Rugby League World Cup: Australia beat Samoa to win third straight World Cup Australia (14) 30 tries: Mitchell (2), Tedesco (2), Martin, Murray Goals: Cleary (3) Samoa (0) 10 tries: To’ o Crichton Goals: Crichton
Australia won a third consecutive World Cup with a hard-fought 30-10 victory over Samoa at Old Trafford.
As the Pacific Islanders enjoyed the support of a crowd of 67,502, Mal Meninga’s relentless side more than lived up to their billing as overwhelming favourites.
A superb defensive performance laid the foundation for the Kangaroos, who have already won the competition 12 times.
“We played our best game tonight,” Meninga said.
“We’ve had a long year but tonight we were rewarded for our efforts. What a way to end our 2022 season.”
After fending off Samoa’s early pressure, Australia led 14-0 at the interval with tries from Latrell Mitchell, James Tedesco and Liam Martin.
And while they were temporarily reduced to 12 men when Angus Crichton was sin-binned for a foul on Chanelle Harris-Tavita, they still managed to withstand a couple of Samoan breaks before going ahead when Cameron Murray crossed in the left corner.
Brian To’o’s try briefly raised hopes of a fightback from Matt Parish’s side, but they were quickly extinguished as Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster combined cleverly to send Tedesco racing over in the left-hand corner.
Stephen Crichton, the hero with the golden point against England in the semi-final, secured a respectable score for Samoa in their first World Cup final with a fine interception for the second week running.
But it wasn’t enough to prevent Australia retaining control of the tournament as Mitchell crossed in the dying moments to complete the goal-scoring hours as the Jillaroos won the women’s tournament for a record third time.
Samoa head coach Parrish said: “We are disappointed with the result but I couldn’t be more proud of the effort and commitment to the cause. We played a championship team and we just ran out of steam. We just couldn’t get close enough to put pressure on, but I’m really proud of this group. They kept trying until the end.”
Australia’s men entered the tournament having not played at international level since 2019, largely due to Covid restrictions.
And man of the match Tedesco said: “It’s pretty amazing. This group of guys came here six or seven weeks ago and we have such a special bond. Covid killed us for three years without being able to play for our country, but we came here early and hit it off straight away.
“We created this relationship from the beginning and wanted to work hard for each other.”
Man of the match James Tedesco scored two tries for Australia
Series winners Australia proved too strong
The only surprise in yet another Australian success was that Josh Addo-Carr failed to score what would have been a tournament-record 13th try in the showpiece match.
However, he still played a key role for the green and gold, speeding past four Samoan defenders to find his captain Tedesco supporting inside as Australia extended their lead after Mitchell gathered for the first try of the match.
And with the spring under way and Samoa unable to make the most of some good early attacking positions, Australia clinically set about putting the final out of reach for their opponents.
Addo-Carr said: “The record was not on my mind. My goal was to win the World Cup. We did it for everyone in Australia, for all our families. What a way to finish.”
There were few defensive lapses throughout and Meninga’s side will leave England having conceded just 38 points in their six games.
While much has been made of the potential impact of Jarome Luai and Samoa’s NRL contingent, they have been largely undone by Australia, who are simply serial winners when it comes to the World Cup.
And while 14 errors and a completion rate of just 68% suggest it was far from a flawless performance, they were ruthless and effective when it mattered.
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