Full Time
80:00
4:00am Mon October 31, 2022
Pool Matches - Week 3 - Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington - Crowd: 6756
80min

FULL TIME! That's the game. Samoa run out comfortable winners in Warrington, and in doing so book themselves a quarter-final clash with Tonga. France have some rebuilding to do before they host the 2025 tournament. Match report to come!

79min

WHAT A TACKLE! Paulo on Mourgue! That will be on highlight reels for the next couple of weeks at least

78min

SUCCESSFUL CHALLENGE SAMOA! Chanel Harris-Tavita makes a one-on-one strip, and it'll be a play the ball for Samoa

78min

CAPTAIN'S CHALLENGE SAMOA! Decision of a strip penalty for France on-field

78min

SIX AGAIN FRANCE! Samoa's defence is being tested

77min

PENALTY FRANCE! High contact by Leniu, more attacking ball for France

76min

France go short, and this one works out for them. It's an error from Samoa, and France have an attacking scrum 40m out from the Samoa line.

75min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton kicks it

Samoa lead Samoa 62 - 4 France
74min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Anthony Milford. Kick to come.

Milford has a second! Brilliant stuff on the right edge from Samoa, the front rowers link up, and Milford finds a hole in the France defence

Samoa lead Samoa 60 - 4 France
73min

Big torpedo bomb from France, everyone leaves it alone and it bounces out thankfully for Samoa

72min

Good set after points from Samoa, France working it off their own line now

70min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton slots it from in-front

Samoa lead Samoa 56 - 4 France
70min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Chanel Harris-Tavita. Kick to come.

Leniu has the ball knocked out of his hands in the tackle, and Chanel Harris-Tavita is on the scene to pick the ball up and stroll over

Samoa lead Samoa 54 - 4 France
70min

VIDEO REFEREE! A try is the on-field call for Samoa

69min

Samoa looking to add even more points in this attacking set

69min

César Rougé knocks the ball down, and it's a Samoa centre-field scrum

68min

France try a short kick-off, but it doesn't provide much of a challenge for Samoa

67min

Conversion: Samoa
Attempted by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton misses only his second conversion of the night

Samoa lead Samoa 50 - 4 France
66min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Tim Lafai. Kick to come.

That's a great try from Lafai! He tears through tired edge defence, and goes over on the left wing. That's the 50 up for Samoa!

Samoa lead Samoa 50 - 4 France
65min

PENALTY SAMOA! A clear strip from France, and Samoa back on the attack

63min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton kicks another

Samoa lead Samoa 46 - 4 France
63min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Anthony Milford. Kick to come.

That was perhaps the longest video referee decision of the tournament, but Milford extends the lead for Samoa

Samoa lead Samoa 44 - 4 France
63min

This is quite chaotic here, the video referee can't be heard by the on-field ref Todd Smith. Samoa break through the French line, but their passes couldn't find the mark. It was then toed ahead by Samoa into the in-goal, where Mathieu Laguerre cleaned up for France. He then loses it after what was initially called as high contact, but it looks like a try for Samoa

63min

VIDEO REFEREE! We have no try for Samoa, there's a lot to unpack here

62min

Chanel Harris-Tavita goes for the short dropout, and Stephen Crichton takes it nicely for Samoa

62min

DROPOUT SAMOA! Early kick from Arthur Mourgue is rushed dead by Stephen Crichton

61min

SIX AGAIN FRANCE! Markers not square

60min

40/20 FRANCE! Tony Gigot kicks it on the 4th, and wins his team an attacking set

59min

Tony Gigot puts in a nice kick for his winger, but it's defused and Samoa have to work it off their own line now

58min

PENALTY FRANCE! A strip on the first play of their set, and they'll start their set from the half-way line

58min

After a good set, Milford nearly breaks through the line for Samoa, but loses it. France have the ball back

57min

Samoa getting straight back into good field position

55min

Conversion: France
Attempted by Arthur Mourgue.

Arthur Mourgue misses the conversion from the left edge

Samoa lead Samoa 40 - 4 France
53min

Try: France
Scored by Fouad Yaha. Kick to come.

France have points! A grubber gives a terrible bounce for Joseph Suaalii, who knocks it on, and Yaha grounds it.

Samoa lead Samoa 40 - 4 France
51min

DROPOUT SAMOA! César Rougé trickles in a nice kick on the last, and France will get the ball back

50min

PENALTY FRANCE! They needed that. France was going nowhere, but Samoa have been called offside

49min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton makes it 40!

Samoa lead Samoa 40 - 0 France
48min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Brian To'o. Kick to come.

Too easy for Samoa, and this is threatening to get very ugly now. Slick hands, and Brian To'o has his second for the night

Samoa lead Samoa 38 - 0 France
47min

OH NO! France are offside from the kick-off. Samoa penalty on the half-way line

46min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton adds another two points for Samoa

Samoa lead Samoa 34 - 0 France
45min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Taylan May. Kick to come.

FOUR! Taylan May crosses again off the back of some good offloading and line running from Samoa. Luai links up with Levi, who finds May on his outside.

Samoa lead Samoa 32 - 0 France
43min

Samoa shifting early in the set, they have some field position to work with now

42min

Joseph Suaalii makes half a line break, but his offload can't find a man and it goes over the touchline. France will have the ball for the first team in the second half

41min

PENALTY SAMOA! First tackle of the second half, and Samoa are already 30m out from their own line

40min

HALF TIME! Samoa well on top, France will be feeling very frustrated to let in two late tries. Samoa should be able to wrap this up in the second half, they're looking very slick in attack.

