Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

England head into Saturday's Rugby League World Cup semi-final meeting with Samoa hoping to take another step towards ending 50 years of hurt.

The last-four encounter at Emirates Stadium comes a day after the 50th anniversary of Great Britain's success in 1972, the last time a British side won the Rugby League World Cup.

England have excelled in defence and excited in attack, winning all four of their games in convincing fashion after coming into the delayed 2021 tournament as contenders, but not favourites.

Their huge 60-6 victory over an undercooked Samoa in the tournament's curtain-raiser set the tone.

And Shaun Wane's team has scored 242 points, while conceding just 34 as their NRL-based contingent, rejuvenated veterans and dynamic wingers have come to the fore.

Image source, Getty Images

England's semi-final opponents Samoa have "improved massively" since being thrashed by the hosts in the World Cup's opening game, said Sam Tomkins earlier this week.

Tomkins watched Samoa's 20-18 quarter-final win over Tonga in Warrington on Sunday while working as a BBC pundit.

England, runners-up in 2017, are aiming to reach a second successive final.

They ran in 10 tries in a 60-6 win over Samoa in Newcastle on 15 October, but the England captain said: "We won't be looking back at that first week."

He continued: "We played a Samoa side that played really poorly, they had some injuries, and since then they've improved massively.

"The week leading into that first game, all we got told was how good Samoa were and we concentrated on ourselves. This week we'll get told they'll want revenge, there's a massive gap and we're now the favourites. Well, we'll not listen to that either and we're going to focus on ourselves.

"The luxury going into this was Samoa and Tonga both cause very similar threats so we knew what our gameplan is going to be next week before this game kicked off."

Image source, Getty Images

Dave Woods
BBC Rugby League correspondent

England's outstanding win over Samoa just four weeks ago, and their impressive form since, has made them the headline act of this World Cup so far.

But as the final gets closer, so the hurdles get higher. It will be a very different Samoa side they face, in terms of mentality and preparedness.

England are favourites, undoubtedly. Expectations of them making the final are justifiably sky-high.

But Samoa have been growing and strengthening, and we can revert back to the lines we were using before the tournament began. They are a team of extraordinary talents, many of them passing the quality test every week in the NRL.

Image source, Getty Images

England second-row forward Mike McMeeken: "We're not that type of group that will be complacent and write a team off before we even step onto the field. Whoever is writing them off I don't think has watched them.

"[The opening game] was maybe four weeks ago, but it feels like seven, eight weeks ago. A lot has happened in a small amount of time, and as you see with the Samoan side they've got their bearings and have put some real good performances in.

"They're rightfully in the position that they are to play against us."

Willie Poching
Former Samoa captain on BBC One

Samoa have come into the competition cold. A few of them had just come in from a Grand Final and not had long in terms of preparation.

But what they've done in the in between time has put them in a confident space mentally.

They're coming into this game with a lot of confidence. I'm immensely proud of how far they've come.

Image source, Getty Images

Samoa captain Junior Paulo is playing in today's World Cup semi-final after successfully appealing against a one-match ban.

The Parramatta Eels front row made contact with David Fifita's face after leading with his forearm in a carry during Sunday's 20-18 win over Tonga.

He had initially been given a one-game ban for a striking offence on Monday.

An independent judiciary tribunal overturned his ban at a hearing on Tuesday night.

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at Emirates Stadium

St Helens winger Tommy Makinson has showcased his superb ability to ground, convert and offload from the most unlikely of positions while Newcastle Knights wing Dom Young has been a revelation on the opposite side.

The form of both has kept England's record try scorer Ryan Hall, who has scored four tries in two starts, largely confined to the role of understudy.

Young, who left Huddersfield in 2019 because of a lack of opportunities, has enhanced his burgeoning reputation with nine tries so far to leave him two behind Australia's Josh Addo-Carr as the competition's top try scorer.

Makinson, who spent time on loan at Rochdale Hornets and Whitehaven earlier in his career, made history against PNG when he became the first player to score five tries for England in one match, taking his tally for the tournament to seven.

I had a rare Sunday in front of the telly watching sport. I watched the Samoa-Tonga game and then Liverpool-Tottenham in the football.

Samoa-Tonga was a tough old game and it's so good for the sport to see two nations like that in front of a massive crowd at Warrington.

The face-off with the Sipi Tau and the Siva Tau was unreal to watch. It was brilliant, and the game didn't disappoint either. There was so little between both teams.

We know Samoa will be a different animal in our semi-final, and will be wounded by the way they performed against us in that opening game when we thrashed them 60-6. They will definitely be looking for payback.

We'll prepare as we have done throughout the tournament. We won't be taking them lightly at all.

I've ticked off some decent grounds in this World Cup, and this weekend hopefully will be another amazing stadium with Arsenal's Emirates.

It's big for rugby league and for us players to play in events like this at stadiums like this is superb.

Hopefully the England fans can continue their magnificent support and get as many people down to London as they can. The backing we've had has been awesome and running out to a big roar like we've had at every game so far always inspires us as a team.

Dave Woods
BBC Rugby League correspondent

Both sides have the talented backs to make the most of momentum and space, but the right to run is earned by the big men in the middle and England have some of the best.

Tom Burgess and Chris Hill are in the destructive form of their lives. When it comes to choosing the team of the men's tournament, they will both be right in contention.

Loose forward Victor Radley has been terrific, a five-star inclusion in his first England campaign. And at hooker, Michael McIlorum is as tough as they come.

What we also know for certain is that, under Shaun Wane's direction, this is a pack that will bring raw energy and a front-foot attitude to any match they play.

On the back of any wins down the middle, this England team has shown that it has world-class backs that can take advantage and convert position into points.

It might come down to who holds their nerve the best.

BBC One

We're live on BBC One. You can also stream our coverage if you're in the UK by clicking the play icon at the top of this page. Get it on.

With prop Chris Hill starting, he will move to second on the all-time list of World Cup appearances with 16.

Hill, who turned 35 last week, broke John Atkinson, Roger Millward and George Nicholls' British record of 14 in the quarter-final against PNG to go level with former Australia international Bob Fulton on 15.

Former hooker Cameron Smith holds the record with 17 appearances across the 2008, 2013 and 2017 World Cups, captaining Australia to victory in the past two tournaments.

Image source, Getty Images

It's time to make history lads.

Team news on the way.

Image source, Getty Images

Yesterday Australia edged out New Zealand in a thriller in Leeds.

Who will join them in the final of the men's Rugby League World Cup, England or Samoa?