Samoa and Scotland will square off this Saturday in a do-or-die clash at Barlow Park, with the winner going through to the quarterfinals and the loser bowing out.
Disappointing in their respective matches so far, both sides will head in to Saturday’s contest knowing that they need just one win to finish third in the group and qualify for the knockout rounds of the competition — putting behind them their previous results.
After copping a hammering from New Zealand last weekend, Scotland’s World Cup campaign was made even tougher with three players sent home for drinking — including their captain — meaning unwanted changes to the side for this week’s must-win game.
Samoa too have made changes, but it seems nothing more than squad rotation from Matt Parrish as he hopes to give several key players a break before a potential quarterfinal showdown against Australia, should they account for Lebanon as expected they would.
Pool B: Samoa vs. Scotland
MATCH DETAILS
Date — Saturday, November 11, 2017
Time — 5:15pm AEDT
Venue — Barlow Park, Cairns
LIVE STREAM AND TV INFORMATION
Live Stream — Channel 7’s https://7live.com.au/ (Australia only)
TV — Click here for a full country-by-country list of TV broadcasts.
TEAM LISTS
Samoa |
|
Scotland |
Young Tonumaipea |
1 |
Lewis Tierney |
Ricky Leutele |
2 |
Shane Toal |
Tim Lafai |
3 |
Ben Hellewell |
Joseph Leilua |
4 |
Lachlan Stein |
Matthew Wright |
5 |
Matthew Russell |
Jarome Luai |
6 |
Danny Addy |
Fa'amanu Brown |
7 |
Oscar Thomas |
Junior Paulo |
8 |
Luke Douglas (capt.) |
Jazz Tevaga |
9 |
Callum Phillips |
Herman Ese'ese |
10 |
Ben Kavanagh |
Joshua Papalii |
11 |
Frankie Mariano |
Frank Winterstein |
12 |
Dale Ferguson |
Bunty Afoa |
13 |
James Bell |
Pita Godinet |
14 |
Kane Bentley |
Joseph Paulo |
15 |
Brandan Wilkinson |
Leeson Ah Mau |
16 |
Andrew Bentley |
Sam Tagataese |
17 |
Jarred Anderson |
Reserves (SAM) — Frank Pritchard, Suaia Matagi, Ben Roberts, Ken Maumalo
Reserves (SCO) — Alex Walker, Will Oakes,David Scott, Kieran Moran
RLWC STANDINGS — POOL B
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
F/A |
Points |
New Zealand |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+98 |
4 |
Tonga |
2 |
2 |
0 |
+60 |
4 |
Samoa |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-44 |
0 |
Scotland |
2 |
0 |
2 |
-114 |
0 |
HISTORY
The two nations will face off for just the second time, with Samoa the 8-point victor in their only test match, winning 20-12 in 2000 at Edinburgh. Both sides will be desperate for a win, with the victor finishing third in the pool and progressing to the quarterfinals.
PLAYER TO FOLLOW — Joseph Leilua, Samoa
The barnstorming Canberra centre has had a relatively strong World Cup tournament so far — notching up 198m, 23 tackles and two try assists in two games — but has yet to truly showcase his game-breaking potential. While having a relatively quiet NRL season in 2017, Leilua has showed the ability to turn a game on its head with his raw strength and speed; look for him to have his best performance of the competition so far against a weakened Scotland side who will be without a number of players due to suspension.
PREDICTION
It wasn’t that long ago that Scotland earned a thrilling draw against New Zealand, but seemingly so much has changed since then for the Bravehearts. Disappointing in the tournament to date, Scotland’s slim hopes of progressing to the quarterfinals became almost obsolete with captain Danny Brough and two other players sent home for drinking, and it’s hard to see how they’ll win this one. Even with the likes of Frank Pritchard and Ben Roberts on the sidelines for Samoa, it should be a pretty simple win for Matt Parrish’s side here that keeps them alive in the World Cup. Samoa by 22.
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