Rugby league World Cup rolling coverage from Barlow Park for Samoa v Scotland
SAMOA will go into the Rugby League World Cup quarter finals without a win after a thrilling draw against a gallant Scotland side at Barlow Park in Cairns.
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SAMOA will go into the Rugby League World Cup quarter finals without a win after a thrilling draw against a gallant Scotland side at Barlow Park in Cairns.
The Bravehearts were arguably the better side for much of the match in the face of a star-studded Samoan side riddled with errors and ill-discipline.
Samoa started to claw back the 14-6 half-time in the 47th minute, spreading it down the right side for Matt Wright to dot down just inside the touchline and make it 14-10.
A tiring Bravehearts side let Young Tonumaipea through to level scores the scores in the 66th minute ut Scotland had chances at penalty goal and field gola that both went begging.
Samoa will play Australia in a quarter final in Darwin on Friday night.
HALF-TIME: SCOTLAND is defying the odds against a hapless Samoa in a sudden death Rugby league World Cup contest at Barlow Park in Cairns.
The Bravehearts have dominated the first half to go into the sheds 14-6 on the back of a 60 per cent possession rate with a strong wind at their back.
Scotland struck the first blow in the fifth minute when Samoa fullback Young Tonumaipea failed to clean up a Danny Addy chip kick, leaving fullback Lewis Tierney to jump on the crumbs to score.
Addy converted to make it 6-0 but the lead didn’t last long as his side gave away back-to-back penalties, allowing Samoa to march upfield and Junior Paulo to crash over in the 11th minute.
But schoolboy errors stopped any chance of the star-studded favourites running away with the game.
Addy slotted a penalty from 40m out in the 17th minute, then Scotland extended their lead in the 28th minute when an attempted offload from Tim Lafai near his own line fell into the hands of Frankie Mariano.
Samoa looked set to claw back a late try but some neat defensive work from speedster Tierney scuppered the midfield break and forced Pita Godinet’s last pass to Ricky Leutele to float forward.
EARLIER: THE stage is set for a do-or-die Rugby League World Cup showdown in brilliant conditions for players and spectators at Barlow Park.
While there are some clouds around, it appears the rain should stay away for the clash between Samoa and Scotland, with the winner likely to take on Australia in Darwin next Friday.
A gusty south-easterly wind exceeding 50km/h at times will have a bearing on where the majority of points are scored and prove a challenge for golakickers, although players will enjoy the balmy temperature of 27 degrees.
Samoa is the unbackable favourite for the match despite Scotland’s world No. 4 ranking.
Tonga and New Zealand have made a mockery of the Bravehearts with 50-4 and 74-6 smashings, but Samoa have also lost (8-38 v NZ, 18-32 v Tonga) to both opponents.
There are no changes to either of the teams named on Tuesday. Sam Tagataese will captain Samoa, but start from the bench.
Keep up with our rolling coverage throughout the match. Kickoff is at 4.10pm.
UPDATED TEAM LISTS
SAMOA: 1. Young Tonumaipea 2. Ricky Leutele 3. Timoteo Lafai 4. Joseph Leilua 5. Matthew Wright 6. Jarome Luai 7. Fa’amanu Brown 8. Junior Paulo 9. Jazz Tevaga 10. Herman Ese’ese
11. Joshua Papalii 12. Frank Winterstein 13. Bunty Afoa. Bench: 14. Pita Godinet 15. Joseph Paulo 16. Leeson Ah Mau 17. Sam Tagataese (c)
SCOTLAND: 1. Lewis Tierney 2. Shane Toal 3. Ben Hellewell 4. Lachlan Stein 5. Matthew Russell 6. Danny Addy 7. Oscar Thomas 8. Luke Douglas (c) 9. Callum Phillips 10. Ben Kavanagh 11. Frankie Mariano 12. Dale Ferguson 13. James Bell. Bench: 14. Kane Bentley 15. Brandan Wilkinson 16. Andrew Bentley 17. Jarred Anderson.
Referee: Ashley Klein
Originally published as Rugby league World Cup rolling coverage from Barlow Park for Samoa v Scotland
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