Samoa coach Ben Gardiner has backed Ronald Volkman to replace the injured Chanel Harris-Tavita in next Sunday’s Rugby League World Cup semi-final against Australia.
The 24-year-old Parramatta playmaker stepped into the No.6 role during Samoa’s 20-18 defeat by Tonga at CommBank Stadium after Harris-Tavita aggravated his left hamstring in the 53rd minute.
Harris-Tavita, who had missed his second consecutive conversion, immediately limped from the field and did not return to the sideline for the closing stages. He is due to undergo scans.
Volkman made an immediate impact after coming on, scoring a try and helping Samoa take a temporary lead before Addin Fonua-Blake’s late match-winning effort for Tonga.
Gardiner said he had full confidence in the young playmaker ahead of the meeting with Kevin Walters’ Australia side.
“Ronald’s done a great job,” he said. “He did a fantastic job last week for us. He came on at the back end of the game in a slightly different role for a different reason.
“He did a really good job when he came on. I thought he brought great energy. I thought his speed into the line really put pressure on the Tongan team. And we’ve got trust in every player in our team.”
The defeat denied Samoa winning momentum before the knockout stage, although they outscored Tonga four tries to three. Three missed conversions and nine first-half errors, compared with Tonga’s five, proved costly, while Sua Fa’alogo was ruled to have put a foot in touch when appearing to have a chance to score late on.
“We did a good job of scoring tries,” Gardiner said. “We couldn’t convert all of our tries, which is disappointing, but that’s one of those things that happens in rugby league.
“I’m very happy with the performance. Not happy with the fact we didn’t win, but happy with the effort, happy with the intensity and the way that we went about our business for the most part.”
Australia reached the semi-finals after cruising past the Cook Islands 66-6 in Townsville, with Tom Trbojevic scoring a hat-trick. Gardiner acknowledged the Kangaroos’ strong form but believes Samoa’s physically demanding contest with Tonga could help prepare them for the challenge.
“Their form’s been very strong,” he said. “They’ve got fantastic players. They’ve got players that have played a lot of games for the Kangaroos.
“They’re in a really good position at the moment. They’ve won three footy matches on the trot and they’re going to be a really hard side to beat next week.”
Samoa will have seven days to recover from the Pacific clash, an extra day compared with the alternative semi-final schedule. Gardiner said the additional recovery time would be valuable after such an intense match.
“An extra day in any week of rugby league is important,” he said. “I think an extra day adds recovery opportunity.”
