'Matter of when': How Samoa finally became a Pacific powerhouse

Ask Anthony Milford about the response to Toa Samoa qualifying for the World Cup semi-final against England, and the veteran halfback says: “Have you seen the parades. That’s the reaction we have been getting. Hopefully we made a lot of Samoans proud”.

While a small band of Samoan fans cheered and sung their way through last weekend’s 20-18 defeat of Tonga at Warrington, it’s in the Pacific where the impact of the historic win is being felt most strongly.

Samoa flags have sold out in Apia ahead of the re-match with England at London’s Emirates Stadium, while fans have been partying in the streets of the island nation’s capital, as well as Auckland and Sydney.

“The support and love we have from our little nation and fans and family back home in Australia and New Zealand has been crazy,” Samoa second-rower Jaydn Su’A said.

“It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the boys here. I see it every day now when I go onto social media, and it is pretty emotional to see how important and how special it is for them.”

For Milford, Samoa is now finally fulfilling the potential he has long believed the Pacific nation had if their best players were available.

In the past, Milford has been the biggest star to regularly put his hand up to play for Samoa and he sometimes had to withstand pressure to do so.

After witnessing the success of Tonga after Jason Taumalolo inspired players to represent their heritage at the 2017 World Cup, Milford began encouraging Samoan stars to do the same.

“To me, it was more a matter of when this team would come together,” Milford said. “I spoke to a few of the boys during the year, every time after we finished playing, just to see what their thoughts were - not to pressure them into playing for Samoa.

“I had a few talks with a few boys, and I am just stoked that they decided to come and play for Samoa.

“Obviously Tonga started the movement a couple of years ago when Jason decided to go to Tonga and hopefully this group of boys can inspire the next generation of young Pacific athletes that want to represent Samoa.”

With Jarome Luai and Brian To’o among six Panthers to commit to Samoa, along with Origin props Junior Paulo and Josh Papali’i, and teenage superstar Joseph Sua’ali’i, many believe they are capable of turning around a 60-6 loss to England in the World Cup opener.

“Props to the Tonga boys, man,” Luai said. “They have had a lot of success over a number of years and they pretty much sparked the fire for us all.

“That’s why we are here; to do something special for our families and for Samoa. To be one game from the grand final in a World Cup is special for us all.

“It is good to be playing footy still. A lot of boys said they weren’t ready to leave yet, and we have obviously done something special already, but we have the opportunity to do that again.”

Su’A added: “We want to make history again this weekend and make it to the grand final, which would be incredible. We have a bit tussle in front of us, but it is something we are looking forward to”.

Not only were Samoa embarrassed by the scoreline in the opening game at Newcastle's St James Park, they lost Tyrone May, Izack Tago and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow with tournament ending injuries, while Milford was suspended.

Tim Lafai was called up, along with Salford team-mate Ken Sio and Hull FC forward Ligi Sao, and the former Bulldogs and Dragons star has been one of the form centres of the tournament.

"It meant the world to me to see the young guns and superstars of the NRL put their hands up for Samoa," Lafai said. "In the three World Cups I have been in this is easily the most talented squad we have had.

"Everything happens for a reason and I think the first game was a good wake up call for the squad."

After such a disappointing start to their World Cup campaign, assistant coach Daniel Holdsworth got Milford and Luai together to discuss Samoa's attack.

Holdsworth, who is on the Cronulla coaching staff, played under Samoa coach Matt Parrish at Salford and when Andrew Webster had to withdraw after being appointed to the Warriors job, he stepped in to direct the attack.

"The [Penrith] boys who won the grand final flew in the Saturday before the first game so it was hard to ask too much of them, but they were disappointed in their own right because they have high expectations of themselves," Holdsworth said.

"I thought I didn’t really prepare the boys that well that week, so I took some ownership of that. We all had a meeting after that and took some responsibility and moved on."

A week later Samoa beat Greece 72-4 and followed up the win with a 62-4 defeat of France, who were coming off a 32-12 loss to England.