SAMOA thrashed France 62-4 to canter into the World Cup quarter-finals.
Samoa broke the deadlock early, Tim Lafai latching onto a Jarome Luai grubber to dot down. Stephen Crichton’s conversion made it 6-0 after four minutes.
Matt Parish’s men dotted down again on 17 minutes, Brian To’o finishing in the corner off great work by Joseph Suaalii before Taylan May did exactly the same in the other corner three minutes later. Crichton added one conversion for a 16-0 lead.
May grabbed his second on 34 minutes when To’o sent away his Penrith Panthers teammate for a scintillating 70-metre score. Crichton made it 22-0 with the break approaching.
Despite the hooter sounding, May registered a hat-trick with Crichton’s conversion establishing a 28-0 half-time Samoan lead.
And it was May that registered the first of the second-half, too, latching onto a stunning Danny Levi break as Samoa turned the screw quickly.
Things were made even worse for the French moments later when they were offside from the kick-off, and To’o ran in from 30 metres out to make it 40-0.
That being said, Tony Gigot’s kick produced France’s first points of the night when Fouad Yaha pounced on a Suaalii mistake. Mourgue couldn’t convert.
Samoa had another when Milford dotted down after hitting Matthieu Laguerre hard from a kick, with Lafai dotting down moments later.
It was three tries in six minutes for Samoa as Chanel Harris-Tavita went over after Jaydn Su’a had the ball knocked from his grasp.
By now, Samoa were unstoppable and it was Milford’s turn to get on the scoresheet as he jived his way through the French line with seven minutes to go.
That rounded off the scoring at 62-4 as Samoa set up a mouthwatering challenge against Tonga in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Samoa
Joseph Suaalii, Taylan May, Stephen Crichton, Tim Lafai, Brian To’o, Jarome Luai, Anthony Milford, Royce Hunt, Danny Levi
Junior Paulo (C), Ligi Sao, Jaydn Su’a, Oregon Kaufusi. Subs (all used): Josh Papali’i, Spencer Leniu, Martin Taupau, Chanel Harris-Tavita
Tries: Lafai 2, To’o 2, May 4, Milford 2, Harris-Tavita
Goals: Crichton 9/11
France
Arthur Mourgue, Arthur Romano, Samisoni Langi, Matthieu Laguerre, Fouad Yaha, Cesar Rouge, Tony Gigot, Jordan Dezaria, Alrix Da Costa, Gadwin Springer, Benjamin Jullien, Paul Seguier, Benjamin Garcia (C). Subs (all used): Eloi Pelissier, Justin Sangare, Mickael Goudemand, Maxime Puech
Tries: Yaha
Goals: Mourgue 0/1
Half-time: 28-0
Referee: Todd Smith
Scoring sequence: 6-0, 10-0, 16-0, 22-0, 28-0; 34-0, 40-0, 40-4, 46-4, 50-4, 56-4, 62-4
Venue: Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
