Australia 30-10 Samoa: Kangaroos claim third consecutive World Cup with hard-fought victory

Australia claimed a third consecutive World Cup with a hard-fought 30-10 victory over Samoa at Old Trafford.

While the Pacific Islanders enjoyed the backing of the 67,502 crowd, Mal Meninga's relentless side more than lived up to their billing as overwhelming favourites.

A superb defensive performance laid the foundations for the Kangaroos, who have now won the competition 12 times.

"We brought our best game tonight," Meninga said.

"We've had a long year but have been rewarded for effort tonight. What a way to finish our 2022 season."

After repelling some early Samoa pressure, Australia took a healthy 14-0 lead into the interval with tries from Latrell Mitchell, James Tedesco and Liam Martin.

And while they were temporarily reduced to 12 men when Angus Crichton was sin-binned for an infringement on Chanel Harris-Tavita, they were still able to withstand several Samoa breaks before going further ahead when Cameron Murray went over in the left corner.

Brian To'o's try briefly raised hopes of a fightback from Matt Parish's team, but they were quickly snuffed out as Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster cleverly combined to send Tedesco racing in on the angle into the left corner.

Stephen Crichton, the golden point hero against England in the semi-final, ensured a respectable scoreline for Samoa in their first World Cup final with a fine interception try for the second week running.

But it was not enough to prevent Australia from maintaining their stranglehold on the tournament as Mitchell went over in the closing moments to round off the scoring hours after the Jillaroos won the women's tournament for a record-equalling third time.

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Samoa head coach Parish said: "We're disappointed with the result but I couldn't be prouder of the effort and commitment to the cause. We played a champion team and just ran out of juice. We just couldn't quite get close enough to put pressure on but I'm really proud of this group. They kept trying until the end."

Australia's men came into the tournament not having played an international since 2019, largely because of Covid restrictions.

And Tedesco, the player of the match, said: "It is pretty unbelievable. This group of blokes came over here six or seven weeks ago and we've got such a special bond. Covid has killed us for three years, not being able to play for our country, but we came here early and got along straight away.

"We created that connection from the start and wanted to work hard for each other."

Man of the match James Tedesco scored two tries for Australia

Serial winners Australia prove too strong

The only surprise in yet another Australian success was that Josh Addo-Carr was unable to score what would have been a record 13th try of the tournament in the showpiece match.

However, he still played a key role for the green and golds, accelerating past four Samoan defenders to find his captain Tedesco supporting on the inside as Australia increased their lead after Mitchell had bundled over for the first try of the encounter.

And with a spring in their step and Samoa unable to make the most of some good early attacking positions, Australia clinically set about putting the final beyond their opponents' reach.

Addo-Carr said: "The record wasn't on my mind. My goal was to win the World Cup. We did it for everyone in Australia, for all our families. What a way to finish."

There was little let up in defence throughout and Meninga's team will leave England having conceded just 38 points over their six matches.

While much was made of the potential impact of Jarome Luai and Samoa's NRL contingent, they were largely nullified by Australia, who are simply serial winners when it comes to the World Cup.

And although 14 errors and a completion rate of just 68% suggests it was far from a flawless performance, they were ruthless and efficient when it counted.