Toa Samoa run in 13 tries to one in win over Kumuls at World Cup

Toa Samoa overcame Papua New Guinea Kumuls 64-6 in a one-sided second-half routing, to claim their second win at the Rugby League World Cup in Port Moresby on Saturday afternoon.

Nothing much separated the two teams in the first half, except the scoreline, which swayed in Samoa's favour at halftime.

In the end Toa Samoa ran in 13 tries to PNG's one.

Nippy winger Sualauvi Fa'alogo, fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Shawn Blore claimed two tries each on the night.

Others were recorded by Spencer Leniu, Stephen Crichton, Francis Manuleleua, Brian To'o, Ronald Volkman, Izack Tago and Ata Mariota.

Tries were converted by Ronald Volkman, who kicked three, two by Chanel Harris-Tavita and one by Crichton, although seven tries went unconverted.

The Kumuls' lone try was scored by Bailey Biondi-Odo, with the extra two points through the boot of captain Rhyse Martin.

The match was a physical encounter, with neither side wanting to step back.

However, Samoa proved to be the winner in the end, just too clinical, too strong and almost running in tries at will in the second half.

The statistics told the story - Toa Samoa enjoyed 69 percent of possession, timed 29.39 minutes with the ball in hand and got 79 percent of their sets of six completed.

They ran the ball over 2,082 metres against PNG's 797 metres, and made 195 runs against the Kumuls' 82.

On attack with the ball Samoa managed to make 12 line breaks, compared to PNG's two, and broke 72 tackles against the 23 tackle breaks made by the hosts.

PNG were forced to make 312 tackles in the game as Samoa mounted pressure, and the Kumuls missed 45 tackles as well.

Toa Samoa happy with result

Samoa head coach Ben Gardiner said post-match the performance by his warriors was electrifying in the second half, and he was over the moon with the win, which puts their campaign on strong footing heading into the last pool game against Tonga.

"It was a wonderful game," Gardiner said at the post-match media conference.

"The first half was hard fought, physical, both teams went at it.

"In the second half really enjoyed watching our team just shift the ball a little bit, put some pressure on the edges and I felt we got some results on the back of that.

"But I thought Papua New Guinea was unbelievable today. I thought the first half in particular was very physical and both teams went at it."

Samoa co-captain Junior Paulo said the team was grateful to the support shown for them, especially from local PNG fans.

"Since the day we touched down there has been love and respect the country has shown us, welcoming us with open arms," he said.

"Luckily for us we have been able to go out there and share rugby league with a nation. It's the only country in the world where rugby league is the national sport, so, we've seen what it means to them.

"But for us it's always gonna be the bigger picture of bringing two nations together who had a very similar values, morals and despite the scoreline."

Second half 'ran away' from Kumuls - Demetriou

Kumuls head coach Jason Demetriou said the second half ran away from them.

He congratulated Samoa on their win.

"Felt we probably earned the right to get some momentum in that second half, obviously with 14-6 down we spoke about it," he said.

"But [PNG] had the wind against them, didn't control possession and... we just coughed up the ball early; there might have been five, six penalties.

"You know [Samoa] are a class side.

"In the first half we were very physical, we went after the contest."

Captain Rhyse Martin said Samoa controlled the tempo and won the game well, although the Kumuls fought hard.

"We've been building over the last couple of years for this world cup," he said.

"We were in this game at halftime. It's disappointing that it blew out to the scoreline and the way it ended up.

"But we were in a position to really grab a hold of that game. I thought we were really good in the first five minutes where the energy was high and they got those few tries back to back."

Toa Samoa's win puts them equal with Tonga in the combined pool B and C.

Only two teams will qualify for the semi-finals from that pool, to join the two top teams from Pool A.

Samoa had defeated France in their first game and PNG on Saturday.

England thrashed France 82-0 to put their campaign back on track, also on Saturday night.

Samoa will meet Tonga this coming weekend while England will battle PNG.

Whoever wins the Samoa vs Tonga battle will end up as the combined pool B and C winner.

The second team to qualify out of the pool will come down to points differential between the loser of the Samoa - Tonga clash and the winner out of the England/PNG match.