England v Samoa 2024

[Perth Red]

As the dust settles on 2023 thoughts turn to next year. Still to be confirmed but shaping up that Samoa will tour England (and please play a game or two in France!).

Venues are being considered. As posted elsewhere my preference would be

Game 1: Wigan (25k)
Game 2: Hull (MKM) (25k)
Game 3: Leeds (Headingly) (21k)

 

[Perth Red]

The noise from the England camp is that Samoa’s trip over here in 2024 is already sealed, but that may well not be the case if Tonga have anything to do with it, as discussed by their head coach Kristian Woolf last night.

For some time now, the understanding has been that Shaun Wane’s side will host Samoa this time next year in a series like the one against the Tongans which has just ended.

Woolf’s men meanwhile have been expected to take Samoa’s place in the Pacific Championships, be that in the Cup – won by New Zealand yesterday – or the Bowl – won by Papua New Guinea earlier today.

othing is set in stone yet though according to the former St Helens chief, who saw Tonga beaten in all three games this autumn, with England achieving a whitewash.

Tonga may kibosh England’s planned 2024 test series against Samoa​

Speaking after yesterday’s 26-4 defeat at Headingley, Woolf said: “I’m not sure if they (Samoa) are coming over to England. We’ve had discussions about playing them over there as well, so I don’t think anyone should count that as a given just yet.


“I don’t think the Pacific Championships in terms of what it exactly looks like is completely nailed on just yet, but my intention there is I don’t want to speak out of scrutiny.

“When I get back to Australia, I’ll be in contact with people in the NRL and people who are now making themselves more involved with international rugby league to try to find out what that might look like.

“We’ll figure out what our involvement is from there.”

England boss Shaun Wane has Samoa circled on the calendar already​

Contrastingly, in England’s eyes, a 2024 series against ‘Toa Samoa’ is firmly in the diary already and has been referenced frequently by boss Wane over the last few weeks.

That viewpoint hadn’t changed when Wane sat down with the press, before Woolf did, after yesterday’s victory in Leeds. He re-affirmed: “They (Samoa) will come with confidence after they stuffed us in the (World Cup) semi last year, so they’ll be really confident, but we’ve shown we can handle bigger bodies and we can play.

“Depending on the weather, we’ll challenge them with our skill, but that’ll be a massive challenge those three games next year.

“I’m hoping there’s a mid-season game and then Samoa, and then I’m hoping there’s an Ashes series in Australia and then the World Cup.

“There’s obviously an appetite for it and the game needs it. You look at that game today and it was an outstanding game, all the spectators will go home really happy, so a lot of people deserve a lot of credit.”

England's proposed test series against Samoa up in the air with Tonga also in talks to face Pacific neighbours in 2024

The noise from the England camp is that Samoa's trip over here in 2024 is already sealed, but that may well not be the case if Tonga have their way.

www.loverugbyleague.com

 

[Perth Red]

he dust is settling on England’s impressive series clean sweep over Tonga but it’s not too early to look ahead to the proposed 2024 arrival of another Pacific Island nation, with Samoa set to travel north and face Shaun Wane’s side.

It was announced back in April in line with the mid-season international against France that the Tongans would be touring, whilst talk of the Samoans coming over for 2024 started heating up and has since been verbally confirmed. All that is needed now is the official announcement confirming when and more importantly where the games will be held.

The three stadiums selected for this Tonga series were St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium, Huddersfield’s John Smith’s Stadium and then finally Leeds’ Headingley Stadium, three Super League venues from right in the rugby league heartlands which delighted many, but also disappointed those who wanted the games to be taken further afield.

Across the three tests it was Headingley that received the best turn out in spite of the fact the game was a dead rubber, England having already secured the series after winning the opening two tests. Saturday’s clash at Headingley recorded an impressive attendance of 15,477, even more than the Australia New Zealand match down under did on the same day.

It’s clear that there’s a huge passion for rugby league in West Yorkshire with Headingley seemingly the best venue for it, given test two at Huddersfield saw just 11,210 turn out. That figure was the lowest of the series with the opening test at St Helens having recorded an attendance of 12,898.

It would seem from that then that when Samoa do visit in 2024 that Headingley is vital for a successful series from the commercial angle of the game. A trip across the M62 should also be considered, but how about taking the game away from the heartlands for a third test?

hese are the three venues that should be selected to host England and Samoa in the autumn of 2024.

Test One – Brentford Community Stadium, London

As brilliant as it would be to take international rugby league down to London and fill out the likes of Wembley, the Emirates or even the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the sad reality is that our sport doesn’t have that pull – at least not against Samoa in a none World Cup game.

