For Samoa, a second consecutive World Cup ends with a defeat to Australia, having been beaten 30-10 in the final four years ago. The two nations have met six times, with Australia winning all six. But this one hurt more. Samoa clearly felt they could win, as demonstrated by their ultra-aggressive pre-match Siva Tau war dance, getting right into the Australians’ faces, even face-to-face in some cases. But they were handicapped by some questionable refereeing decisions, including two disallowed attempts – Crichton in the first half, then denied by Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow with 10 minutes remaining after contact between Manuleleua and Liam Martin was ruled illegal. It all boiled over shortly before half-time when Spencer Leniu “You watched the game. Report it,” was Samoa coach Ben Gardiner’s terse response to questions about the decisions. On whether his team was hurt by the lack of discipline, he said: “I’m not really sure.” Following some of the penalties that were awarded, we just didn’t react very well. There was one thing after another and then an attempt. It was difficult to fight back. “And then being down 18 points, 20 points at halftime, to come back from that… I thought we did well in the second half to fight back.” But again, we scored a try and gave up another straight away. We bounced off too many tackles in that early period, we missed too many tackles in the game overall. “That had nothing to do with emotion. That’s a test match, that’s what you do. It’s physical, there’s a push and pull, hold your ground.”
