England 26–27 Samoa — Semi-final, 2021 Rugby League World Cup

12 Nov 2022 · Emirates Stadium, London, England · Attendance: 40,489

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

2021 Rugby League World Cup ▾

Semi-final, 2021 Rugby League World Cup: England 26–27 Samoa, at Emirates Stadium, London, England on 12 Nov 2022.

Scoring timeline

6′	Samoa — try, Lafai · Crichton missed
12′	Samoa — Paulo — yellow card 12' to 22'
24′	England — try, Whitehead · Makinson kicked
30′	Samoa — try, Sao · Crichton kicked
44′	England — try, Bateman · Makinson kicked
48′	Samoa — try, Crichton · Crichton kicked
56′	Samoa — try, Sao · Crichton missed
63′	England — try, Farnworth · Makinson kicked
72′	Samoa — try, Crichton · Crichton kicked
77′	England — try, Farnworth · Makinson kicked

Tries in order scored, with the conversion kicked/missed alongside each one where our source data lets us match a kicker to that specific try. Sources don't record exact minutes for missed kicks, so misses are matched by elimination (attempts left over once every made kick is accounted for), not sequenced by time. Standalone penalty goals are shown separately below, not attached to a try.

Scorers

England	Tries: Whitehead 24'; Bateman 44'; Farnworth (2) 63', 77' Goals: Makinson (5/5) 25', 45', 63', 67' pen, 78'
Samoa	Tries: Lafai 6'; Sao (2) 30', 56'; Crichton (2) 48', 72' Goals: Crichton (3/5) 32', 49', 74' Drop goals: Milford (0/1); Crichton (1/1) 83' (golden point) Sin bin: Paulo — yellow card 12' to 22'

This result sent Samoa into the Final against Australia.

Teams

England			Samoa
1	Sam Tomkins	Fullback	Joseph Suaalii	1
14	Dom Young	Wing	Brian To'o	5
3	Kallum Watkins	Centre	Stephen Crichton	4
4	Herbie Farnworth	Centre	Tim Lafai	25
2	Tommy Makinson	Wing	Taylan May	2
6	Jack Welsby	Stand off/Five eighth	Jarome Luai	6
7	George Williams	Scrum half/Half back	Anthony Milford	7
8	Tom Burgess	Prop forward	Royce Hunt	15
9	Michael McIlorum	Hooker	Fa'amanu Brown	21
18	Chris Hill	Prop forward	Junior Paulo	10
11	Elliot Whitehead	Second row	Ligi Sao	11
12	John Bateman	Second row	Jaydn Su'a	12
13	Victor Radley	Loose forward/Lock forward	Oregon Kaufusi	23
Substitutes
20	Mike McMeeken		Chanel Harris-Tavita	20
15	Morgan Knowles		Josh Papalii	8
10	Luke Thompson		Spencer Leniu	16
17	Mike Cooper		Kelma Tuilagi	22

Shaun Wane		Coach	Matt Parish

Match officials

Kick-off	14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
Referee	Gerard Sutton (Australia)
Touch judges	Darian Furner (Australia), Jack Smith (England)
Player of the match	Jarome Luai (Samoa)

Match report

Samoa faced England in the semi-final at the Emirates Stadium in London. Tim Lafai scored the first try of the game in the sixth minute to give Samoa a 4-0 lead, and for the first time in the tournament, England conceded first. Five minutes later, Junior Paulo was shown a yellow card, and also put on report, for a dangerous tackle on George Williams. Elliott Whitehead scored England's first try on 25 minutes, with Tommy Makinson successful with the conversion, to give England a 6-4 lead. Five minutes later, Samoa scored again, this time from Ligi Sao to retake the lead 8-4; Stephen Crichton was successful with the conversion to give Samoa a 10-4 lead at half-time.

Five minutes into the second half, England scored again, this time through John Bateman, and Makinson was once again successful with the conversion to make it 10-10. Two tries in seven minutes saw Samoa take a 20-12 lead, with England now needing at least two tries to draw level. Herbie Farnworth broke clear on 65 minutes, to race away and touch down near the posts, giving Makinson an easy conversion. From the kick-off, England were awarded a penalty, after Sam Tomkins was tackled in the air. Samoa used the captain's challenge, and after a quick review, the video referee agreed with the decision to award the penalty, meaning the challenge was unsuccessful. Makinson opted to kick the penalty and was successful, levelling the scores at 20-20 with just over 12 minutes remaining. Stephen Crichton looked to have won it for Samoa with seven minutes to go, as he intercepted a Dom Young pass to touch down under the posts, converting his own try. There was more drama to come, as Farnworth got his second try of the game with two minutes remaining, Makinson once again converting to take the game to extra time.

Samoa attempted to score the golden point with a drop goal early in extra time, but it was charged down by England. Samoa eventually won the match after a forward pass from Sam Tomkins gave them possession 35 metres out. Crichton kicked the winning drop goal to send Samoa to their first World Cup final, making them the first team other than England, Australia or New Zealand to reach the final in 50 years. The peak TV audience for the match was approximately 2.5 million viewers, the highest for any international rugby league match.

Previous World Cup meetings

2021 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): England 60–6 Samoa

Sources

← 2021 Rugby League World Cup — full match archive

← 2021 Rugby League World Cup