Another very enjoyable game. If the Samoan Stand off had kept hold of the ball it could have been a famous victory.

Puts a little bit of perspective on England's result last week with people saying we should have won more convincingly.Samoa are a good side and have more than proved they are worthy of mixing it with the top nations and it needs to happen more on this evidence.

Number 1 on Samoa's to do list must be to find someone who can kick a bloody goal.

Hope they do the Aussies next week!

Your predictions don't get any better do they. I'd stick to the weather forecasting

A gypsy fortune teller would be more likely to predict the outcome of a rugby league game than this comedian.

For those that recorded it on Sky+ on premier the recording cuts short with 5 minutes left in the game. Sigh

It's essential that England at least keep the game close now tomorrow to protect the points difference.

A win would probably be my favourite ever rugby league moment but at least we'll still be in there fighting should we get pipped. Our result last week now looks a good one although I'm sure some people will find a way to put a negative spin on that verses a hugely positive one for the Kiwis today.

Each side -- New Zealand and Samoa -- was stronger in defences than last week. There were three tries each, unlike last week, when each side scored five tries. Yet the attack was spectacular on both sides, with Joseph Leilua the standout. Once again, however, Samoa lost because of goal kicking.

England is definitely competitive, but it has to mark up in defence against Australia if it is to win.

I presume it was cooler then last week? That will have helped the defences. They're obviously match ready now as well so they like us tomorrow should be better.

I just want to see us be aggressive tomorrow and throw everything in to it. They won't get an opportunity like this again for a long while IMO and it would be desperately sad to see them look a nervous rabble who still thinks this Aussie side is made up of 17 super humans!

Just finished watching it on the catchup on PremSports, very unlucky Samoa but an entertaining game, Vossy said during commentary that we need more internationals, I agree.

Like someone said in a previous comment, puts perspective on the England win.

Samoa unlucky to lose and certainly puts England's result against them into perspective. A couple of dropped balls by their full back ultimately led to New Zealand victory. Leilua again proved himself a very hard player to stop when in full flight. Let's hope for an England victory tomorrow and then watch the Australian's get whitewashed next week by these impressive Samoan's.

www.nrl.com/parish-blasts-offici ... _HP_Latest Parish has a spray at match officials. Fair enough too. Samoa couldn't catch a break in the last 20.

www.nrl.com/parish-blasts-offici ... _HP_Latest Parish has a spray at match officials. Fair enough too. Samoa couldn't catch a break in the last 20.

As posted the other day, I had hoped and had a suspicion that Samoa might beat NZ. Sadly that has not happened. Would be nice if England and Samoa could beat Australia! However, I now expect Australia to thrash us.

Game turned when Roberts got harshly done for a knock on, but what the hell was he thinking!

That's Ben Roberts for you - rocks or diamonds. Unfortunately for Cas fans, it's 20 rocks for every diamond.

Yeah but in all fairness to him he one wow of a game, I am still of the idea that the pass he attempted went back and Vidot retained a legal ball on the ground, watch Vidot's reaction to the linesman he was apoplectic at the forward/knock on ruling.
Amongst many others I also thought that we should have won more emphatically before last weeks kick off. By the end of that game I also was under the impression that better side for its majority had lost, I also feel the same today.

Against a stronger NZ side than last weeks V Oz, Samoa outplayed them until the last quarter of an hour, when clearly there could also be noted, a bit of official help coming NZs way also. With one successful goalkick they would have made a draw of the game, something which they at least deserved for that performance.

Could have sworn I predicted the correct outcome.........just the margin I was out on. Or did NZ not win

Don't see this puts the English performance into perspective. I thought the Samoa team we played were a lot worse the pivots and passing In general last weak was very sloppy and they should have beaten us if their passing had been crisper in the first 20 minutes.

Would love to see us turn the Aussies over tomorrow. This is the weakest Aussie team I remember seeing and is our best chance of dumping them out of the competition. Hopefully we don't bottle it as there is nothing to be scared of from their line up. That said think they will go a lot better than last week

I agree this is a weak Aussie team but I'd also suggest it is a weak England team. Last time they fielded a much weakened team (SL wars) when they had a smaller pool to chose from they thrashed us. I can't see it being anything different this time.

Completely disagree. How is this a weak England team? Last time we played Australia we lost by 8 against a stronger side and we lost in the last minute to a Kiwi side that struggled against Samoa. England has nothing to fear...

Let's hope you are right!

Yep, and that's what killed 'em. To be fair that offload from Roberts in fantastic field position was insane but I suspect very few people saw it as forward or saw a knock-on except Perenara.

And - if you're reading this, RFL/NRL/RLIF people (as we know you do) - that is why all suspicion should be eliminated by appointing neutral refs.

A neutral ref may have given the exact same decisions - or indeed awarded a couple of the tries NZ almost scored - but neutrality removes any suspicion of impartiality and ensures the game retains the credibility it deserves. As it stands, and as many of us expected, several question marks hang over a number of key decisions. And when you've stuck a homegrown ref in there, that matters.

Spot on.

I expect the game in a few hours to be reffed in a way that benefits the Aussies. Just watch the holding down if England are close. It'll happen and it won't be penalised.

I think we can save.y say we are seeing the emergence of a closing of the gap between the big three and some of the second tier nations. Samoa, fiji, png and Tonga are not far away from toppling the big boys in years to come, especially as more eligible players take up places in the NFL and SL and png's new development t structures pays dividends. Just need to get france and Wales improving now.

They need to get more pacific islanders to be truly competitive...........

Well I never. It's almost like the Australians killing the sport is predictable.