Instead heading to Brentford’s Community Stadium would make a lot of sense with the ground being a new build, opened in September 2020, and holding a realistic capacity of 17,250. Filling out a London venue to kick off the series would be a brilliant statement to make about spreading the game beyond the heartlands, and it would also be an incredible atmosphere too.

Test Tw0 – MKM Stadium, Hull

Some will argue that a test should be held in Lancashire and on the other side of the M62 but that M62 split is so divisive that ultimately some fans will always have to travel. In this instance they’d have to travel to Hull which has shown what a huge passion it has for the sport as a city, as evidenced by the growth around Hull KR at the moment. Humberside is a hotbed of rugby league that is set to erupt and an international fixture there could be hugely beneficial to the sport.

Moreover, as a facility the MKM is brilliant and hopefully on the back of a sold-out first test the RFL should make an ambitious ploy to fill a larger football stadium with it’s 25,000 capacity certainly attainable. In 2018 when New Zealand faced England at the MKM, named the KCOM at the time, a crowd of 17,649 turned up and the RFL should be looking to break that and push for a 20,000 plus crowd to highlight the strides the game has made since then.

Test Three – Headingley, Leeds

This one is self-explanatory really. Why change what isn’t broken? Sure, the game wasn’t a sell-out completely but it was comfortably the best-attended game of the series and it offered up the best atmosphere as well. For too long England hadn’t played at Headingley, the last non-friendly game prior to Saturday being at the World Cup in 2000. It cannot be another 23 years before England play at Headingley again.

The three venues that should host the 2024 England Samoa Test Series - Serious About Rugby League

The dust is settling on England’s impressive series clean sweep over Tonga but it’s not too early to look ahead to the proposed 2024 arrival of another Pacific Island nation, with Samoa set to travel north and face Shaun Wane’s side. It was announced back in April in line with the mid-season...

www.seriousaboutrl.com

 

[Wb1234]

Now that would be amazing

Tonga vs samoa in 3 match series would be like origin

even if it means we have to take England as their replacement in the tri nations I’ll allow it

Playing the pacific cup without both samoa and tongs in it defeats the purpose and devalues the competition

 

[Perth Red]

I’m not sure Woolf had any idea what Samoa is Intending to do lol

 

[jim_57]

Even assuming Samoa do tour England they could play Tonga in a warm up for both before they go, week after grand final.

Could have a decent week of warm ups before tournaments start to beef up the schedule.

Tonga V Samoa
PNG V Fiji
NZ V Australia
Lebanon V France (or Cook Islands if France stay in Europe).
England V Wales/Ireland

 

[yakstorm]

I’m not sure Woolf had any idea what Samoa is Intending to do lol

Both what Woolf and Wane said could be true as there is no reason why Mate Ma'a and Toa couldn't play a Test in the Southern Hemisphere before Toa head over to the UK. Australia and New Zealand have both clashed many a time in the Southern Hemisphere before touring Europe (or taking part in World Cups or Four Nations)

If there is one thing I hope Samoa learn from what went wrong on the Tonga tour is they need to play some form of warm up match before facing England. Ideally this would be in the northern hemisphere, but honestly I wouldn't say no to a clash between Tonga and Samoa.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

The noise from the England camp is that Samoa’s trip over here in 2024 is already sealed, but that may well not be the case if Tonga have anything to do with it, as discussed by their head coach Kristian Woolf last night.

For some time now, the understanding has been that Shaun Wane’s side will host Samoa this time next year in a series like the one against the Tongans which has just ended.

Woolf’s men meanwhile have been expected to take Samoa’s place in the Pacific Championships, be that in the Cup – won by New Zealand yesterday – or the Bowl – won by Papua New Guinea earlier today.

othing is set in stone yet though according to the former St Helens chief, who saw Tonga beaten in all three games this autumn, with England achieving a whitewash.

Tonga may kibosh England’s planned 2024 test series against Samoa​

Speaking after yesterday’s 26-4 defeat at Headingley, Woolf said: “I’m not sure if they (Samoa) are coming over to England. We’ve had discussions about playing them over there as well, so I don’t think anyone should count that as a given just yet.


“I don’t think the Pacific Championships in terms of what it exactly looks like is completely nailed on just yet, but my intention there is I don’t want to speak out of scrutiny.

“When I get back to Australia, I’ll be in contact with people in the NRL and people who are now making themselves more involved with international rugby league to try to find out what that might look like.

“We’ll figure out what our involvement is from there.”

England boss Shaun Wane has Samoa circled on the calendar already​

Contrastingly, in England’s eyes, a 2024 series against ‘Toa Samoa’ is firmly in the diary already and has been referenced frequently by boss Wane over the last few weeks.

