Samoa 20–12 Tonga — Group C, 2008 Rugby League World Cup
31 Oct 2008 · Penrith Stadium, Sydney, Australia · Attendance: 11,787
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Group C, 2008 Rugby League World Cup: Samoa 20–12 Tonga, at Penrith Stadium, Sydney, Australia on 31 Oct 2008.
Scorers
| Samoa | Tries: Carmont; Meli; Utai; Vagana Goals: Roberts (2/4) |
| Tonga | Tries: Jennings; Leo-Latu Goals: Williams (2/2) |
Teams
| Samoa | Tonga | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smith Samau | Fullback | Michael Jennings | 3 |
| 2 | Matt Utai | Wing | Cooper Vuna | 2 |
| 3 | Willie Talau | Centre | Fetuli Talanoa | 1 |
| 4 | George Carmont | Centre | Etuate Uaisele | 4 |
| 5 | Francis Meli | Wing | Esikeli Tonga | 5 |
| 6 | Nigel Vagana (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Feleti Mateo | 6 |
| 7 | Ben Roberts | Scrum half/Half back | Tevita Leo-Latu | 9 |
| 8 | Kylie Leuluai | Prop forward | Antonio Kaufusi | 8 |
| 9 | Terence Seuseu | Hooker | Willie Manu | 13 |
| 10 | Tony Puletua | Prop forward | Awen Guttenbeil | 10 |
| 11 | Lagi Setu | Second row | Lopini Paea (c) | 11 |
| 12 | David Solomona | Second row | Richard Fa'aoso | 12 |
| 13 | Harrison Hansen | Loose forward/Lock forward | Tony Williams | 20 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Frank Puletua | Manase Manuokafoa | 14 | |
| 15 | Ali Lauiti'iti | Epalahame Lauaki | 15 | |
| 16 | Joseph Paulo | Sam Moa | 16 | |
| 17 | Albert Talipeau | Eddie Paea | 17 | |
| John Ackland | Coach | Jim Dymock | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Shayne Hayne (Australia) |
| Touch judges | Bernard Sutton — single-sourced, David Abood — single-sourced |
| Player of the match | Not confirmed to Tier-1 standard |
Match report
Samoa beat Tonga 20-12 at Penrith, leading 14-12 at half-time. Tonga used non-sequential squad numbers throughout the tournament rather than standard positional numbering.