Greece suffered a monumental loss this morning at Eco Power Stadium in Doncaster, England, losing 72-4 to Samoa in round two of the Rugby League World Cup 2021.
This is Greece’s second competition loss after making their World Cup debut last Tuesday, where they were defeated 34-12 by France.
It took Samoa all of 58 seconds to open the scoreline, a perfect response to their 60-6 defeat against England last week.
After scoring 13 tries in today’s victory, Samoa will now look to book a place in the quarter-finals when they take on France at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in their final Group A match next Sunday.
Despite the loss, Greek celebrations were jubilant throughout the match, especially in the 46th minute when Siteni Taukamo broke the Samoa line to feed Lachlan Ilias who then chipped the ball and received the offload back from Jake Kambos to score Greece’s first and only try of the night.
🤩 Greece lightning!
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) October 23, 2022
Lachlan Ilias with the vision and finish to open Greece's scoring#RLWC2021 | #SAMGRE | @BBCSport pic.twitter.com/BcGnMrcTPG
18-year-old Taukamo, who made history last Tuesday when he scored Greece’s first-ever World Cup try, also showed his defensive prowess during the round two fixture, pulling off a try-saving tackle that denied St George Illawarra Dragon forward, Jaydn Su’A.
It was a highlight that Greece’s head coach, Steve Georgallis spoke about with reporters after the match.
“We talked about it at half time and that first 20-minute period of the second half was probably our best of the game,” Georgallis said.
“We talked about how defensively we had to be on but they were just too good a team not to capitalise.
“I don’t think today’s score is a true reflection of the effort we put in. There were periods in that game where we got into that arm wrestle.”
A superb tackle from Greece’s Jonny Mitsias in the 66th minute denied NRL Dragon, Mat Feagai, his second try of the night.
“There are two ways you can look at it, we make the tackle or we let them run by, we didn’t let anyone run by today,” Georgallis said.
😱 HUGE!
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) October 23, 2022
Greece haven't stopped trying – how about this trysaver from Mitsias!#RLWC2021 | #SAMGRE | @BBCSport pic.twitter.com/MJTh75ZlDM
“We turned up and got back there to make those tackles so I can’t fault their effort. Our goal is to improve every week and enjoy all the World Cup has to offer.
“I mean, that shot of the bar in Athens when we scored the first try last week, you can’t buy that stuff. It’s priceless.”
Scenes in Athens when we scored our historic first-ever World Cup try! 🇬🇷 #RLWC2021 pic.twitter.com/a7wsFaAd6b
— Greek Rugby League Federation (@GreekRL) October 18, 2022
Greece, now eliminated, will face next face-off against England at Bramall Lane this coming Saturday.