That viewpoint hadn’t changed when Wane sat down with the press, before Woolf did, after yesterday’s victory in Leeds. He re-affirmed: “They (Samoa) will come with confidence after they stuffed us in the (World Cup) semi last year, so they’ll be really confident, but we’ve shown we can handle bigger bodies and we can play.

“Depending on the weather, we’ll challenge them with our skill, but that’ll be a massive challenge those three games next year.

“I’m hoping there’s a mid-season game and then Samoa, and then I’m hoping there’s an Ashes series in Australia and then the World Cup.

“There’s obviously an appetite for it and the game needs it. You look at that game today and it was an outstanding game, all the spectators will go home really happy, so a lot of people deserve a lot of credit.”

England's proposed test series against Samoa up in the air with Tonga also in talks to face Pacific neighbours in 2024

The noise from the England camp is that Samoa's trip over here in 2024 is already sealed, but that may well not be the case if Tonga have their way.

www.loverugbyleague.com

Ideally England play France as a warm-up before France head down under to play in the Pacific Bowl and Samoa play Tonga (needs to be an annual thing, min one match) before Samoa head to England for their tour

 

[jim_57]

Ideally England play France as a warm-up before France head down under to play in the Pacific Bowl and Samoa play Tonga (needs to be an annual thing, min one match) before Samoa head to England for their tour

If France do come down they may be better skipping the England game (they may play mid-season anyway) and play a warm up game down here. PNG, Fiji, Lebanon even getting flogged by NZ, there should be an option.

Lots of questions to be answered before we see France down here though. It is a nice thought but a) who pays for it and b) they will most likely have to play in Europe to qualify for the 2025 WC Qualifying ‘World Series’.

Lots of questions to answer about all of it really.

Will it be 3 or 4 teams?
Will PNG be promoted?
Will Samoa definitely tour England?
Will nations that aren’t from the Pacific be included like Lebanon and/or France?

 

[jim_57]

Ideally England play France as a warm-up before France head down under to play in the Pacific Bowl and Samoa play Tonga (needs to be an annual thing, min one match) before Samoa head to England for their tour

On that note this needs to happen for this and a few games. If they can’t be played mid-season play them post season between club Grand Finals and any tournament/tours.

Tonga V Samoa (Polynesian Cup)
PNG V Fiji (Melanesian Cup)
Australia V NZ (Anzac Cup)
England V France (?? Cup)

Those 4 should be staples of any given year before any tournaments are played. If it means we get Australia V NZ 3 times in a year even better.

 

[Chins get the wins]

On that note this needs to happen for this and a few games. If they can’t be played mid-season play them post season between club Grand Finals and any tournament/tours.

Tonga V Samoa (Polynesian Cup)
PNG V Fiji (Melanesian Cup)
Australia V NZ (Anzac Cup)
England V France (?? Cup)

Those 4 should be staples of any given year before any tournaments are played. If it means we get Australia V NZ 3 times in a year even better.

It can't be mid season or Origin dies a slow death

 

[titoelcolombiano]

If France do come down they may be better skipping the England game (they may play mid-season anyway) and play a warm up game down here. PNG, Fiji, Lebanon even getting flogged by NZ, there should be an option.

Lots of questions to be answered before we see France down here though. It is a nice thought but a) who pays for it and b) they will most likely have to play in Europe to qualify for the 2025 WC Qualifying ‘World Series’.

Lots of questions to answer about all of it really.

Will it be 3 or 4 teams?
Will PNG be promoted?
Will Samoa definitely tour England?
Will nations that aren’t from the Pacific be included like Lebanon and/or France?

If France were to come and make up the numbers so that each division of the Pacific Championships could expand to 4 teams, they'd get paid an agreed figure by the NRL to participate as they would have been in the old 4 Nations.

NRL has $7 million sponsorship from the Aus Govt to put the tournament on which more than covers player payments, flights and accommodation for all teams, I'd imagine moving forward other sponsors will jump on board.

 

[jim_57]

If France were to come and make up the numbers so that each division of the Pacific Championships could expand to 4 teams, they'd get paid an agreed figure by the NRL to participate as they would have been in the old 4 Nations.

NRL has $7 million sponsorship from the Aus Govt to put the tournament on which more than covers player payments, flights and accommodation for all teams, I'd imagine moving forward other sponsors will jump on board.

Yeh finances would probably have to be covered by the NRL. How France get around WCQs is probably the bigger question.

 

[Wb1234]

Even assuming Samoa do tour England they could play Tonga in a warm up for both before they go, week after grand final.

