Walsh-inspired Australia crush irate Samoa to reach World Cup final

Australia (26) 44Tries: Walsh 3, Dearden, Preston, Trbojevic, Best, Bostock Goals: Munster 6Samoa (2) 12Tries: Crichton, Tago Goal: Crichton Penalty: CrichtonBefore kick-off, Samoa's ceremonial war dance - the Siva Tau - turned into an intense face-off, with their players going right into the faces of their Australian opponents, and a couple even going forehead to forehead.It turned out to be the closest Samoa got to Australia all evening.Australia dominated at Sydney Football Stadium, triumphing 44-12 to reach a 16th successive men's Rugby League World Cup final.In a repeat of the previous World Cup final, a worked-up Samoa side lost their way with errors and ill-discipline, allowing Australia to run in eight tries, including a Reece Walsh hat-trick.Australia - who have won the past three world titles in a row - will face New Zealand in Brisbane next Sunday with kick-off at 08:35 GMT.Samoa had taken the lead after three minutes when Stephen Crichton – whose golden-point drop goal beat England in the 2022 semi-final – landed a penalty in front of the posts.But Australia led soon after when Tom Dearden picked up from a scrum and blasted through the non-existent line to score.Australia's next two tries came after they got six again thanks to poor Samoa discipline. Jacob Preston burst under the posts on 15 minutes; 10 minutes later, joint-top World Cup scorer Tom Trbojevic scored his eighth try of the tournament, benefiting after Crichton reached into the ruck.Walsh got in on the party - celebrating with a backflip - and the scoring was topped before half-time when Bradman Best bounced off tackles and into the corner.Both sides were fired up by regional rivalry, as the Siva Tau showed pre-match. Samoa's Brian To'o leaned his forehead into the face of Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, the Australia prop who played for Samoa in 2019.But Samoa's passion dissolved into frustration as the game got away - not helped by some questionable refereeing decisions.The most egregious came on the half-hour, when Crichton appeared to have grounded to close the score to 16-6 after Francis Manuleleua had beaten Walsh to a high ball.But a slow-motion replay led to the debatable conclusion Manuleleua had knocked on. It was the final straw for some Samoa players - Spencer Leniu was sin-binned for speaking out of turn to referee Adam Gee just before the break.Crichton did get his try in the second half after Walsh dropped a bomb, and Isack Tago scored in the corner with 18 minutes leftBut Walsh quickly responded after both Samoan scores, keeping them at arm's length while scoring his first international hat-trick. Bostock added gloss with eight to go.The damage was done - mostly by Samoa to themselves.