How the Australian press reacted to England’s shock World Cup exit at the hands of Samoa

England’s Rugby League World Cup campaign came to an end yesterday as they were left broken hearted in a 27-26 Golden Point defeat to Samoa at the Emirates Stadium.

The post-mortem began straight after full time with England boss Shaun Wane dissecting his team’s performance in the press conference after the game.

But what was the view from those down under?

Well the Daily Telegraph praised star man Jarome Luai not just for his display but how he got under Sam Tomkins’ skin: “Luai was at his spiky best on Saturday at Emirates Stadium in London as he led Samoa to an upset win over England.

“He got under the skin of England captain Sam Tomkins and created havoc with his very touch. In a matter of days he will find himself on the hallowed turf of Old Trafford against some of his closest mates. All up, Penrith will have nearly 10 players between the two sides. The premiers will be well represented and Luai won’t be changing.”

Meanwhile, ZeroTackle said England were left “shell-shocked” by Samoa’s start and said that they were left borken hearted: “Samoa have broken England’s hearts after a golden-point field-goal ended the home nation’s campaign, and flung the 27-26 Samoan victors straight into their maiden World Cup final.”

Fox League picked out the forward pass in Golden Point as the decisive moment: “However, a forward pass out of dummyhalf on the ensuing set gifted Samoa a second chance and this time Crichton made no mistake.”

The NRL website meanwhile picked out Kallum Watkins’ “unhappy” first half display as key.

As for the Sydney Morning Herald, the focused on the fact ex-Wigan Warriors boss Wane was in tears at full time as they cited a “horror” first half as the reason for the defeat.

Lastly, the Canberra Times believed this was England’s best shot at winning a World Cup: “Shaun Wane’s side had arguably never had a better chance to win a tournament or at the very least get to a final.”