PAPUA NEW GUINEA 6 SAMOA 64
MARC BAZELEY, Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby, Saturday
SAMOA ratcheted up the pressure in the race for the semi-finals as a 13-try blitz saw them power past Papua New Guinea.
Led by a huge effort on both sides of the ball from loose-forward Francis Manuleleua and steered around the field by skipper and future PNG Chiefs halfback Jarome Luai, the last World Cup’s runners-up followed up the previous week’s thrashing of France with another dominant display.
Papua New Guinea had led by two points after half an hour thanks to Bailey Biondi-Odo’s converted try cancelling out Sualauvi Fa’alogo’s opener, but the loss of Jack De Belin at the break due to injury and Robert Derby being sinbinned in the second half proved costly for the hosts.
Melbourne back Fa’alogo, fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and interchange hooker Shawn Blore grabbed two tries apiece, while Spencer Leniu, Stephen Crichton, Manuleleua, Brian To’o, Ronald Volkman, Izack Tago and Ata Mariota all notched one each.
Such was the margin of victory that Ben Gardiner’s side failing to convert seven of their tries was not enough to stop them taking their points difference for the pool stage to plus-132 after two games, and put them in prime position to qualify for the last four ahead of next week’s blockbuster pool-stage finale against fierce Pacific rivals Tonga.
Samoa’s intense pre-match Siva Tau ramped up the sold-out National Football Stadium crowd to fever pitch, but the home fans were quietened within two minutes of the kick-off when Fa’alogo jinked his way through the defence for the opening score.
The Kumuls had gone for the short kick-off into the wind, yet Manuleleua recovered the ball for the visitors and surge upfield, followed by Luai and Connelly Lemuelu combing to shift it left for winger Fa’alogo to grab an unconverted try out wide.
PNG seized the initiative after this on the back of their opponents conceding two ball-steal penalties, though, and they hit back to lead in the 19th minute – albeit in slightly fortuitous circumstances.
Super League referee Chris Kendall had initially ruled ‘no try’ on the field when referring Biondi-Odo’s finish to the Bunker. However, replays showed Jake De Belin’s pass had been touched backwards before the scrum-half dived on the ball in-goal.
Hull KR second row Rhyse Martin’s conversion edged the home side in front and they swiftly threatened again on the back of a surging line-break from deep inside his own half by Dudley Dotoi – only for the Bunker to come to Samoa’s rescue when Robert Derby was ruled to have knocked on in-goal from Edwin Ipape’s grubber kick.
But Leniu’s finish from Luai’s reverse pass getting the thumbs-up from the Bunker on 32 minutes, followed by To’o superbly leaping to keep the ball in play for former Penrith Panthers team-mate Crichton to finish four minutes later, saw Samoa lead by eight heading into the break.
It was pretty much one-way traffic after the break though as Samoa ran in eleven more tries, and Derby’s sinbinning for shoving Fa’alogo over in-goal while he was chasing the ball compounded what, by then, was rapidly turning into a miserable day for Papua New Guinea after it briefly promised so much.
GAMESTAR: Francis Manuleleua’s try capped a performance which saw him carry for 260 metres and 106 post-contact metres, break the line eight times and bust one tackle, along with making 21 of 22 attempted tackles.
GAMEBREAKER: A spell of three tries in eight minutes early in the second half from Samoa broke the back of Papua New Guinea and set the away side firmly on their way to making it two wins from two.
MATCHFACTS
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
1 Morea Morea
2 Robert Derby
3 Zac Laybutt
4 Rodrick Tai
5 Dudley Dotoi
6 Gairo Voro
7 Bailey Biondi-Odo
8 Epel Kapinias
9 Edwin Ipape
16 Valentine Richard
11 Rhyse Martin
12 Nixon Putt
13 Jack De Belin
Subs
14 Finley Glare
15 Liam Horne
17 Khaiya Waiembi
19 Josh Feledy (not used)
22 Zev John
Tries: Biondi-Odo (19)
Goals: Martin 1/1
Sin bin: Derby (64) – professional foul
SAMOA
1 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
2 Brian To’o
3 Izack Tago
4 Stephen Crichton
5 Sualauvi Fa’alogo
6 Chanel Harris-Tavita
7 Jarome Luai
8 Francis Molo
9 Benaiah Ioelu
10 Junior Paulo
11 Connelly Lemuelu
12 Jermaine McEwen
13 Francis Manuleleua
Subs
15 Spencer Leniu
16 Shawn Blore
17 Ata Mariota
18 Clayton Faulalo (not used)
19 Robert Volkman
22 Eddie Ieremia-Toeava (not used)
Tries: Fa’alogo (2, 45), Leniu (29), Crichton (36), Manuleleua (48), Tabuai-Fidow (53, 66), To’o (59), Blore (65, 78), Volkman (67), Tago (71), Mariota (80)
Goals: Crichton 1/3, Harris-Tavita 2/6, Volkman 3/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 6-4, 6-10, 6-14; 6-20, 6-24, 6-28, 6-32, 6-36, 6-42, 6-48, 6-54, 6-58, 6-64
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Man of the Match
Papua New Guinea: Nixon Putt; Samoa: Francis Manuleleua
Penalty count: 4-8
Half-time: 6-14
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 14,800
