Thread for this Group B clash on Tuesday 12th November
5:30am (EDT)
4:30am (AEST)
Live on 7mate
France vs Samoa - 2013 World Cup @ MS3 Craven Park, Hull
Head to Head (1 Game as Western Samoa)
Played - 3 France - 1 Samoa - 2
In England
Played - 0 France - 0 Samoa - 0
World Cup Matches (1 Game as Western Samoa)
Played - 2 France - 0 Samoa - 2
France's Record in the World Cup
Played - 55 Won - 14 Drawn - 3 Lost - 38
France's Overall Test Record
Played - 411 Won - 164 Drawn - 18 Lost - 230
Samoa's Record in the World Cup (2 Games as Western Samoa in 1995)
Played - 11 Won - 6 Lost - 5
Samoa's Overall Test Record
Played - 21 Won - 10 Lost - 11
2013 WORLD CUP STATS
Metres Gained
France - 2,146m (12th in the 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 2,558m (6th in the 2013 RLWC)
Tries
France - 1 (WORST IN THE 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 12 (Equal 2nd in the 2013 RLWC) Line Breaks
France - 4 (Equal 11th in the 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 14 (2nd in the 2013 RLWC)
Tackle Breaks
France - 28 (EQUAL WORST IN THE 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 71 (2nd in the 2013 RLWC) Tackles
France - 647 (4th in the 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 487 (LEAST AMOUNT MADE IN THE 2013 RLWC) Missed Tackles
France - 47 (10th in the 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 60 (Equal 7th in the 2013 RLWC) Errors
France - 26 (Equal 4th in the 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 21 (Equal 7th in the 2013 RLWC)
40/20's
France - 1 (EQUAL BEST IN THE 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 1 (EQUAL BEST IN THE 2013 RLWC)
Yellow Cards
France - 0 (EQUAL BEST IN THE 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 0 (EQUAL BEST IN THE 2013 RLWC)
Red Cards
France - 0 (EQUAL BEST IN THE 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 0 (EQUAL BEST IN THE 2013 RLWC)
Penalties Recieved
France - 16 (EQUAL 6th in the 2013 RLWC) Samoa - 19 (EQUAL MOST IN THE 2013 RLWC)
Facts and Figures
* France are Ranked Number 4 in the RLIF Rankings
* Samoa are Ranked Number 8 in the RLIF Rankings
* In the 2 losses that France have suffered at the hands of Samoa they have lost big (56-10, 42-10)
* In those 2 games Samoa have held big time halftime leads as well (26-4, 24-0)
* The last Time these 2 teams played (42-10) Samoa had 7 different Try Scorers including NRL players Ben Te'o, George Carmont, Francis Meli, Frank Puletua, Ben Roberts and Matt Utai
* As with my stats in Knights games through out the year the Errors and Missed Tackles Stats are in reversed order, The higher your ranking the worse it is e.g France are ranked Equal 4th in Errors, This means they make the Equal fourth highest amount of errors out of the 14 teams competing at the 2013 RLWC
By Chris Kennedy
NRL.com
11:30am Wed 06th November, 2013
In-form Samoa fullback Anthony Milford has sounded a warning to the rest of the World Cup sides, insisting Samoa can “only get better” as the competition progresses.
A Samoa side brimming with NRL talent was far too good for Papua New Guinea on Monday night (UK time), with Milford starring in the 38-4 rout.
With Samoa now in the box seat to finish second in Group B and set up a likely quarter final against Fiji, giving them ample time to work on their combinations. If results go largely to plan from here there is every chance they will face off against Australia for a place in the final.
“We just tried to keep the foot on the pedal and keep a roll on but in that second half we kind of died off so next week we’ll be looking to bounce back and put in an 80-minute performance,” Milford said following the PNG game.
“We’re working really hard during the week; that 80-minute performance is what we need to work on and we’ll only get better as the comp goes on.”
Asked if he was happy with his own performance – a man-of-the-match effort that included 155 metres, five offloads, three line-breaks and an astonishing 14 tackle-breaks – Milford ominously said he still had “a lot of places where I could improve”.
