2024 Samoa rugby league tour of England
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The 2024 Samoa rugby league tour of England was a two-match tour by the Samoa national rugby league team to England in October and November 2024.[1][2]
| 2024 Samoa rugby league tour of England | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 27 October – 2 November 2024 | ||||
| Coach(es) | Ben Gardiner | ||||
| Top point scorer(s) | Junior Pauga (15) | ||||
| Top try scorer(s) | Deine Mariner (2) (3 each) | ||||
| Summary |
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| Total |
| ||||
| Opponent |
| ||||
 England |
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Background
Organisation
The 2024 Samoa tour of England was being discussed between the two nations following the conclusion of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in addition to the previous year's Tonga tour of England. The tour was all but confirmed on 3 August 2023, when International Rugby League announced their long-awaited international calendar following the cancellation of the 2025 Rugby League World Cup.[3][4] This initially did not happen with Samoa eventually declining their tour invitation on 9 November, in order to play in the returning Rugby League Pacific Championship (a competition which began in 2019 but never had a second edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic) for the 2024 edition.[5][6][7]
On 27 November, Samoa re-engaged talks about the potential test series,[8][9] and on 13 June 2024 the tour was confirmed, but with only a two-match test series (one short of a traditional tour),[1][2] with the hope that the reduced schedule would allow Samoa to compete in the 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships as well.[10][11]
In December 2024, International Rugby League Chairman Troy Grant revealed that the tour when ahead as a result of the Australian Rugby League Commission provided support to Samoa, with the Rugby League Samoa having reservations on the financial feasibility of the tour.[12]
Teams
The tour was Samoa's first tour to a European Rugby League nation, and only the second of a Pacific Island Nation, after Tonga's 2023 tour.[15]
The games were the sixth and seventh meetings of the two sides with England winning all previous encounters except for the most recent – the 2021 World Cup semi-final.
Upon the initial planning of the tour, Samoa were above England in the World Rankings (still 3rd and 4th), but a successful 2023 test series against Tonga for England and an unsuccessful 2023 Pacific Championships for Samoa flipped these rankings.
During the tour, Samoa were based at York Knights's York Community Stadium.[16]
Venues
| Wigan | Leeds |
|---|---|
| Brick Community Stadium | Headingley |
| Capacity: 25,138 | Capacity: 19,700 |
 |
 |
Squads
England
A 31 man England train-on squad was announced on 6 September 2024.[17] The final squad was announced on 16 October 2024.[18][19]
Samoa
The Samoa squad was announced on 9 October 2024.[20]
Matches
First test
The first test had an average television audience of 513,000, peaking at 682,000, equating to 7.2% of the audience share.[21]
Brick Community Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 15,137 Referee: Liam Moore (England) Touch judges: Marcus Griffiths (England), Cameron Worsley (England) Video referee: Jack Smith (England) Player of the Match: George Williams (England) |
| England | Position | Samoa | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
| Jack Welsby | 1 | 1 | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck | |
| Dom Young | 2 | 2 | Jeral Skelton | |
| Harry Newman | 3 | 3 | Izack Tago | |
| Herbie Farnworth | 4 | 4 | Junior Pauga | |
| Matty Ashton | 5 | 5 | Deine Mariner | |
| George Williams | 6 | 6 | Anthony Milford | |
| Harry Smith | 7 | 7 | Jarome Luai | |
| Ethan Havard | 8 | 8 | Francis Molo | |
| Daryl Clark | 9 | 9 | Jazz Tevaga | |
| Matty Lees | 10 | 10 | Terrell May | |
| Kai Pearce-Paul | 11 | 11 | Shawn Blore | |
| John Bateman | 12 | 12 | Jeremiah Nanai | |
| Victor Radley | 13 | 13 | John Asiata | |
| Mikey Lewis | 14 | 14 | Blaize Talagi | |
| Mike McMeeken | 15 | 15 | Luciano Leilua | |
| Morgan Knowles | 16 | 16 | Gordon Chan Kum Tong | |
| Tom Burgess | 17 | 17 | Lazarus Vaalepu | |
| Ben Currie | 18 | 18 | Keenan Palasia | |
| Shaun Wane | Coach | Ben Gardiner | ||
Second test
The second test match of the series was played at Headingley Stadium as a double header with an England vs Wales women's international test match being played beforehand.[22]
Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 16,068 Referee: Chris Kendall (England) Touch judges: Warren Turley (England), Mark Craven (England) Video referee: Ben Thaler (England) Player of the Match: Herbie Farnworth (England) |
| England | Position | Samoa | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
Jack Welsby  67' | 1 | 1 | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck | |
| Matty Ashton 31' | 2 | 2 | Jeral Skelton | |
| Harry Newman | 3 | 23 | Jake Tago 44' | |
| Herbie Farnworth 37', 54' | 4 | 4 | Junior Pauga  9', 46'  25' to 35' | |
| Liam Marshall 17' | 5 | 5 | Deine Mariner | |
| George Williams 28' | 6 | 6 | Blaize Talagi | |
| Harry Smith 5' (pen)', 18', 40', 56', 68' | 7 | 7 | Jarome Luai | |
Ethan Havard  18',  75' | 8 | 8 | Francis Molo 27', 68' | |
| Daryl Clark 59' | 9 | 9 | Jazz Tevaga 27' | |
| Matty Lees 32', 52' | 10 | 10 | Terrell May | |
| John Bateman | 11 | 11 | Shawn Blore 8' | |
| Junior Nsemba 65' | 12 | 12 | Jeremiah Nanai 73' | |
| Victor Radley 23', 61' | 13 | 13 | Luciano Leilua 51', 68' | |
| Mikey Lewis 59' | 14 | 14 | Simi Sasagi | |
| Morgan Knowles 23', 75' | 15 | 15 | Keenan Palasia 27' | |
| Mike McMeeken 32', 52', 65' | 16 | 16 | Gordon Chan Kum Tong 27' | |
| Luke Thompson 18' | 17 | 17 | Lazarus Vaalepu 51' | |
| Ben Currie | 18 | 18 | Anthony Milford | |
| Shaun Wane | Coach | Ben Gardiner | ||
Broadcasting
Both matches of the tour were broadcast locally live on BBC Sport in the UK.[23] For countries outside the UK and Ireland, the games were streamed on Super League+, with select countries also televising the event.[24]
| Region | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | BBC Two |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Pacific Islands | Digicel |
| United States and Caribbean | Fox Sports |
| Elsewhere | SuperLeague+ |