It’s fair to say that Rugby League has gone viral with a moment from the England and Samoa Test being viewed over 1,000,000 times.
In the first meeting of a two-Test series that has been sold as a chance for England to get ‘revenge’ on Samoa after the brutal World Cup semi-final exit back in 2022, the game certainly met its billing.
England would win 34-18 with relative comfort, particularly given two of the Samoa tries were long-distance scores but that margin of victory didn’t mean a lack of intensity.
Much of that stemmed from the brilliant and passionate Siva Tau that Samoa performed ahead of the game with Samoa laying down the challenge to England.
That was met by all of the England squad but some more than others with Man of Steel Mikey Lewis going head to head with Gordon Chan Kum Tong, whilst Morgan Knowles wasn’t one to back down either.
Both Lewis and Chan Kum Tong would score and the pair shared an embrace after the game, referencing their intense moment – a moment that has now been viewed over 1,000,000 times.
Rugby League goes viral with Mikey Lewis moment seen by over 1,000,000
Credit: Paul Currie/SWpix.com & BBC
It’s rare that Rugby League goes viral but when it does it is often for spectacular tries or try-saving tackles. This time, it was for that Siva Tau.
With the game broadcast on BBC Two and therefore free-to-air, over half a million viewers will have watched the incident live but it has since been shared countless times on social media.
Just on BBC official accounts, the moment has been watched over 1,000,000 times with TikTok accounting for a whopping 984,200 of those.
X, formerly Twitter, boasts impressive figures of 129,000 whilst it’s also across both Facebook and Instagram.
Notwithstanding all the unofficial accounts sharing the footage, it is safe to say that Rugby League has truly gone viral which is something that we may be able to measure this time next week.
That’s because the viewing figures for Sunday’s games have been confirmed with X account Rugby League On TV sharing the details.
They have reported that an average audience of 513,000 watched that game, representing a 7.2% audience share. There was also a peak audience of 682,000 which is another impressive figure.
This rendition of the Siva Tau was so intense! 😯#BBCRL pic.twitter.com/JJ48OzZKIB
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 27, 2024
However, those numbers are less than half of those who have watched the Siva Tau on other social media platforms and Rugby League bosses will be hoping that even just a small percentage of those viewers come across to watch Saturday’s game.
Saturday will be a double-header at Headingley with England Women hosting Wales before Shaun Wane’s side face off against Samoa in the second and final Test.
The Women’s match will be broadcast on BBC Two from 11:30 am and runs till 2 pm at which point viewers will be asked to cross over to BBC One to watch the Men’s match.
After the intensity of the first match, the massively viral moment, and the news that the Ashes could be held in England next year, Rugby League will be hoping to capitalise and draw in massive viewing figures.