“We’ll just have a look at the video and look at where we can improve but as I said: during the comp our team’s only going to get better, so I’m looking forward to it,” he added.
Milford said he was “looking forward to seeing the sun again” in France for the side’s final group game against the Tricolours, but wasn’t getting ahead of himself in terms of the result.
“We’ll just go about our business the way we do and try our best to get the win over there. We know it’s really tough but we’ll do all the preparation we can to secure that win,” he said.
By Ian Laybourn
AAP
12:39am Mon 11th November, 2013
France captain Olivier Elima is hoping to make home advantage count when his side meet Samoa in the final pool match of the World Cup in Perpignan.
Every member of coach Richard Agar's 19-man squad is either a past or present Catalan Dragons player and, therefore, is familiar with the Stade Gilbert Brutus, which will be packed to the rafters for the last Group B match on Monday.
Both teams are guaranteed places in the knockout stages but the losers in Perpignan will be faced with a quarter-final against England in Wigan, with the winners handed the easier tie against Fiji in Warrington.
The French effectively clinched their last-eight spot with an opening 9-8 win over Papua New Guinea, but Elima says they still have a point to prove and sees no better place to do it.
"People wrote us off from the start of the tournament, we have very much come in as underdogs," Elima said.
"We had a bad World Cup tournament in 2008 and we wanted to come into it this year and put that behind us.
"We have been training really well this week in Perpignan. It is good for everyone to be back at home. It is going to be fantastic to play such a big game in front of a home crowd.
Elima is acutely aware of the threat of Samoa, who have been improving with each game since being hammered 52-16 by England Knights in a warm-up fixture.
They staged a second-half rally to rattle the Kiwis and secured their quarter-final berth with a resounding 38-4 win over PNG.
"We have watched both of Samoa's games and they are a very strong side," Elima added.
"They are the kind of players who like to throw the ball about and you cannot rule them out until you have them on the floor tackled."
France and Samoa may have already qualified for the quarter-finals, but this is still a crucial game for both teams. New Zealand have wrapped up top spot in Group B after beating the winless Papua New Guinea, and this match will determine the runner-up for the group.
What's at stake? The winner here will take on relative lightweights Fiji in the sudden-death quarter-finals, the loser will have to face the might of England on their home turf.
Samoa have been the more convincing of the two sides so far in this World Cup, scoring 24 points against New Zealand in their first hit-out before thumping PNG 38-
4.
They scored seven tries in that game, with man-of-the-match Anthony Milford making a whopping 14 tackle breaks, providing five offloads and kicking five goals.
The French meanwhile were lucky to escape with a 9-8 win over Papua New Guinea – with the Kumuls missing what would have been a match-winning penalty goal in the dying moments – and were then flogged 48-0 by the Kiwis.
That match was played on French territory and they'll play at home here as well, but will it be enough to hold off the impressive Samoans?
Watch Out France
Samoa may been known for the raw power of their forward pack but they also boast a couple of the most dangerous backline stars at the World Cup in the form of Anthony Milford at fullback and Joey Leilua in the centres.
Both players have made 17 tackle busts from two games and are sure to cause some headaches for the French defence, with Leilua a constant threat on the left edge and Milford popping up in attack when he likes from fullback.
Will a France side that is low on NRL experience be able to handle two of the NRL's rising stars?
Watch Out Samoa
We identified five-eighth Thomas Bosc as the team's star at the start of the French campaign and he's rewarded our faith by scoring 89 per cent of his team's points so far in this campaign.
Granted, his team has only scored nine points in two games, but Bosc's playmaking skills and willingness to take on the line from five-eighth still poses a genuine threat for Samoa.
Bosc's Catalans Dragons teammate Morgan Escare is another player to watch, having scored 14 tries from the wing in the Super League this year.
Escare lines up at fullback for the national side, from where he made three tackle breaks against the Kumuls and two offloads against the Kiwis.
Ket Match-Up
The halfbacks. Ben Roberts has the easier job here up against William Barthau, who has been recalled for France at the expense of Theo Fagas after Fagas wore the No.7 during France's capitulation against New Zealand.
