Samoa down England in Golden Point thriller

Penrith centre Stephen Crichton played himself into Samoa’s sporting history books as the small Pacific Island nation won an enthralling World Cup semi-final against tournament hosts England in London overnight.

The two-time NRL premiership hero ignited Samoa’s population of just over 200,000 with an intercept try before kicking a golden point field goal for a heart-stopping 27-26 victory.

The win thrust his country into its very first Rugby League World Cup final against superpowers Australia at Old Traffic next weekend.

Samoa is ranked outside the world’s top 200 in population size and has very few sports stars outside of rugby league except for former heavyweight boxer David Tua.

Hosts England had thrashed Samoa 60-8 in the opening game of the World Cup 28 days ago.

But the scores were close for much of the 80 minutes until Crichton intercepted a Victor Radley pass in the 72nd minute.

He streaked 75 metres, raising his arm in the air to celebrate as he gave Samoa a vital 26-20 lead.

But England wasn’t done with.

The final 15 minutes of the classic Test tossed up a number of amazing twists and turns.

Young England centre Herbie Farnworth showed great strength and determination to break through four Samoan defenders for a try in the 63rd minute before crossing again for a long-range try in the 77th minute to tie the game up 26-all.

That’s when the real drama kicked in.

A couple of errors by England to start off golden point allowed Samoa to get into position for a field goal but Anthony Milford’s shot from 30 metres out was smothered by a charging Elliott Whitehead.

Again it was a handling error than turned to ball over to Samoa who this time made them pay the ultimate price as Crichton calmly claimed a piece of Samoan sporting folklore as his field goal snuck inside the lefthand upright in the 83rd minute.

Born in Samoa’s capital of Apia, Crichton was swamped by teammates while other players dropped to their knees in jubilation or from sheer fatigue.

Jahrome Luai was involved in almost everything and was close to the best player on the field on a night where there were many great players.

It was his heavy involvement in Crichton’s first try just after halftime which gave Samoa its biggest lead of the clash.

Junior Paulo got a prayer pass away while falling, Luai backing up, cleverly tapped the ball onto Crichton for a special try.

Luai also served up a lovely pass for lanky winger Tim Lafai to cross in the 57th minute for a 20-12 lead.

He even manage to spark an all-in scuffle in the 60th minute dragging England fullback Sam Tomkins down from behind after the Englishman had upset him in a tackle seconds earlier.

The game really came alive in the 63rd minute when England centre Herbie Farnworth muscled his way through four Samoan defenders to cut the lead back to 20-18.

The final 15 minutes produced some amazing twists and turns.

A questionable penalty against Junior Paulo in the 67th minute for knocking Tomkins over when he was in the air locked the scores up 20-all.

Williams then sliced through some tired Samoan defence and found Farnworth looming up for a 65-metre try that locked the game up 26-all with one minute of action left.

Three minutes later in golden point, Crichton made history for Samoa.

Samoan coach Matt Parish was overcome with emotion after what was an incredible finish to an amazing game.

“I’m so proud of my players, they hung tough, they were incredible,” he told NRL.com.au after the pulsating win.

Asked about Luai’s performance, Parish said: “I think the whole group is special.

“Our 19-year-old fullback, how tough is he, Stephen Crichton, unbelievable.

Samoa will try and pull off its country’s greatest sporting achievement against Australia next week.

“It’s special, it’s very special for the people of Samoa,” said Parish with a tear in his eye.

Beaten England coach Shaun Wane was pretty brutal in his post-game views not offering up any excuses despite the closeness of the final score.

“We weren’t good enough, the best team won,” he offered.

“I’m gutted, absolutely wounded.

“I was never happy during the game, it was below our standards.

“The player’s efforts in this tournament have been great, I don’t doubt their efforts but it was just not good enough today.”

“I blame myself. We have to be better, this is not good enough, not from me.”

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