Samoa kicked off their 2026 Rugby League World Cup campaign with a strong 78-4 win over France at the CommBank Stadium in Sydney on Friday night.
Toa Samoa scored 14 tries in the process, four through replacement winger Sualauvi Fa’alogo, and 22 points through the boots of Stephen Crichton, who kicked 11 goals.
Toa Samoa players showed a lot of emotions as their national anthem was sung and the Siva Tau battle challenge was laid down before kick-off.
And it took them just three minutes to get on the board with Deine Mariner running untouched out wide as the French defensive pattern was left wanting.
In the end the Blues of Samoa showed their fans and the world they are serious contenders, even though France was not as strong as many would have hoped for.
Co-captain and hard running forward Junior Paulo thanked the fans after the game, adding they are the reason the players do what they do.
“It’s awesome to see the way they turn up,” Paulo told Seven post match.
“It means everything to us.
“This is the reason why we play for our nation. To turn up here and see the crowd it means the world to us.
“We gotta dig deep out there; they are the reason.”
Head coach Ben Gardiner told the players at halftime they needed to hang on to the ball longer, after their play had dropped heading into the last 10 minutes of the first 40.
Toa Samoa led 18-0 by the 10th minute mark, with two more touchdowns through Benaiah Ioelu in the sixth minute and Jermaine McEwen, in the eighth, as the team dominated play early.
Crichton kicked all three conversions for the 18-0 lead.
In the end they ran up 13 tries, with replacement winger Sualauvi Fa’alogo claiming four on the night.
Fa’alogo replaced Mariner early in the first half after the first try-scorer of the night had to leave the field after he pulled his hamstring.
Luai, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Tabuai-Fidow, Brian To’o and Crichton combined to run hard against the French.
Up front, co-captain Paulo, Connelly Lemuelu, Jermaine McEwen and Francis Manuleleua were on fire, gaining valuable yards and territory every time they had the ball in hand.
Luai was the mastermind, with Harris-Tavita being the other option to command play.
Fa’alogo claimed his first try in Toa Samoa colours after the 10th minute before Tabuai-Fidow got his name on the score sheet.
France had their first visit into the Samoan territory in the 23rd minute but dummy-half Benjamin Garcia passed the ball forward 10 metres from the Samoan line and gave away the team’s first real momentum.
But they got their first points on the board when Garcia sent the ball right close to the Samoan line, which saw Louis Grossemy finishing with a try in the corner in the 24th minute.
That was after a good defensive set inside their own 20-metre line won them a penalty and the ensuing sets saw them get a second penalty 10 metres out from the Samoan tryline.
The try seemed to have lifted the French, as they forced the Samoans into errors and put them under pressure a few times.
That also saw a drop in the Samoans’ game as they dropped passes and knocked the ball on a few times.
Fa’alogo grabbed his second try in the 37th minute after some straight-up-the-middle runs by the forwards and Crichton slammed his conversion from out wide through the uprights, sending Samoa into a 34-4 lead at halftime.
The second 40
Gardiner’s pep talk at halftime fired the Samoans back into action in the second spell.
He told Seven before resumption of play that the side needed to keep the ball and work on their game.
Crichton got Samoa’s seventh try, two and half minutes after the restart, before Francis Manuleleua got his name on the board too.
Fa’alogo got Samoa’s ninth try and his third for the night, running on to another Luai long pass, with 15 minutes to go, before adding his fourth some minutes later.
Warriors playmaker Tavita was on hand to touch down between the posts after another Luai show of his deft footwork, before centre Izack Tago managed to get a try to his name with eight minutes to go, with Crichton adding his ninth conversion, as Samoa went further up to 66-4.
Big forward Francis Molo, who previously played for the Cook Islands, powered his way over the French line for Samoa’s 70th point in the game.
Crichton kicked his 10th conversion, and Samoa went up 72-4.
It was Ioelu who scored Samoa’s 14th try in the dying seconds of the game after he jumped high to collect the ball that had bounced off the upright, from Crichton’s attempted penalty kick.
Crichton kicked his 11th goal as Samoa won 78-4 to kick off their campaign.
