England skipper Sam Tomkins believes Samoa winning the World Cup would be monumental for international rugby league after his side’s upset loss in the semi-final.
Samoa avenged their tournament opening 60-6 loss to England to stun the hosts 27-26 in a golden point epic for the ages and Tomkins believes they can go one better.
“It would be brilliant,” Tomkins said.
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“Watching the game last night between New Zealand and Australia, it was probably the best game I have seen in a long, long time.
“Australia will go into the final as favourites and deservedly so, but I think Tonga and Samoa what they have done over recent years with players wanting to play for the homeland rather than the bigger nations has really opened up international rugby league and I think it can only be a positive.”
Tomkins couldn’t hide the disappointment form his shattered team, but vowed they would bounce back and learn from their crushing loss to the tiny Island nation.
“We played a very good Samoa team tonight and I feel a team like that you can’t give opportunities to and I feel like we did that,” Tomkins said.
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“But with the ball and without the ball we gave opportunities and they have got some good players who are going to get you in the end.
“There is a lot of disappointed men in that room and that disappointment won’t go over lightly I promise you that.”
England coach Shaun Wane paid tribute to Samoa’s class players after they upset the home nation in one of the all-time rugby league World Cup boilovers.
“It will be game on, but Australia are a good team,” Wane said of the final.
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“On our best form we would have to play better to beat Australia. They are a really good team.
“However, they (Samoa) showed today they have got a lot of talent. They have got a lot of individuals who can play on the big stage and they proved that against us today.”
