It is another win for New Zealand and another disappointing loss for Samoa in the Four Nations.
Samoa can hold their heads high after backing up their impressive performance against England last weekend with another strong effort today.
New Zealand won’t be happy that it came so close, but they will remain the competition favourites all the same.
FINAL SCORE:
New Zealand 14
Samoa 12
The Four Nations continues with New Zealand hosting Samoa in what should be a highly entertaining affair. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 2:00pm (AEDT).
Fresh off an 18-point victory over Australia, New Zealand will go a long way to clinching a place in the Four Nations final with a win over Samoa.
Samoa though will prove no pushovers, as evidenced by their strong performance against England last week.
The English were pushed big time before eventually securing a 32-26 victory. The Samoans certainly have enough talent at their disposal to cause trouble if the Kiwis turn up with any complacency.
Samoan wingers Daniel Vidot and Antonio Winterstein can be lethal on their day if given space out wide to attack. Storm half Ben Roberts is another who can put opposition defences in two minds. Roberts is a livewire at his best and should keep the Kiwi defence honest.
New Zealand meanwhile are full of confidence following an overdue victory over Australia. The performance of the Kiwi pack in particular was awesome, with Kevin Proctor, Jason Taumalolo, Jesse Bromwich and Lewis Brown all firing.
With Issac Luke due back in the side, New Zealand’s pack will only get stronger. Overall there seems to be a solid balance throughout the Kiwi starting 17 and this should serve them well.
Halves Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson produced composed performances against Australia and will once again look to maintain order in attack.
To ensure victory, New Zealand have to show Samoa respect and win the arm wrestle before going wide. If the Kiwi pack manages to replicate the effort they showed against the Kangaroos, New Zealand should win.
New Zealand by 14.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 2:00pm (AEDT).
If you are following the action live, be sure to share your thoughts on the match in the comments below.
Matt
Guest
I wonder if a combined Pacific Islands XIII team could be the fourth team in the Four Nations from now on? The current qualification could be for a possible fifth nation instead? (PNG, France, Wales, Ireland etc...) The Pacific Islands XIII could also be used so that test eligibility for Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Cook Islands could be unaffected.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
That would suck.
cedric
Guest
ref was average, kiwis not given 2 trys, what's with that. Couldn't they have come back to Bromichs try, everyone saw the replay on the screen!!!!! And the shepard, it was good acting by the Samoan player though!!!! Gotta say, good game and hope the Samoans rattle the Roos' cage!!!
brisvegas
Guest
Alex did that include the Kiwi try under the posts that the Kiwi ref didn't even see? Mate there were poor calls for both sides and can't understand the 1 ref approach.
brisvegas
Guest
Alex did that include the Kiwi try under the posts that the Kiwi ref didn't even see? Mate there were poor calls for both sides and can't understand the 1 ref approach.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
That's interesting that the Big 3 get the same. Qualifying for this tournament, I would expect that the Samoan players would receive the same, or similar, payments. Surely that would act as a further incentive of sorts for the qualifying matches for such tournaments. The RLIF has to find ways of encouraging lower tiered talent to stick with their nations.
Boomshanka
Guest
Ah-em.. The final is to be played in Wellington Funny i hold a similar cynicism about the NRL in general as the final is always held in Sydney.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
They looked even worse than the Kiwis against Samoa.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
The cynic in me says that the final is being played in Auckland so NZ will be one of the teams in the final.
Muzz
Guest
Samoans get a show bag.
Bluebag
Guest
Reckon the gap between the Roos and other nations is closing. Tonga and Fiji aren't too far behind Samoa and PNG will get better, especially with a team in the Qld Cup. There is also some good work going on in the northern hemisphere - if we ever get our act together internationally the game will have a much bigger footprint globally. We don't have to boast that we will wipe out all other codes but we can grow and prosper. Look at the quality of this tournament, on the back of the last two RLWC events!
Alan
Roar Guru
Apologies to all for sudden stop in live blogging from my part. Severe Storms hit my area and a blackout occured as a result throughout the Sydney region. Just got power back now. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Mike from Tari
Guest
How stupid are BenRoberts & Josh Mcguire, Roberts gets the ball passed to him by the Kiwis & he tries to pass it, but instead drops it backwards, Ref says he knocked it on, McGuire 2 minutes later instead of putting Nightingale straight on the deck, lifts him up in the air, nightingale passes the ball & the Kiwis score the match winner.
Basil B'borgnay
Guest
did you read it in your big book of 'How to hate Ockers'?
James
Guest
what a game. hopefully Samoa can knock off Australia next week to come third.
Kavvy
Guest
So good to see Samoa being so competitive in this tournament so far, really earning that #4 spot. Good for the game
djcooper
Roar Guru
Fantastic game and great to hear Voss calling it. Wouldn't it be great if Samoa could hold onto their players and not have guys be deemed ineligible after pledging allegiance to NSW or QLD.
Johnno
Guest
@Slieman Azizi I think the "Big 3" all get the same now under the new players agreement, as for the rest I reckon they get the scraps.
Bluebag
Guest
What an outstanding game of football. It just goes to show the potential of the game at the international level
Johnno
Guest
2 weeks in a row Samoa has been diddled by the ref, just like rugby union.