Barthau had a mixed game against Papua New Guinea – kicking the match-winning field-goal before conceding a penalty in front of his own posts that should have cost France the game. He'll need to conjure up some spark if the French are to exceed expectations here.
Roberts meanwhile simply needs to keep it simple behind a strong forward pack, and feed his wide men whenever possible.
The rocks-and-diamonds playmaker scored a runaway try and set up another against PNG and if he's on his game the Samoans should get the job done.
Televised
7mate – Live, Tuesday from 5.30am (NSW); 4.30am (Qld)
The Way We See It
France have hardly been convincing at this tournament while Samoa have impressed in both their games and should be the better team here.
The Samoans have quality players all over the park and the French defence could struggle to contain the natural flair of Milford.
Three players were put on report in a brutal World Cup clash between Samoa and France.
Samoa ground out a hard-fought 22-6 win over France in a bruising Pool B clash in Perpignan on Monday night to secure the runners-up spot and a Rugby League World Cup quarter-final against Fiji.
Defeat for France means they will be England's quarter-final opponents in Wigan on Saturday night and they will travel in good spirits after producing their best performance of the tournament.
The Samoans will battle Petero Civoniceva's men for the right to take on the winner of Australia's sudden-death clash with the US.
In-demand young gun Anthony Milford was named man of the match, but his side were held 6-6 at the interval after producing an undisciplined first half in which they had one player sin-binned and three others placed on report.
Wests Tigers forward Sauaso Sue was put on report for a second time in the second half and coach Matt Parish could be sweating on a series of disciplinary issues before he names his team for the trip to Warrington, where his side thrilled the crowd with a second-half fightback against New Zealand in their opening game.
Samoa took the lead after only three minutes with a try from right winger Daniel Vidot but the first half will best be remembered for the ferocious hits from the Samoans, many of them illegal, which infuriated the 11,576 crowd at Stade Gilbert Brutus.
Referee Henry Perenara, who struggled to control of the game, showed leniency in placing St George Illawarra prop Leeson Ah Mau and Sue on report after unfortunate halfback William Barthau was flattened off the ball twice in as many minutes inside the first quarter.
Perenara eventually produced a yellow card after substitute Mose Masoe, who has departed the Penrith Panthers and will join St Helens for the 2014 UK Super League season, caught lock Thomas Bosc late with a shoulder charge.
The French took advantage of the extra man to draw level on 31 minutes thanks to fullback Morgan Escare.
Bosc's goal levelled the scores but Parramatta's Ben Roberts, who became the third Samoan player to be put on report for a spear tackle, fluffed a glorious try-scoring chance just before the break.
Milford weaved a way through the French defence to cross within five minutes of the restart and his second conversion made it 12-6.
France played with spirit but conceded again when centre Joseph Leulua's offload created a try for five-eighth Pita Godinet on the hour.
With their discipline under control, Samoa were clearly the better team and they wrapped up the scoring with a fourth try through substitute Junior Moors six minutes from the end, with Milford kicking his third goal.
By Matt Encarnacion
NRL.com
9:03am Tue 12th November, 2013
All the big moments from Samoa's feisty win over France in the final match of the group stage.
4th minute: And Samoa are off and running. Joey Leilua with a smart tipoff for Daniel Vidot for a try down the right side. Anthony Milford nails the sideline conversion for an early 6-0 lead.
13th minute: What happened there? William Barthau is left writhing in agony after a late hit from Leeson Ah Mau. Referee Henry Perenara puts him on report.
14th minute: Whoa! Another massive hit on Barthau, this time by Sauaso Sue, and there's a fair bit of whiplash there. The French No. 7 comes off with a free interchange, and Sue is also on report. The sold out Stade Gilbert crowd is up in arms.
22nd minute: Where do we start here? Thomas Bosc goes down after a legal hit from Masoe, Tony Gigot gets the ball and puts in a grubber to the corner where there's not a Samoan jumper in sight but there's a mix-up between Frederic Vaccari and Vincent Duport and neither of them can put the ball down! Milford runs down field with it and gets some rough treatment after a tackle. The French are ropeable!
