Samoa suffer World Cup ending injuries in opening defeat to England

Josh McAllister 15 Oct 2022 5:24 PM

Samoa Tyrone May — Samoa's Tyrone May is taken off the pitch by stretcher during the Rugby League World Cup group A match at St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne. Picture date: Saturday October 15, 2022. Mike Egerton/PA Wire/PA Images

Samoa boss Matt Parish has confirmed three World Cup ending injuries to his side following their 60-6 defeat to England in the opening game of the tournament.

Shaun Wane’s side opened their World Cup account with a dream start, crossing for 10 tries at St James’ Park.

However, things have gone from bad to worse for Samoa, with three potential tournament-ending injuries.

Tyrone May was stretchered from the field early in the second half. It has been confirmed the 26-year-old utility dislocated his hip and is on his way to hospital in Newcastle.

Braden Hamlin-Uele came off during the first half with a calf injury and looked to be in pain. Meanwhile, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow suffered a syndesmosis injury and looks likely to miss the rest of the campaign in England.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted,” a disappointed Parish said in his post-match conference.

“England played very well and we had a few injuries and setbacks. They got a lot of momentum.

“Tyrone May disclosed his hip and has gone to hospital here in Newcastle. There’s a few injuries in there that might not take part of rest of the tournament.

“We’re not looking for excuses or anything like that, we didn’t have much luck injury wise. We rolled in here this morning with a good team and we’ve still got a good team.

“We had players out of position, but there’s no excuse for the scoreline.”

England 60-6 Samoa: Dream opener for hosts inside St James’ Park

Samoa captain on disappointing defeat

Samoa captain Junior Paulo admitted his side were “outclassed” by the hosts, conceding 42 second-half points.

“It’s a good test of our character moving forward,” Paulo said. “But I still believe we’ve got a good side here.

”It’s hard to stop momentum. Any team that turns over the ball that much, the other team is going to capitalise on it, especially a quality team like that (England) completing high.

“They’re a quality team, but we definitely have one. We’ve got to be resilient and bounce back. They outclassed us today. But it’s the start of the tournament. We’ve got to go back, regroup and move onto next week.

“We still believe we have a quality team. We have a few that can slide in and replace the injuries and do the job. We’ve got each other to lean on. It’s a good test of character moving forward.”