The entire Samoan and England teams will need new jerseys after an all-in scuffle – all 26 players who were on the field – late in their first Test in Wigan.
At the centre of the brouhaha were two firebrands – Roosters enforcer Terrell May for Samoa and St Helens front rower Matty Lees for the hosts. The pair had been in each other’s face for much of the match.
Tensions finally boiled over in the 78th minute and every player from both sides ran in to get involved. Miraculously, no punches were thrown.
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“It’s like something out of the WWF,” Brian Noble said in commentary. It lasted well over a minute before the referee was able to retake control.
Speaking post-match, England coach Shaun Wane said he’d never seen a melee as large as that.
“I thought, there were no punches, but we need a new kit with all the collars being stretched,” he said.
“I’ve never seen nothing like that before but it’s better being safe and having a full squad next week. It’s a different game now, thank God.”
Samoa coach Ben Gardiner almost sounded disappointed fists didn’t fly.
”As you know now, nobody throws punches. It’s all scuffles. A 26-man brawl but nobody threw one. It wasn’t really a brawl,” he said.
“It’s left out on the field and we don’t take anything from that next week. It just happens in footy. I wouldn’t think it’s a big deal.”
England are out for redemption in the two-Test series, having lost to Samoa in the 2022 World Cup semi-final. The hosts scored six tries to three to win the first in the two game series 34-18.
It’s the first time the two sides have ever played a Test series.
Despite being in control for much of the match, Wane said the performance won’t be good enough to trouble the Kangaroos when they travel to Australia for an Ashes series next year.
“We need to be better, if I’m honest – that performance wouldn’t trouble Australia,” he said.
“We know what we need to fix, staff and players.
“It sounds weird after… I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way to Samoa. We need to be better and they’ll say the same thing.
“At the end of the day it’s a Test match and there were 50-odd points scored. Ben (Gardiner) won’t be happy with that.”
For the Samoans, Deine Mariner picked up a double and Gordon Chan Kum Tong scored the other.
Mariner’s second try came on the end of a spectacular hot-potato string of passes from the Samoans. His first was off an interception and 60m run.
The English shared the try-scoring efforts – Herbie Farnworth, George Williams, Victor Radley and Mikey Lewis scoring one each, with only Matty Ashton scoring a double.
The second Test will be played Sunday morning.