Could have a decent week of warm ups before tournaments start to beef up the schedule.

Tonga V Samoa
PNG V Fiji
NZ V Australia
Lebanon V France (or Cook Islands if France stay in Europe).
England V Wales/Ireland

Having no samoa vs tonga here is a huge missed opportunity

a two test series before the pacific cup would be good or worst case one game at msmart

if we had a 3 match series between them it could rival origin for its passion

we are sitting on a gold mine because of taumalomo decision to defect to Tonga

these teams touring England is a huge waste for the game here

the southern hemisphere needs to put itself first

rugby league in England is a basket case of its own doing

they can always play France or combined nations (who they lost too)

Tonga vs Samoa is the game of the pacific cup followed by tonga vs nz then Australia vs nz

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Having no samoa vs tonga here is a huge missed opportunity

a two test series before the pacific cup would be good or worst case one game at msmart

if we had a 3 match series between them it could rival origin for its passion

we are sitting on a gold mine because of taumalomo decision to defect to Tonga

these teams touring England is a huge waste for the game here

the southern hemisphere needs to put itself first

rugby league in England is a basket case of its own doing

they can always play France or combined nations (who they lost too)

Tonga vs Samoa is the game of the pacific cup followed by tonga vs nz then Australia vs nz

We'll get it mate, when the Kangaroos or Kiwis tour England Tonga and Samoa will both be in the Pac Championships. In years when one of them aren't there, definitely should organise at least one test between them.

England (in my opinion) is so strategically important to RL that we need to make sure they aren't left out in the cold. If England fails and is lost to the game so too are France and any chance of meaningful European expansion. Agree with you that the game there needs to be run better though. Hopefully with IMG on board that will happen.

 

[Foreign Legion]

France should play in New Caledonia

 

[Wb1234]

We'll get it mate, when the Kangaroos or Kiwis tour England Tonga and Samoa will both be in the Pac Championships. In years when they both aren't there. Definitely should organise at least one test between them.

England (in my opinion) is so strategically important to RL that we need to make sure they aren't left out in the cold. If England fails and is lost to the game so too are France and any chance of meaningful European expansion. Agree with you that the game there needs to be run better though. Hopefully with IMG on board that will happen.

One off tours to England don’t achieve anything

the English game effectively needs to kill off half its clubs and find money for expansion

their failure to support past expansion clubs has lead to a tv deal down 30 percent

there’s no money in the English game

they kept promotion and relegation and it’s rearranging deck chairs on the titanic

an example was when they refused to give Toronto a cent from the tv deal but Leigh who replaced them got 1 million pounds

catalans have to pay away teams travel costs and a bond of 500k to play in the challenge cup

One day the Aussies could start their own comp In England France and Europe and it would be a huge success (by passing super league)

samoa tonga has to be every year

it’s not as if the English tests were well attended anyway

samoa v tonga would’ve sold out mt smart as would nz bs tonga

 

[titoelcolombiano]

One off tours to England don’t achieve anything

the English game effectively needs to kill off half its clubs and find money for expansion

their failure to support past expansion clubs has lead to a tv deal down 30 percent

there’s no money in the English game

they kept promotion and relegation and it’s rearranging deck chairs on the titanic

an example was when they refused to give Toronto a cent from the tv deal but Leigh who replaced them got 1 million pounds

catalans have to pay away teams travel costs and a bond of 500k to play in the challenge cup

samoa tonga has to be every year

it’s not as if the English tests were well attended anyway

samoa v tonga would’ve sold out mt smart as would nz bs tonga

Completely agree with all of that, but I don't think as a game we can afford to lose our only other pro comp and our only foothold in Europe.

 

[Wb1234]

Completely agree with all of that, but I don't think as a game we can afford to lose our only other pro comp and our only foothold in Europe.

I think this is the base for England the decline has been stemmed

clubs get by on the little money the rfl gives them

 

[Perth Red]

One off tours to England don’t achieve anything

the English game effectively needs to kill off half its clubs and find money for expansion

their failure to support past expansion clubs has lead to a tv deal down 30 percent

there’s no money in the English game

they kept promotion and relegation and it’s rearranging deck chairs on the titanic

an example was when they refused to give Toronto a cent from the tv deal but Leigh who replaced them got 1 million pounds

catalans have to pay away teams travel costs and a bond of 500k to play in the challenge cup

One day the Aussies could start their own comp In England France and Europe and it would be a huge success (by passing super league)

samoa tonga has to be every year

it’s not as if the English tests were well attended anyway

samoa v tonga would’ve sold out mt smart as would nz bs tonga

Simplistic as ever