Samoan revolution breaks new ground for the international game
Samoa’s historic march into the Rugby League World Cup final will never be forgotten, marking a giant step forward for the international game.
If the Pacific revolution was simmering with Tonga’s giant killing run in 2017, it has exploded this time with Samoa’s feats over the last few weeks.
It’s the first time a Pacific Island nation has reached the decider of a major tournament and it’s surely won’t be the last, given the recent progress of Samoa and Tonga and the prevalence of Polynesian talent in the sport.
It’s something that couldn’t have been imagined as little as a decade ago, but league’s pragmatic eligibility laws have helped, as players aren’t locked out if they have already represented Australia or New Zealand.
Those rules may be reviewed, as the gap has closed among the top five nations, but that will be a future debate.
Right now, we should celebrate Toa Samoa. They were written off after the 60-6 defeat to England to open the tournament but have since knocked out Tonga and the host nation in consecutive weeks, in classic contests.
It’s especially satisfying for coach Matt Parish, who has toiled away with limited resources — and a scattered, infrequent calendar — for a decade.
And what about former Warriors half Chanel Harris-tavita? He is retiring from the sport but gets to play his last game at Old Trafford, in the World Cup final.
The 23-year-old was to the fore on Sunday, playing more than an hour at dummy half after regular hooker Fa’amanu Brown suffered a head knock.
Beyond the result, it was a stunning game. In these days of seemingly endless sport content, not too many matches live long in the memory. This one will.
It was a rare example of a contest living up to the occasion, in terms of drama, tension and skill.
There were nine tries, plenty of line breaks and some punishing defence.
Samoan captain Junior Paulo came up with the pass of the year, the 123kg prop showing the dexterity of a gymnast as he somehow flipped a onehanded, no-look overhead offload — just before being smashed into the turf — which led to their third try.
Samoa kept edging ahead, but England always responded, albeit aided at times by some generous officiating.
After trailing by eight points with fewer than 20 minutes to play, England had the ascendancy, drawing level by the 67th minute as the London crowd found their voice.
But another twist — as Stephen Crichton’s 60 metre intercept try in the 74th minute looked to have sealed the match, as the small Samoan contingent in the stands danced in disbelief.
There was more, as England broke from inside their 22, with the long range try to Herbie Farnworth in the 77th minute one of the great moments in World Cup history, before Tommi Makinson nailed the pressure conversion.
England then fluffed their lines in golden point, but Crichton’s 33-metre field goal was a thing of beauty, a fitting end to an epic match.
In terms of a spectacle, it will be remembered as one of the greatest league contests of modern era, up there with the 1989 Winfield Cup final, the 2008 World Cup decider, the 2006 Tri Nations climax and the 2014 Four Nations final, along with several State of Origin battles.