Cracking game .. Best yet .

Absolutely fantastic game to witness in the flesh!!
After 15 minutes it looked like it was gonna be a procession, and even when Samoa scored toward the end of the 1st half, it looked nothing more than a consolation effort. Everyone could see the passion both sides were putting into it, but there appeared a real gulf in class. Five minutes into the second half and it was already over as a contest.....but then something just clicked!! Samoa got another score - a try displaying real grit and determination, and the crowd was lifted. We cheered them back before the re-start - a couple of the Samoa players applauded the support.....and that was it!! From that moment there was just a collective,sub-conscious decision that the crowd was gonna back the plucky underdog - and boy did they respond!! The atmosphere in that last twenty five minutes was absolutely electric!! The brutality went up several notches....no quarter asked, and certainly none given!! By the time Samoa scored again, the roofs of the stands were in real danger (and not from the anticipated gales!!).....and people started to wonder if the impossible fight back could be on!! Unfortunately it wasn't, but nothing should be taken away from the performances of both sides. To say the score flatters NZ would do dis-service to the Kiwis clinical finishing (with the exception of SBW......one of the funniest things I've seen during a rugby match!! lol), and the Samoans never say die attitude.
And I know it sounds cliche, but - the real winner last night was the sport!! If a game like that cannot sell TGG to the neutral, or encourage more armchair fans to snaffle up the few remaining tickets for their 'local' RLWC fixture, then we might as well all pack it in!!

10/10

It's just a real shame that the game wasn't seen by as many people as it deserved to be. You could not wish for a better advert for the sport as a whole. Brutal hits, great skills and an enthusiastic near full house stadium. Throw in top notch commentary and It was worth the Premier Sports subscription all on its own.
I spoke to a few first time fans in Cardiff on Saturday who were shocked by the pace and ferocity of the hits, and just how "in to it" they were. I hope and prey some of those people managed to see this game too.

I stood in the south stand last night in front of 2 RU gentlemen who after 20 mins were saying how one sided the game was and that the RU WC was much more comeptitve and evenly balanced. I nearly turned round to remind them of some of the outrageous scores in the last RUWC but i held my tongue. 30mins later the 2 gentlemen were silent as the Samoa's started the fight back. By the end of the game the 2 gentlemen where cheering the Samoas like ive never seen before and were still in the ground for at least 10 mins clapping both sets of players as they did a lap of honour.
Its a great example of how our sport speaks so many times for itself on the field. I really felt in the space of 60 mins of live RL we had convinced 2 people from another sport of just how good our sport really is.
The experience was awesome; both on and off the field!!
On the back of that game ive just bought more tickets for the Saints and Leigh WC games.

I missed the game, so had to make do with the BBC highlights. Jesus, whoever works on the sound editing needs shooting. Made the Micron presentations look futuristic.

Great game, ruined by shoddy editing.

Fantastic game so glad i decided at 3:40 to subscribe to Premier Sport. The 2nd match was worth the monthly fee alone....
I also can't remember the last time i sat at work with such a big 'grin' on my face. Some great skill, great trys, great tackles.... and the mother of all boo boo's by SBW... fantastic. Bring on tonight.

Not just Warrington fans !!

Just brings home how sanitised SL (at least the regular fixtures) are in comparison.

What commitment from both sides, gladiatorial.

Me too. The first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning was "Sh!t, what a great night that was!" and "I need to get more tickets!".

An occasion that will live long in the memory. At it's best, no sport comes close to RL

The pre match hakas youtu.be/aX9-lj5_9AY

The pre match hakas youtu.be/aX9-lj5_9AY

Those of us in the South stand were making that remark about 7 minutes from time when there appeared to be a lot of fans leaving as the game was finally put to bed. Must have been from Wigan ... they never hear the final hooter do they?

I don't know, I heard it pretty clearly at Old Trafford

Fans leaving reminded me of old Trafford .when wire couldn't be bothered to clap their own players off the pitch