Ireland 34–16 Samoa — Group C, 2008 Rugby League World Cup
5 Nov 2008 · Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia · Attendance: 8,067
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Group C, 2008 Rugby League World Cup: Ireland 34–16 Samoa, at Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia on 5 Nov 2008.
Scorers
| Ireland | Tries: Richards (3); Finn; Finnigan; Gleeson Goals: Richards (5/10) |
| Samoa | Tries: Solomona; Taulapapa; Vagana Goals: Roberts (2/3) |
Teams
| Ireland | Samoa | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Platt | Fullback | Smith Samau | 1 |
| 2 | Damien Blanch | Wing | Matt Utai | 2 |
| 3 | Sean Gleeson | Centre | Willie Talau | 3 |
| 4 | Stuart Littler | Centre | George Carmont | 4 |
| 5 | Pat Richards | Wing | Francis Meli | 5 |
| 6 | Scott Grix (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Nigel Vagana (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Liam Finn | Scrum half/Half back | Ben Roberts | 7 |
| 8 | Eamon O'Carroll | Prop forward | Wayne McDade | 8 |
| 9 | Bob Beswick | Hooker | Terence Seuseu | 9 |
| 10 | Gareth Haggerty | Prop forward | Tony Puletua | 10 |
| 11 | Ben Harrison | Second row | Lagi Setu | 11 |
| 12 | Lee Doran | Second row | Ali Lauiti'iti | 15 |
| 13 | Simon Finnigan | Loose forward/Lock forward | Harrison Hansen | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Mike McIlorum | David Solomona | 12 | |
| 15 | Karl Fitzpatrick | Frank Puletua | 14 | |
| 16 | Wayne Kerr | Joseph Paulo | 16 | |
| 17 | Ryan Tandy | Misi Taulapapa | 17 | |
| Andy Kelly | Coach | John Ackland | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Thierry Alibert (France) |
| Touch judges | Gerard Sutton — single-sourced, Russell Turner — single-sourced |
| Player of the match | Not confirmed to Tier-1 standard |
Match report
Ireland beat Samoa 34-16 at Parramatta to reach the quarter-finals, Pat Richards scoring a hat-trick and kicking 5 goals for 22 of Ireland's 34 points. Attendance is disputed between sources — rugbyleagueproject.org gives 8,602, Wikipedia gives 8,067 (matching the figure used on this site).