25th minute: Samoa on the attack, but Sebastien Raguin comes up with a huge tackle on Iosia Soliola, forcing the ball loose. And his team-mates race in from everywhere to high five.
26th minute: And now it's on! Yet another late hit by Masoe on Bosc and the French are really upset. The replay shows the hit wasn't that bad, but Masoe is eventually sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements.
31st minute: Try to Morgan Escare! The Tricolours go down the blind side and execute a simple three on two situation. Bosc puts it over and it's 6-all.
39th minute: More over-aggression by Samoa, with Ben Roberts put on report for lifting Jean-Phillippe Baile past the horizontal.
40th minute: And it's been a couple of bad minutes here for the Samoan halfback. Roberts bombs a certain try, going himself with two free men on his left. He eventually tries to get the pass out, but it ends up going three metres forward.
41st minute: In a good sign for the French, Barthau runs out onto the field with the team in the second half.
46th minute: Too good there from Milford. He gets an offload from Junior Moors and then uses his footwork to beat five would-be defenders and score almost untouched under the posts. He converts his own try and Samoa now lead 12-6.
57th minute: And France have responded! Or have they? A right side shift sees Baile go over the line, there's an attempted strip from Winterstein, and both players get up celebrating. The video referee gets called in, and replays show Winterstein stripped it out.
58th minute: Sauaso Sue rushes out of the line to put pressure on Barthau but is beaten and ends up tripping him. Sue goes on report and Barthau comes off not long after with what appears to be an ankle injury.
61st minute: Leilua sets up yet another try. The in-form centre shrugs off a few defenders, offloads to Pita Godinet who stretches out to score. Milford misses, but the lead is now 16-6.
63rd minute: And Samoa almost go back-to-back. Masoe continues to wreak havoc mid-field, offloads to Milford, but the fullback can't hold onto it.
64th minute: Escare is away down the right touchline but Roberts comes up with a try-saving ankle tap.
67th minute: And now the match-sealing try comes from Winterstein, latching onto a smart grubber by Roberts. Wait a second, the video referee rules no try because Roberts ran behind a decoy runner before putting the ball in. Penalty Samoa.
73rd minute: Oh no! France just needed to catch and pass there but Raguin steps off his left and heads for the line only to be tackled inches from the tryline by Ah Mau.
75th minute: And there's the try that seals the match. Godinet jumps out of dummy half and finds Junior Moors who crashes over beside the posts. Milford converts and the game ends soon after, with Samoa winning a brutal affair, 22-6.
1. Morgan Escare: Dangerous with every touch of the ball. Showed good footwork to finish off France's only try, broke seven tackles and made two line breaks. A star of the future. 7.5
2. Frederic Vaccari: Bombed a certain try in the first half, but was otherwise invisible. 4.5
3. Jean-Phillippe Baile: Almost scored the equaliser in the second half, but did come up with three line breaks. Strong performance, making 89 metres in total, including a run that set up Escare's try. 7
4. Vincent Duport: Was just as responsible as Vaccari for screwing up a first-half try, and was asked to do plenty of work in defence. 5.5
5. Clint Greenshields: Made plenty of runs from deep inside his own end in the first half, finishing the game with 130 metres and three line breaks. Good effort. 6.5
6. Thomas Bosc: Wore some brutal hits, but never shied away from running the ball to the line. A brave performance, although he just couldn't find a way to get his team past the Samoan defence. 6.5
7. William Barthau: Copped some late hits too, and the replays of his whiplash from the Sauaso Sue tackle made everyone look away. Courageously came on in the second half, but came off again after getting tripped late in the game. 6.5
8. Jamal Fakir: Ran the ball strongly and tackled hard, and showed some muscle when Samoa turned it on in the first half. But faded as the game went on. 6
9. Eloi Pelissier: One of France's best. Found plenty of opportunities around the ruck, quickly getting the French up-field. Still came up with three errors, but was certainly creative. Made a team-high 36 tackles, too. 7.5
