England 26-27 Samoa: Shaun Wane's side suffer golden-point Rugby League World Cup semi-final defeat

England fell to a shock semi-final defeat as Samoa won a golden-point thriller to set up a meeting with Australia in their first World Cup final.

Stephen Crichton's drop-goal saw the England players slump to the ground after the sides could not be separated at the end of 80 minutes.

The host nation thrashed Samoa 60-6 in the tournament opener less than a month ago but Matt Parish's side exacted a sweet revenge at Emirates Stadium.

Stephen Crichton's second try had seen the Pacific Islanders lead 26-20 in a gripping finale before Herbie Farnworth's second try and a Tommy Makinson conversion took the contest into extra time.

Samoa's victory sees them become the first side other then Australia, New Zealand, England/Great Britain to reach the final of the tournament in the last 50 years.

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A crowd of 40,489 was at the home of Arsenal Football Club, well away from rugby league's traditional northern heartlands, largely expecting Shaun Wane's side to put on a display of dominance having swept aside all of their previous opponents.

But several uncharacteristic errors in both defence and attack saw them come undone against a ruthless Samoa side that showed plenty of resolve and were clinical in attack.

Tim Lafai's try was an early indicator of what was to come as the highly motivated Pacific Islanders took the game to England who fell behind for the first time in the tournament.

The 31-year-old Salford centre spent 2021 working as builder after being released by the Canterbury Bulldogs but he collected Jarome Luai's pass and evaded Kallum Watkins and Dom Young to cross in the left corner.

At times aggression spilled over, with Samoa captain Junior Paulo sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle on George Williams. And it was the Warrington Wolves half-back's darting run between tacklers that sent Whitehead over as the host nation responded.

England's vulnerable right edge was exposed for the second of three occasions as Ligi Sao's dummy saw him escape Watkins.

Yet the contest appeared to have swung back in England's favour when John Bateman's try saw the hosts regain the lead only to then be on the end of a superb Samoa team try as Crichton went over.

Farnworth's power dragged the hosts back within touching distance as he held off three tacklers and Makinson's conversion and penalty ensured a grandstand finish.

England fall short

England looked imperious in their quarter-final win over Papua New Guinea just a week ago but the concession of two first-half tries and the fragility of the previously formidable Young-Watkins axis suggested all was not well.

Young's fumbled catch and dart out of the defensive line contributed to Lafai's second try of the game, while Crichton's second of the match was courtesy of an interception from Victor Radley's pass with England in the ascendancy.

A lack of composure during England's attacking sets saw several misplaced passes come instead of the set routines that had served them so well previously.

While Watkins' failure to ground a good first-half chance was unfortunate, a late forward pass from captain Sam Tomkins saw them pay the ultimate price for their errors.

England: Tomkins, Young, Watkins, Farnworth, Makinson, Welsby, Williams, Burgess, McIlorum, Hill, Whitehead, Bateman, Radley.

Interchanges: Knowles, Thompson, Cooper, McMeeken.

Samoa: Suaalii, To'o, Crichton, Lafai, T. May, Luai, Milford, Hunt, Brown, J. Paulo, Sao, Su'a, Kaufusi.

Interchanges: Harris-Tavita, Papalii, Leniu, Tuilagi.

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