England V Samoa, may 2017

[paulmac]

I'd have Tonga play Cook Is as part of the Pacific double header,PNG v Fiji in PNG as a test run for the WC & Italy vs Lebanon at either Leichardt or Belmore.

 

[Pommy]

Are we expecting England vs Samoa to be in Sydney? Does anyone know where the majority of the Samoan community is in Australia?

 

[roughyedspud]

samoans turned out in big numbers in brisbane and the gold coast..but i suspect it'll be in sydney,probably out west at penrith..or parra if they've not knocked it down yet?

 

[supaman]

Playing against Tonga every year is awesome but having a chance to play against a tier 1 nation is very rare in rugby league... So this is awesome news for Samoa... What's gonna be even more interesting is whether Bennett will stop Anthony Milford play for Samoa in that test... With the new eligibility law its gonna be interesting what team Samoa's going to pick

 

[adamkungl]

^ Yup.
This is a good thing for Samoa, they'll get a lot more out of it than playing Tonga, who they'll face in the group stages of the WC anyway.
Hopefully a Pacific Cup series gets lined up for 2018-2020 though.

 

[jason1359]

I'll be betting on Samoa to win

 

[supaman]

^ Yeah agree...
Samoa should be the favourites because of the NRL players that are gonna dominate that team... Especially in the halves... If selection go there way because players missed selection for Australia or Nz like they did this year this could be the Samoan team they pick to face England...
1- Tim Simona
2- David Nofoaluma
3- Krisnan Inu
4- Joey Leilua
5- Antonio Winterstien
6- Anthony Milford
7- Nu Brown
8- Ben Matulino
9- Thomas Leuluai- He's heading to the super league next year kiwi's don't really pick players once they move over the ditch...
10- Junior Paulo
11- Iosia Soliola
12- Frank Pritchard
13- Josh McGuire

14- Sam Kasiano
15- Mose Masoe
16- Sauaso Sue
17- Carlos Tuimavave

 

[adamkungl]

lol plz England will beat them comfortably

 

[supaman]

I wouldn't say comfortably England struggled to beat Samoa in the four nation... But it really depends on what team gets picked depending on the clubs releasing players... Can't wait for this game tho it's a good game for both teams before the world cup

 

[roughyedspud]

We didn't struggle at all,we where never in danger of losing.....the kiwis on the other hand struggled

 

[RedVee]

Campbelltown Stadium could be an option also. A lot of Samoans live in the area.

 

[paulmac]

We didn't struggle at all,we where never in danger of losing.....the kiwis on the other hand struggled

I was at that game,trust me you guys struggled.From memory there was only 6 points in it.

 

[paulmac]

Campbelltown Stadium could be an option also. A lot of Samoans live in the area.

Personally I'd play this game in Perth.Chance to promote the RLWC,less travel for the UK based players,later time slot in Aus means a more favourable time for the BBC.
I would host the Pacific double header (PNG v Fiji & Tonga v Cook Is) at either Penrith,Campbelltown or Redcliffe.

 

[adamkungl]

I'd like to see Pacific teams actually playing at home, even if it is only once a year.

England too, for that matter. The only disappointing part of an England v Samoa game for me is that neither team is playing in front of their own home crowd in Sydney or Perth.

If I was preparing a WC team i'd want more than 1 game leading in too. England should have a crack at Wales and Scotland in the lead up.

 

[paulmac]

I'd like to see Pacific teams actually playing at home, even if it is only once a year.

England too, for that matter. The only disappointing part of an England v Samoa game for me is that neither team is playing in front of their own home crowd in Sydney or Perth.

If I was preparing a WC team i'd want more than 1 game leading in too. England should have a crack at Wales and Scotland in the lead up.

They should play a game v France in France on Bastille Day using just their ESL players

 

[jason1359]

We didn't struggle at all,we where never in danger of losing.....the kiwis on the other hand struggled

For wat I remember it was a 6 point win to England they struggled

 

[kiwileaguefan]

We didn't struggle at all,we where never in danger of losing.....the kiwis on the other hand struggled

From the guardian:

'But Matt Parish’s freewheeling, passionate Samoans led England 10-6 and 22-20 before tries by the Tomkins brothers, Joel and Sam, saved the day.'

Such a shame Samoa hasnt played the big three since that tournament....

 

[Pommy]

Campbelltown Stadium could be an option also. A lot of Samoans live in the area.

This is what I'm hoping for nice and close to home (for me) and a good sized Samoan community. Hope England can promote it well to the masses of Poms in the city as well.

 

[RedVee]

This is what I'm hoping for nice and close to home (for me) and a good sized Samoan community. Hope England can promote it well to the masses of Poms in the city as well.

Close to me also

 

[supaman]

As much as I love the island nations playing home it wouldn't really help financial wise and wouldn't get them that much exposure to the world... If you want them to play close to home like play them in Auckland... I'm surprised the Samoa vs Tonga world cup game is not in Auckland... Thought that was pretty obvious... Rugby union world cup in Auckland Samoa played Fiji and it was sold out... So Auckland is the closest thing to home and it has the highest Polynesian population in the world