England were left broken hearted at the Emirates Stadium last weekend when Stephen Crichton’s Golden Point drop goal sealed Samoa’s place in a first ever Rugby League World Cup Final at England’s expense despite the fact Shaun Wane’s side had beaten them 60-6 in the opening game.
Many dissected what went wrong for England afterwards and it was easy to pinpoint the errors made in extra time as the reason behind the defeat.
But in doing so, the execution of the drop goal and the brilliant plan behind it was overlooked.
Speaking on the Rugby League World Cup Twitter page, Crichton has broken down how Samoa caught England out.
“Leading into that drop kick, I said ‘if you get pressured, I’m on your right, just in case you think they’re going to charge it down,'” he said.
“So came into full time I nudged him ‘I’ll be on you right just in case you get pressured.’
“I didn’t know if Chanel was going to pass it straight to me or if it would be from Milf to me.
“That drop kick doesn’t get pulled off if Milford isn’t standing in the right place, they all thought he was getting the ball and the dummy half pass, perfect 20 metre pass, just for me to hit so, it wasn’t just the drop kick.
“Shows the emotion of the boys turning the tournament.
“It was taking ages to go through the posts, I was watching the ref and then the boys were jumping all over me.”
🇼🇸 The Golden Point
Stephen Crichton talks us through the drop goal that wrote his name into rugby league history.
Samoa will play in their first ever Rugby League World Cup final on Saturday – can the side produce more heroics to lift the trophy at Old Trafford?#RLWC2021 pic.twitter.com/Q7dLsozFNG
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) November 16, 2022
