Reece Walsh Scores a Hat-Trick as Australia Beat an Angry Samoa 44-12 to Set Up a World Cup Final Against the Kiwis
Reece Walsh scored his first international hat-trick as Australia beat Samoa 44-12 at Allianz Stadium on Sunday night and booked a World Cup final against New Zealand in Brisbane.
It was settled by half-time, at 26-2. What Samoa will remember is a try that was ruled out on the half-hour and a sin-bin just before the break.
Walsh’s night
Walsh celebrated his first try with a backflip. He exploded into a hole on the left edge between Ronald Volkman and Stephen Crichton, two minutes after the decision that took the life out of Samoa, NRL.com reported.
He also made a mistake. Early in the second half he dropped a Volkman bomb cold and Crichton scored from the scraps. Three minutes later Walsh took a short ball from Harry Grant and ran through Crichton for his second, and after Izack Tago’s try he finished a move that started in Australia’s own half to complete the hat-trick.
BBC Sport’s player of the match was Jacob Preston, who scored one try and set up Bradman Best’s first Test try just before half-time. Tom Dearden scored from a scrum, Tom Trbojevic got his eighth of the tournament and Jack Bostock his seventh. Cameron Munster kicked six goals.
Why Samoa were furious
The game started hot. Samoa’s Siva Tau became a stand-off, and Brian To’o leaned his forehead into the face of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, the Australia prop who played for Samoa in 2019.
On the half-hour Francis Manuleleua beat Walsh to a high ball and Crichton dived on it. That would have made it 16-6. The bunker ruled Manuleleua had knocked on, a call BBC Sport described as debatable. Spencer Leniu was then sin-binned for dissent towards referee Adam Gee after Best’s try.
Samoa did not help themselves. Australia’s first three tries came after Samoan errors or penalties, including a six-again when Crichton reached into the ruck, and BBC Sport’s verdict was that the damage was done mostly by Samoa themselves. It was Australia’s sixth win from six Tests against Samoa.
| Team | Tries | Goals | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Walsh 3, Dearden, Preston, Trbojevic, Best, Bostock | Munster 6 | 44 |
| Samoa | Crichton, Tago | Crichton 2 | 12 |
Australia v New Zealand, again
This is Australia’s 16th men’s World Cup final in a row, and they have won the last three titles. It is a rematch of the opening game, which Australia won 24-22 in Sydney, and of the finals of 2000, 2008 and 2013. The 2008 final, also at Suncorp Stadium, was the one the Kiwis won 34-20.
New Zealand got there by beating Tonga 34-10 on Saturday, with Kalyn Ponga back from a broken arm. The final is on Sunday 15 November.
All the results are on our World Cup table. Best’s try came in a week when his next contract is still being decided.
