International Rugby League Nations Samoa
Rugby League Planet - Samoa
SAMOAN RUGBY LEAGUE NATION OVERVIEW
Information on this page was updated - 11/2/2012
Foundation Year - 1988
International Team - Toa Samoa
Highest finish in World Cup - Quarter Final (2000)
Top level domestic competition - 12 teams compete in the national competition.
History - Samoa's close proximity to Australia and New Zealand and the increase of Samoan's playing in the Super League and National Rugby League has been a main factor in the growth of league in the pacific nation. Western Samoa's first major competition was the 1988 Pacific Cup. They made a great first impression making it to the final. In a close game Western Samoa went down to the NZ Maoris 19 - 16.
In 1995 Western Samoa played in the Rugby League World Cup for the first time. Western Samoa easily beat France then narrowly lost to Wales. The loss to Wales proved costly with Western Samoa missing out on a place in the semi finals. From 1998 Western Samoa played as Samoa.
In the 2000 World Cup Samoa won games against NZ Maoris and Scotland. Samoa lost against Ireland finishing 2nd in the Pool but still qualified for the quarter finals. Samoa played Australia in the quarter finals and went down to the eventual World Cup winners 66 - 10.
Samoa took part in the 2008 World Cup qualifiers and Federation Shield in 2006. In the pacific leg of qualifiers they finished 3rd and had to play in the repechage rounds in 2007. In the Federation Shield they did not fair much better finishing bottom of the table. In 2007 Samoa qualified for the 10th and final World Cup place by beating the United States and Lebanon in the repechage qualifiers.
Samoa were grouped with Tonga and Ireland in the 2008 World Cup. Backed as the most likely team to top the pool and make it into the semi-finals, Samoa fell short of their potential. They got off to a great start beating Tonga 20 -12 at Penrith in front of a vocal crowd. Then Samoa's wheels fell off when Ireland caused a major upset defeating Samoa 34 -16. All teams in the Pool finished with one win a piece. Ireland's big win over Samoa was the difference leaving Samoa at the bottom of the group. Samoa saved some pride by winning the ranking game against France and avoiding the wooden spoon securing 9th place.
The domestic rugby league competition is looking to expand to 12 teams in 2012 (10 teams participated in 2011 season). The season starts in mid-March and will run for approximately 4 months. There are currently around 250 rugby league players in Samoa. This is also set to increase as other initiatives start to expand playing numbers at junior level. Two major schoolboy tournaments have already been organised for 2012 with 8 schools competing in the 10 -12 year old category and 8 schools competing in the 14 - 16 year old category. On top of this an Under 16 Rugby League High Performance Unit is scheduled to be up and running by May..
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SAMOAN INTERNATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE RESULTS
2012 Results
Jul 13th Samoa Residents 18 - NSWCRL 22
Jul 9th Samoa PMXIII 22 - NSWCRL 36
2010 Results
Oct 24th Samoa 22 - Tonga 6
Oct 16th New Zealand 50 - Samoa 6 (Test Match)
2009 Results
Oct 17th Cook Islands 22 - Samoa 20 (Pacific Cup Qualifier)
Jun 20th Teo Samoa 20 - BARLA 16
Jun 18th Samoa Patriots 18 - BARLA 14
Mar 7th Samoa 26 - Papua New Guinea Residents 18
2008 Results
Nov 9th Samoa 42 - France 10 (World Cup Ranking)
Nov 5th Ireland 34 - Samoa 16 (World Cup)
Oct 31st Samoa 20 - Tonga 12 (World Cup)
2007 Results
Nov 14th Samoa 38 - Lebanon 16 (World Cup Qualifier)
Nov 9th Samoa 42 - United States 10 (World Cup Qualifier)
2006 Results
Nov 5th England 38 - Samoa 14 (Federation Shield)
Oct 29th France 28 - Samoa 6 (Federation Shield)
Oct 22nd Tonga 18 - Samoa 10 (World Cup Qualifier & Federation Shield)
Oct 4th Samoa 46 - Cook Islands 6 (World Cup Qualifier)
Sep 29th Samoa 30 - Fiji 28 (World Cup Qualifier)
Mar 5th Tokelau 34 - Samoa 28
Mar 2nd Cook Islands 44 - Samoa 0
Feb 23rd Fiji 26 - Samoa 4
2005 Results
Oct 7th Tonga 34 - Samoa 20
2004 Results
Oct 23rd Samoa 52 - Tonga 18 (Pacific Cup Final)
Oct 21st NZ Maoris 70 - Samoa 10
Oct 20th Samoa 76 - New Caledonia 0
Oct 19th Samoa 36 - Niue 18
2000 Results
Nov 11th Australia 66 - Samoa 10 (World Cup Quarter Final)
Nov 5th Samoa 20 - Scotland 12 (World Cup)
Nov 1st Samoa 21 - NZ Maoris 16 (World Cup)
Oct 28th Ireland 30 - Samoa 16 (World Cup)
1999 Results
Fiji 30 - Samoa 4
Fiji 22 - Samoa 16
Samoa 6 - Fiji 1
1998 Results
Tonga 24 - Samoa 8
Tonga 24 - Samoa 22
Samoa 24 - Niue 10
Tonga 20 - Samoa 20
1996 Results
NZ Maoris 39 - Western Samoa 16
1995 Results
Oct 15th Wales 22 - Western Samoa 10 (World Cup)
Oct 12th Western Samoa 56 - France 10 (World Cup)
1992 Results
Western Samoa 18 - Tonga 14 (Pacific Cup Final)
Western Samoa 44 - Australian Aborigines 26
Western Samoa 41 - Niue 28
Western Samoa 20 - Tonga 12
Western Samoa 32 - Fiji 18
Western Samoa 66 - Cook Islands 12
1990 Results
Oct 31st Western Samoa 26 - NZ Maoris 18 (Pacific Cup Final)
Western Samoa 26 - Australian Aborigines 16
1988 Results
NZ Maoris 19 - Western Samoa 16 (Pacific Cup Final)
Western Samoa 40 - Tonga 30
Western Samoa 40 - Tokelau 18
Western Samoa 52 - Cook Islands 16