Pat Richards scored 22 points as Ireland sent the fancied Samoans crashing out of the Rugby League World Cup in a 34-16 victory in Pool Three at Parramatta Stadium yesterday.
The Wigan winger scored three tries and landed five goals to deliver the Irish their first win of the tournament and pitch them into a semi-final playoff next Monday on the back of a superior points differential.
Richards, who returned to the ground where he played in the National Rugby League with Parramatta, could do little wrong against the bumbling Samoans and was named man of the match.
His barnstorming performance means he now holds the record for the most points in a World Cup game for Ireland, trumping Steve Prescott’s 14 points in his team’s 30-16 win over Samoa in their other previous World Cup encounter in Belfast eight years ago.
Ireland held a 16-12 halftime lead after unsettling Samoa with an early 14-0 advantage.
But it was all Ireland in the second half to finish with six tries as Samoa lost their skipper and playmaker Nigel Vagana with a knee injury six minutes after halftime.
Samoa were their own worst enemy and gifted the Irish easy points through slipshod handling and ill-discipline.
Bradford Bulls backrower David Solomona was put on a report by French referee Thierry Alibert for using an elbow in a tackle.
Samoa went into the final match of the group leading Tonga by 34 on points differential, but frittered away their chance by conceding six tries in a dire performance enabling Ireland to skate into the semi-final playoff at their expense.
■ SCOTLAND 18, FIJI 16
AFP, GOSFORD, AUSTRALIA
Fiji secured a semi-final playoff spot despite going down 18-16 to a spirited Scotland in a torrid Rugby League World Cup clash yesterday.
The committed Scots scored the winning try four minutes from full-time through prop Oliver Wilkes to claim their first-ever World Cup victory and in the process dislodged France from second place in Pool 2.
The Fijians had the cushion of a thumping 42-6 opening victory over the French last Saturday and it proved beyond Scotland to come up with the 27-point win they needed to win their group and stay alive in the tournament.
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