# 2024 Samoa rugby league tour of England

The 2024 Samoa rugby league tour of England was a two-match tour by the Samoa national rugby league team to England in October and November 2024.

## Background
### Organisation

The 2024 Samoa tour of England was being discussed between the two nations following the conclusion of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in addition to the previous year's Tonga tour of England. The tour was all but confirmed on 3 August 2023, when International Rugby League announced their long-awaited international calendar following the cancellation of the 2025 Rugby League World Cup. This initially did not happen with Samoa eventually declining their tour invitation on 9 November, in order to play in the returning Rugby League Pacific Championship (a competition which began in 2019 but never had a second edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic) for the 2024 edition.
On 27 November, Samoa re-engaged talks about the potential test series, and on 13 June 2024 the tour was confirmed, but with only a two-match test series (one short of a traditional tour), with the hope that the reduced schedule would allow Samoa to compete in the 2024 Rugby League Pacific Championships as well.
In December 2024, International Rugby League Chairman Troy Grant revealed that the tour when ahead as a result of the Australian Rugby League Commission provided support to Samoa, with the Rugby League Samoa having reservations on the financial feasibility of the tour.

### Teams

IRL Men's World Rankingsvte :
| Official rankings ahead of the tour ||||
| Rank | Change | Team | Pts % |
| 3 | 1 | England | 74.00 |
| 4 | 1 | Samoa | 70.00 |
The tour was Samoa's first tour to a European Rugby League nation, and only the second of a Pacific Island Nation, after Tonga's 2023 tour.
The games were the sixth and seventh meetings of the two sides with England winning all previous encounters except for the most recent – the 2021 World Cup semi-final.
Upon the initial planning of the tour, Samoa were above England in the World Rankings (still 3rd and 4th), but a successful 2023 test series against Tonga for England and an unsuccessful 2023 Pacific Championships for Samoa flipped these rankings.
During the tour, Samoa were based at York Knights's York Community Stadium.

## Venues

| Wigan | Leeds |
| Brick Community Stadium | Headingley |
| Capacity: 25,138 | Capacity: 21,500 |
| 30km 20miles Headingley Stadium Brick Community Stadium'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000040-QINU`"' ||

## Squads
### England

A 31 man England train-on squad was announced on 6 September 2024. The final squad was announced on 16 October 2024.
| Player | Club |
| Matty Ashton | Warrington Wolves |
| John Bateman | Warrington Wolves |
| Tom Burgess | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Daryl Clark | St Helens |
| Ben Currie | Warrington Wolves |
| Herbie Farnworth | Dolphins |
| Ethan Havard | Wigan Warriors |
| Chris Hill | Huddersfield Giants |
| Morgan Knowles | St Helens |
| Matty Lees | St Helens |
| Mikey Lewis | Hull KR |
| Liam Marshall | Wigan Warriors |
| Mike McMeeken | Catalans Dragons |
| Junior Nsemba | Wigan Warriors |
| Harry Newman | Leeds Rhinos |
| Kai Pearce-Paul | Newcastle Knights |
| Victor Radley | Sydney Roosters |
| Harry Smith | Wigan Warriors |
| Morgan Smithies | Canberra Raiders |
| Luke Thompson | Wigan Warriors |
| Danny Walker | Warrington Wolves |
| Jack Welsby | St Helens |
| George Williams (C) | Warrington Wolves |
| Dom Young | Sydney Roosters |

### Samoa

The Samoa squad was announced on 9 October 2024.
| Player | Club |
| Anthony Milford | Dolphins |
| Blaize Talagi | Parramatta Eels |
| Deine Mariner | Brisbane Broncos |
| Francis Molo | St George Illawarra Dragons |
| Gordon Chan Kum Tong | Manly Sea Eagles |
| Izack Tago | Penrith Panthers |
| Jake Tago | Parramatta Eels |
| Jarome Luai (c) | Wests Tigers |
| Jazz Tevaga | Manly Sea Eagles |
| Jeral Skelton | Wests Tigers |
| Jeremiah Nanai | North Queensland Cowboys |
| John Asiata | Leigh Leopards |
| Josiah Pahulu | Gold Coast Titans |
| Junior Pauga | Sydney Roosters |
| Keenan Palasia | Leeds Rhinos |
| Lazarus Vaalepu | Melbourne Storm |
| Luciano Leilua | St George Illawarra Dragons |
| Paul Roache | New Zealand Warriors |
| Ricky Leutele | Leigh Leopards |
| Roger Tuivasa-Sheck | New Zealand Warriors |
| Shawn Blore | Melbourne Storm |
| Simi Sasagi | Canberra Raiders |
| Terrell May | Sydney Roosters |

## Matches
### First test

The first test had an average television audience of 513,000, peaking at 682,000, equating to 7.2% of the audience share.
* 27 October 2024 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 34–18 | Samoa |
| Tries: Farnworth 7', Ashton 15', 58', Williams 20', Radley 49', Lewis 71' Goals: Smith (5/6) 8', 21', 50', 59', 72' | 1st: 16–6 2nd: 18–12 Report (BBC) | Tries: Mariner 33', 53' Chan Kum Tong 75' Goals: Pauga (3/3) 34', 54', 76' |
* Brick Community Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 15,137 Referee: Liam Moore (England) Touch judges: Marcus Griffiths (England), Cameron Worsley (England) Video referee: Jack Smith (England) Player of the Match: George Williams (England)

### Second test

The second test match of the series was played at Headingley Stadium as a double header with an England vs Wales women's international test match being played beforehand.
* 2 November 2024 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 34–16 | Samoa |
| Tries: Marshall 17' Williams 28' Ashton 31' Farnworth 37', 54' Welsby 67' Goals: Smith (5/7) 5' (pen), 18', 40', 56', 68' | 1st: 22–6 2nd: 12–10 Report (BBC) | Tries: Blore 8' J. Tago 44' Nanai 73' Goals: Pauga (2/3) 9', 46' |
* Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 16,068 Referee: Chris Kendall (England) Touch judges: Warren Turley (England), Mark Craven (England) Video referee: Ben Thaler (England) Player of the Match: Herbie Farnworth (England)

## Broadcasting

Both matches of the tour were broadcast locally live on BBC Sport in the UK. For countries outside the UK and Ireland, the games were streamed on Super League+, with select countries also televising the event.
| Region | Broadcaster |
| United Kingdom | BBC Two |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Pacific Islands | Digicel |
| United States and Caribbean | Fox Sports |
| Elsewhere | SuperLeague+ |