Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o walk out at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta on Friday afternoon knowing a loss already makes Samoa’s path to the knockouts awkward. The tournament’s reworked format throws the six teams in groups B and C into a shared ladder: each side plays only the three opponents from the other pool, and when the dust settles the top two in that combined table go through.

For Samoa and France, the maths starts here.

Kick-off is at 5:45pm local time, the first of five cross-pool fixtures that will decide the two semi-finalists alongside the Group A pair.

Samoa’s NRL spine and a captain in form

Toa Samoa named a 23-man squad that reads like an NRL team-sheet. Captain Junior Paulo anchors a pack that includes Spencer Leniu, fresh off a grand final with the Sydney Roosters. The spine is Luai at six, Crichton in the centres and To’o on the wing, with Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Warriors playmaker Chanel Harris-Tavita in reserve.

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Head coach Ben Gardiner has lost prop Payne Haas and back-rower Simi Sasagi to injury, but he still called it the deepest group he has worked with.

“It’s the strongest team we’ve been able to put together since the last World Cup,” Gardiner told the NRL. “We’ve got a real balance of experience and youth and some guys that are in great form.”

Samoa reached the final of the last men’s World Cup in 2022, and the bulk of that squad is back.

France’s Catalans core, with NRL additions

Les Bleus named their squad before anyone else, and head coach Laurent Frayssinous leaned heavily on Super League regulars. Seven of the 23 come from Catalans Dragons, eight from Toulouse Olympique, with Hull KR pair Arthur Mourgue and Jordan Dezaria and Huddersfield’s Mathieu Cozza adding further English top-flight experience.

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The NRL thread is thinner but notable: South Sydney Rabbitohs rookie Latrell Siegwalt is in line to make his France debut at the tournament, joined by former Rabbitoh and Bulldog Louis Grossemy and back-rower Tiaki Chan, brother of Cowboys-bound Joe Chan.

Catalans forward Benjamin Garcia leads the side as captain.

The maths after Thursday night

The tournament is already live. Australia opened their title defence on Thursday with a 24-22 win over New Zealand at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, a hat-trick from debutant Jack Bostock dragging the Kangaroos home after Kalyn Ponga went off with an arm injury.

That result stands apart from Friday night’s game. Group A, with Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Cook Islands, feeds its top two directly into the semi-finals on its own ladder. The combined pool table that Samoa and France are chasing is separate.

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For Samoa, the next assignment after France is a cross-pool trip to Papua New Guinea on 24 October, with Tonga to follow in Parramatta on 1 November. France meet England on 24 October and finish against Lebanon on 1 November.

Lose on Friday and the room for error disappears.

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