A dream come true for Lafai

Samoa made history on Sunday after booking their place in the Rugby League World Semi Final for the first ever time.

Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium played host to a monumental encounter between two proud Pacific Island nations, with Samoa reigning supreme against a Kristian Woolf coached Tonga.

It proved to be third time lucky for Salford Red Devils centre Tim Lafai having been involved in the 2013 and 2017 World Cup with Samoa - which saw them exit the tournament at the Quarter Final stage on both occasions. 

A landmark afternoon for Samoa marked another significant moment in Lafai's career - a career which looked very different 12 months ago. 

After failing to find an NRL contract in 2021, Lafai spent a year out of the game before the Red Devils came calling. A stellar debut season at Salford resulted in a deserved place in the 2022 Betfred Super League Dream Team for Lafai, before earning a late call up into a star-studded Samoa World Cup squad during the group stages of the competition.

"It's a dream come true," admitted Lafai after Samoa's historic win against Tonga. 

"In the two World Cups I've played in we've never made it past the quarters. Now being called back into the squad after having a year off, coming over here, I'm truly blessed. 

"To put on this blue jersey, it means everything to me. Representing my family - my wife, my kids, mum and dad, sisters, and brother back home and all my people."

? WOW

Samoa and Tonga leave Warrington shaking after facing off ahead of this massive quarter-final clash.

This is unmissable.#RLWC2021 | #TONSAM pic.twitter.com/uxaVSYaOoh
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) November 6, 2022

As expected, it was a bruising encounter between Samoa and Tonga, which began with a spine-tingling pre-match face off as both sides staged their cultural performances simultaneously before kick-off.

That set the tone for what many are claiming to be the game of the tournament so far, with Samoa's class eventually coming up trumps. 

"We knew it was going to be physical but I'm really sore from that one! They made us work for every point but I'm glad we could give the fans what they wanted. Big wraps to Tonga for coming out firing and huge wraps to my boys for getting the dub."

Samoa's historic win now sets up a mouth-watering rematch against England at the Emirates Stadium in the Men's Semi-Final this Saturday.

The two sides met in the opening game of the Rugby League World Cup as England stormed to victory - but the result is expected to be a lot closer the second time around.

"We know England are favourites for this campaign - they deserve it. They've been firing in every game, even in the quarters they wiped PNG away. It's going to be a tough ask, but we've got to focus on us this week and the little things we can fix."