Racing
League
Rugby
Football
Cricket
Golf
Sport Nation
Motorsport
Netball
Basketball
Combat Sports
Olympics
Other Sports
Live sport on SN this weekendFrench fried as Samoa sizzle in World Cup opener
George Clarke, AAP • October 16th, 2026 10:42 pm
Samoa got their World Cup campaign off to a rousing start with a 78-4 win over France in Sydney | Photo: Mark Evans/AAP
Samoa have opened their World Cup campaign by crushing France in a 78-4 win that gives an early boost to the Pacific nation's hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
In a 14-tries-to-one victory in which centre Stephen Crichton kicked 11 goals and Melbourne flyer Sua Fa'alogo crossed four times, the Samoans barely worked up a sweat at CommBank Stadium in Sydney on Friday.
Taking on a French side mostly made up of Super League players, the star-studded Samoa team raced out to a 28-0 lead inside 20 minutes.
Sua Fa'alogo scored four tries as Samoa ran up a crushing victory against France | Photo: Mark Evans/AAP
"We put really good pressure on the opposition," Samoa coach Ben Gardiner said.
"We've worked really hard on our own combinations this week, and it was nice to see some of those combinations come out for some nice tries."
The only blemish for Samoa was the sight of Brisbane winger Deine Mariner going off in the first half with a suspected hamstring problem, but Gardiner downplayed concerns of a serious injury.
"The fact that we'd scored a few tries early, I just thought it was safer for him to come off," the coach said.
While they had lapses of discipline and concentration with the result sewn up - France scored their sole try through winger Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet - the heavy win enhances Samoa's points differential and their hopes of making it to the semi-finals.
Jermaine McEwen was one of 10 try scorers for Samoa as they ran out comfortable winners | Photo: Mark Evans/AAP
One of Samoa, England or Tonga will miss the knockout stage as a result of the new tournament format, in which the top two teams from across group B and group C make it to the last four.
Samoa face Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby next week before concluding their pool games in an all-Pacific match-up for the ages against the Tongans.
The Kumuls on home soil and Tonga in Sydney will provide a much sterner test than the French, who were left for dead in a blistering opening quarter.
Mariner scored the opening try for the Toa in the third minute soon after his father Lapi had sung the country's national anthem that brought stars including Jarome Luai and Spencer Leniu to tears.
Superstar Jarome Luai leads Samoa's siva tau before their World Cup clash with France | Photo: Mark Evans/AAP
Benaiah Ioelu, Jermaine McEwen, Fa'alogo, and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow all crossed in the next 15 minutes as the French defence was cut to shreds.
Aispuro-Bichet briefly stemmed the bleeding before Fa'alogo went in again just before halftime to make it 34-4 at the break.
The French had little resistance in the second period, with Fa'alogo adding two more while Crichton, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Shawn Blore, Izack Tago, Francis Molo and Ioelu all went over.
Tune into Sport Nation for live commentary of Rugby League World Cup 2026 this October and November - download the app today on Google Play and the App Store.
