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Samoa vs Scotland |
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2017 Rugby League World Cup, November 11 |
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Barlow Park, Cairns, QLD | ||
Samoa | Scotland | |
14 | SCORE | 14 |
3 | Tries | 2 |
1 | Conversions | 2 |
0 | Penalty Goals | 1 |
0 | Field Goals | 0 |
Samoa have survived an almighty scare in cairns, drawing 14 all against Scotland to book a place in the quarter-finals.
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Final score
Samoa 14
Scotland 14
Samoa and Scotland will fight it out for third place in Group B and a place in the quarter-finals against Australia at the Rugby League World Cup. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:15pm (AEDT).
Samoa has endured a tough start to the World Cup, suffering defeats to strong opposition in New Zealand and Tonga.
However, given the nature of the draw, Samoa will still seal a quarter-final berth if they defeat Scotland this afternoon, given that the first three teams in their group qualify for the last eight.
Samoa have toiled hard thus far, but lacked the overall class of both Tonga and New Zealand to go the extra mile and secure a win.
Of real concern for Samoa is their play in the halves. Ben Roberts and Joseph Paulo have played at the highest level in the NRL but just haven’t clicked as a combination this tournament.
Despite this, Samoa should be expected to account for Scotland this afternoon and approach an expected quarter-final against Australia with plenty of confidence.
Indeed Samoa’s opening two matches have been played against two of the perennial title contenders for the World Cup. If anything, Samoa have prepared well for a quarter-final showdown against Australia and should begin to flex their muscle this afternoon against the Scots.
Scotland meanwhile, have endured a very tough tournament to date, suffering heavy defeats to both Tonga and New Zealand. After testing the Kiwis in the opening eight minutes of last week’s contest, the Scots fell away as soon as they conceded the opening two tries in quick succession.
Despite that, they sit on zero points like Samoa and are in with a chance of qualification if they can win this afternoon. Doing it without Danny Brough will be a major difficulty though.
Indeed if Samoa are able to build that sort of momentum, then the island nation could rack up yet another score today.
Prediction
Samoa should win comfortably, but they need to develop combinations if they are any hope of challenging the Kangaroos in the quarter-finals. Josh Papalii, in particular, needs a big game for Samoa. He is a real X-factor but hasn’t been getting the service required to assert his presence up front.
If Papalii and company can build form, Samoa should beat Scotland and perhaps, maybe, achieve the impossible against the mighty Kangaroos.
Samoa by 40.
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