10. Remi Casty: Powerhouse effort from the Roosters 2014 signings. Led the team with 130 metres from a team-high 17 carries, and made 35 tackles. A machine. 7.5
11. Kevin Larroyer: Committed a couple of errors and got pinged twice for ruck infringements. Though he worked tirelessly on the right edge, he wouldn't have been happy with that one. 6
12. Sebastien Raguin: Bombed a certain try late in the game, but was otherwise solid on the left edge with a few handy charges. Also made 28 tackles. 6.5
13. Gregory Mounis: Penalised for a high hit and then penalised again for backchatting. It was a tough night out for the lock, who had to constantly tackle the bigger Samoan pack. 5.5
14. Tony Gigot: Came on after Barthau's left in a daze. Had a couple of nice touches, but was smothered by a determined Samoan defence. 6
15. Antoni Maria: Saw little action, finishing the game with just 39 metres and 13 tackles. 5
16. Benjamin Garcia: Only saw second half action and struggled to match it with the bigger Samoan forwards. Ran the ball just five times and made nine tackles. 4.5
17. Mickael Simon: Came on after 20 minutes and made a handful of inspiring runs. The big fella was the best off the bench for the home side, making 87 metres from 12 runs. 7
SAMOA
1. Anthony Milford: The ultimate game-breaker. Came up with a supreme individual effort midway through the second half to assert his side's dominance in possession. Just too much class. 8
2. Antonio Winterstein: Came up with an important strip inside his own in-goal to stop a certain French try, but wouldn't have been happy with a couple of errors. 6.5
3. Tim Lafai: Visibly frustrated by his lack of ball on the outside. Had few opportunities but made the most of the few he had. 6
4. Joey Leilua: Another damaging performance on Samoa's right edge, setting up two tries and two line breaks. One of the best centres in the tournament and a genuine x-factor in the quarter-finals. 8
5. Daniel Vidot: Always went looking for work and was aggressive with the ball, making 136 metres from 14 runs. 7
14. Tony Puletua: A surprise promotion into the run-on side, carrying the ball with vigour. His experience will be invaluable in the back end, particularly with injuries and possible suspensions. Did concede three penalties. 6
7. Ben Roberts: Bombed two certain tries, one before halftime and one after. Had four errors in the first half alone (finished with five), but did come up with a try-saving ankle-tap on a flying Escare, and showed good vision for the final try. 6
8. David Fa'alogo: Ran the ball just six times and made 14 tackles in a quiet performance. 5.5
9. Michael Sio: Started the game solidly, but came off for Godinet and never returned. 5.5
10. Suaia Matagi: Typically aggressive performance from the front-rower, coming up with some big hits in defence and strong carries with the ball. Didn't let his team down with 87 metres and 22 tackles. 7.5
11. Iosia Soliola: Inspirational defensive performance from the captain, coming up with two outstanding try-saving tackles close to the line. Samoa don't win without this effort from their leader. 7.5
12. Leeson Ah Mau: Put on report for a late hit on Barthau, but was otherwise one of Samoa's best forwards, making a team-high 156 metres and four tackle busts. 7
13. Sauaso Sue: Will be in trouble for his late hit on Barthau and had an unhappy night in general, being penalised three times. Might need to tone down the aggression. 5
6. Pita Godinet: Changed the flow of the game with his introduction in the second half, finding good rhythm with his forwards when he came on. Set up a try and scored a neat one himself too. 7
15. Junior Moors: Offloaded four times, set up a line break and busted three tackles. The big fella certainly has some skills to go with that brawn. A real weapon for the coach off the bench. 7
16. Mark Taufua: Made a couple of strong carries but wasn't used a whole lot. 5.5
17. Mose Masoe: Was the player sin-binned for a lot of late hits in the lead up to his 'chest bump', but was otherwise his brutal self. Has to be the leading forward in the tournament in putting defenders back on their bums.
He has been their main man for quite a few years now, I imagine he is getting on a bit in age now. Escare is the new gun to come out of France. He is lightening quick.
