What are the teams for Australia v Samoa in the men’s Rugby League World Cup final?

The Kangaroos take on the first tier two side to ever make the final in search of a third straight title

17 Nov 2022

What are the teams for Australia v Samoa in the men’s Rugby League World Cup final?

The Kangaroos take on the first tier two side to ever make the final in search of a third straight title

By Josh Graham

Australia head coach Mal Meninga has named an unchanged squad for the defending champions' final against Samoa.

The Kangaroos continued their run of never having lost a semi-final with a thrilling 16-14 last-four victory over New Zealand and understandably Meninga has kept faith with those who came through that battle in green and gold.

Australia have won the men’s Rugby League World Cup 11 times previously, more than three times as many as any other team as well as finishing runners-up on three occasions, while Samoa will be looking to clinch the tournament for the first time – they would be just the fourth nation ever to do so (Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand).

Daly Cherry-Evans is named in the 19 but the experienced scrum-half is set to miss out on the final 17 for Old Trafford as he did against the Kiwis, despite winning the 2013 World Cup at the same venue, with Nathan Cleary handed the keys to the team at half-back.

Matt Parish has made one change from the 27-26 victory over England with Connelly Lemuelu coming into the squad to replace the injured Fa’manu Brown.

Chanel Harris-Tavita will start at hooker in his final game before retiring to pursue his passion for travel and writing.

Samoa are depleted at dummy-half after Danny Levi had to return Down Under for a family emergency and Brown was knocked out in the win over England on Saturday.

Australia: 9 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 13 Pat Carrigan, 2 Daly Cherry-Evans, 14 Nathan Cleary, 16 Reuben Cotter, 17 Angus Crichton, 18 Tino Fa’asuamaleuai, 20 Harry Grant, 4 Valentine Holmes, 3 Ben Hunt, 21 Liam Martin, 8 Latrell Mitchell, 7 Cameron Munster, 11 Cameron Murray, 1 James Tedesco (captain), 5 Jake Trbojevic, 10 Jack Wighton, 24 Isaah Yeo

Samoa: 4 Stephen Crichton, 20 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 15 Royce Hunt, 23 Oregon Kaufusi, 25 Tim Lafai, 27 Connelly Lemuelu, 16 Spencer Leniu , 6 Jarome Luai, 2 Taylan May, 7 Anthony Milford, 8 Josh Papali’i, 10 Junior Paulo (captain), 11 Ligi Sao, 26 Ken Sio, 12 Jaydn Su’a, 1 Joseph Sua’ali’i, 17 Martin Taupau, 5 Brian To’o, 22 Kelma Tuilagi 

Head-to-head

Australia and Samoa will meet in men’s internationals for the fourth time and the first since Australia logged a 46-0 win over Samoa at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup; in fact, the Kangaroos have won all three previous games against Samoa by an average margin of 43 points per game.

READ MORE: Jake Trbojevic ready to seize final moment

Fun fact

Samoa will be looking to become the first team to concede 30+ points in a game at a men’s Rugby League World Cup and go on to win the tournament after they were defeated 60-6 by England in Round 1 of the 2021 edition.

Australia record

Australia have won their last 18 consecutive men’s Rugby League World Cup games in England by an average margin of 45 points per game; their last defeat in such a fixture came in October 1995 against England (20-16).

Samoa record

Samoa have won their last four men’s internationals in succession; the last and only previous time they won more successive games was a 15-game stretch from October 1990 to November 1994.

Players to watch

  • Valentine Holmes (Australia) has scored 14 tries in 11 games at the Rugby League World Cup, including two tries in his last three appearances; he needs just two more to equal Billy Slater (16) for the most tries of any player in the history of the men’s tournament.
  • Tim Lafai has scored eight tries in his last six Tests for Samoa including six tries in four appearances at the 2021 men’s Rugby League World Cup; he has also made five line breaks and six line break assists at the tournament, making him one of only two players to make at least five of each (also George Williams).
  • Brian To’o (Samoa) has run for 518 post contact metres at the 2021 men’s Rugby League World Cup, the most of any player and more than 17 of Australia’s 24 players have run in total pre and post-contact.

The Rugby League World Cup promises to be the biggest, best and most inclusive event in the sport’s 127-year history with men’s, women’s and wheelchair teams competing in 61 games across 21 venues throughout England. Tickets are available via rlwc2021.com/tickets

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