 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

A lot of people who have already bought tickets will be staying away, will they?

I’m going. Bought my ticket in a state of euphoria after the quarter final. Felt numb and was about to throw my toys out of the pram after the semi but hey- how many rl World Cup finals will I get the chance to see? And how many times as an Oldham fan will I go up Old Trafford? And the England RL women might even be there. I’m swallowing my pride and making a day of it. Come on Samoa!!!

[Blind side johnny]

21 minutes ago, shrewsbury roughyed said:

I’m going. Bought my ticket in a state of euphoria after the quarter final. Felt numb and was about to throw my toys out of the pram after the semi but hey- how many rl World Cup finals will I get the chance to see? And how many times as an Oldham fan will I go up Old Trafford? And the England RL women might even be there. I’m swallowing my pride and making a day of it. Come on Samoa!!!

I shall also be there.

[Tex Evans Thigh]

49 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

A lot of people who have already bought tickets will be staying away, will they?

Probably, it's happened in several games already allegedly. Lot's of people will have bought tickets hoping to see England so can see a few not bothering.

[jacksy]

Aussies i just hope they don't butcher the Samoans.

Praying and fingers crossed for Samoa to make it a great game.

[north yorks trinity]

46 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

I shall also be there.

Me too. I bought mine many months ago. I had a mortal dread of missing out on an England world cup win with a sell out announced early as the tournament gathered momentum. I obviously naively believed the hype from the organisers. Anyway, must go and write my Christmas letter to Santa or he might not bring me anything!

I don't regret it really as, like others said, how often do I get the chance to see a RL world cup final, yet if I had been deciding now whether to get a ticket, I'm not sure I'd have found the motivation.