40min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton makes it 28

Samoa lead Samoa 28 - 0 France
40min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Taylan May. Kick to come.

On the last play of the first half, May goes over for his hat trick on the left edge thanks to some nice hands.

Samoa lead Samoa 26 - 0 France
40min

France go for the intercept, and they knock it on. Midfield scrum for Samoa with a minute on the clock

39min

SIX AGAIN SAMOA! France play at the ball, and Samoa are 20m out from the French line

38min

France are struggling for metres out of their own end

36min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton kicks his third conversion of the night

Samoa lead Samoa 22 - 0 France
35min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Taylan May. Kick to come.

From defence to attack, Samoa just go straight through the middle. The two wingers link up to break the Franch defence, and May dives over under the posts

Samoa lead Samoa 20 - 0 France
34min

20m TAP SAMOA! The kick is too long from Tony Gigot, and Samoa's defence holds on somehow!

32min

DROPOUT SAMOA! A third one now, France will be getting frustrated that they haven't scored yet

31min

Todd Smith being very firm with the captains - just play footy boys

31min

PENALTY FRANCE! Another attacking set for them, can they convert this into points? Before we find out, the players have some issues to sort out via some pushing and shoving

30min

DROPOUT SAMOA! Brilliant skills from France, and they're rewarded

30min

SIX AGAIN France! Markers not square, and France have more possession

29min

DROPOUT SAMOA! Arthur Mourgue puts in a nice kick on the last, and Samoa are trapped in-goal. France need to continue building pressure

28min

Alrix Da Costa is back on for France after passing his HIA

28min

PENALTY FRANCE! High tackle, and Ligi Sao is on report for that one. France have some attacking field position now, let's see if they can use it

27min

Joseph Suaalii's pass misses the mark, and it goes over the touchline. France hang on!

25min

DROPOUT FRANCE! 2nd tackle kick from Jarome Luai, and Arthur Mourgue is dragged back into his own in-goal.

24min

DROPOUT FRANCE! Samoa went all the way downfield, Milford puts in the kick and it's batted dead by France

23min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton nails it

Samoa lead Samoa 16 - 0 France
21min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Taylan May. Kick to come.

Beautiful stuff from Samoa, this time on their left edge. A brilliant cut-out ball gives Taylan May space to stroll over

Samoa lead Samoa 14 - 0 France
20min

SIX AGAIN SAMOA! They're charging downfield now

19min

Conversion: Samoa
Attempted by Stephen Crichton.

Tough conversion attempt from the sideline just waves away

Samoa lead Samoa 10 - 0 France
18min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Brian To'o. Kick to come.

Great passing from the Samoa backline sets up Brian To'o to dive over on the right edge, and Samoa extend their lead

Samoa lead Samoa 10 - 0 France
17min

SIX AGAIN SAMOA! France will do well to hang on here

16min

From marker, Eloi Pelissier tries to shut down the Samoan kick, but knocks the ball out of the Samoan hands. Samoa have a midfield scrum on the half-way line

15min

Arthur Romano almost dives over in the corner, but Taylan May pushes him over the sideline

14min

PENALTY FRANCE! It's a high tackle, but that's unlucky for Samoa. Arthur Mourgue slides into the Samoan defenders knees, and his team will have a full attacking set now

13min

SIX AGAIN FRANCE! They're up and over the half-way line now

13min

Alrix Da Costa is leaving the field for an injury assessment

12min

FORWARD PASS SAMOA! They had the overlap on the left edge, but France do well to get up and close the opportunity. Now they have to fight it out of their own end

12min

DROPOUT FRANCE! A good attacking kick from Anthony Milford forces the error from France, and Samoa have more attacking ball

11min

The game is finding a rhythm now, Samoa and France going set for set

10min

Samoa are really throwing the ball around in this attacking set, good defence from France though

8min

Tony Gigot's kick goes into his own player, and Samoa are well and truly winning the territory battle now

7min

Early kick from Samoa goes into touch deep in French territory - a good set after points for them

5min

Conversion: Samoa
Kicked by Stephen Crichton.

Crichton kicks his first conversion of the night

Samoa lead Samoa 6 - 0 France
4min

Try: Samoa
Scored by Tim Lafai. Kick to come.

Jarome Luai! A perfect grubber off the back of a good set, and Lafai is over under the posts.

Samoa lead Samoa 4 - 0 France
3min

Jarome Luai trickles in a grubber on the last, but it's defused by France, who have to work it off their own line now

2min

Samoa will start their first set from the half-way line after a shallow kick from France to end their set

1min

Todd Smith blows his whistle and we're underway! France have first use of the ball

We aren't far away from kick-off here in Warrington, with Samoa and France fighting for the right to play Tonga in the quarter-finals. It's sudden death footy, so who knows what will happen? I can't wait to find out.

Referees & scorers:

Referee: Todd Smith

Touch Judges: Liam Rush, Warren Turley

Video Referee: Marcus Griffiths

SAMOA MEN (62)
Tries: Tim Lafai (2), Brian To'o (2), Taylan May (4), Anthony Milford (2), Chanel Harris-Tavita
Field Goals:
Two Point Field Goals:
Conversions: Stephen Crichton (9/11)
Penalty Goals:

FRANCE MEN (4)
Tries: Fouad Yaha
Field Goals:
Two Point Field Goals:
Conversions: Arthur Mourgue (0/1)
Penalty Goals: