WELL that one was tough to take. I’m obviously talking about the England's semi final exit from the Rugby League World Cup after losing to Samoa in dramatic style.

The writing was possibly on the wall straight from the off as England went behind for the first time in the tournament, but we more than had our chances to progress to the big finale on Saturday at Old Trafford.

England certainly saved their worst performance till last, with too many unforced errors ultimately costing us the game.

Who would have believed that this was the same Samoan side that we beat 60-6 in the opening fixture a month ago.

However, one thing we did know they were only going to get better as the competition went on, which they proved in their Quarter Final defeat of Tonga.

England boss Shaun Wane was a broken man at the end of the game, blaming himself for the defeat. I don’t agree. Whatever your opinions on his selections, there was still enough ability out there and opportunities to beat Samoa on Saturday. Waney doesn’t miss tackles, drop balls, throw forward passes…defeat can only lie with the players.

The frustrating bit, is despite playing poorly, and spending most of the game chasing, we always managed to come up with a special play to keep the dream alive. We got back to 26-26 at full time, taking the game into golden point and sudden death.

Unfortunately this period saw some of England's biggest errors, putting ourselves under enormous pressure and ultimately costing us the game and the opportunity to face Australia in the final. It was Samoa’s Stephen Crichton kicking the all important drop goal that took Samoa to their first ever World Cup Final.

World Cups are the pinnacle of any sport, and I think a lot of rugby league fans really did believe the home side would make the final and although the Aussies are rightly pre-tournament favourites, one big performance could have put us in the history books.

A big part of this current squad are heading towards the twilight of their careers and won’t be around come the next RLWC to be held in France in 2025. It really will hurt these players and will no doubt live with them as a missed opportunity to do something special.

Aside from some under-par performances I thought there was some players who stood up.

I thought Elliott Whitehead led from the front, both in attack and defence running his blood to water, typified by his drop goal charge down in extra time.

Also, as I spoke about in my column last week, Saints' Tommy Makinson continues to shine on the biggest stage. I thought he was again exceptional.

His backfield carries are outstanding and really do get the team starting attacking sets on the front foot. As well as this, he was deadly with the boot...kicking some very high pressure goal kicks, especially the last one to take the game into extra time.

Also, there were some very big positives from England's point of view in regards to some of the young stars to emerge on the international stage.

Players like Farnworth, Young and Welsby will all be better players from this experience and will no doubt be the cornerstones of this England team for years to come.

So on to the final it is for Samoa and Australia. Tier two vs tier one for the first time ever, and Samoa boss Matt Parish wasn’t hiding his delight and how proud he was of his players who were ‘inspirational and passionate’ in his words.

Personally I think it will be a massive ask to do the same against the world champions this Saturday on the back of such a physically and mentally demanding match.

I think the Aussies have still got a lot more in the tank, certainly in regards to performance from what we have seen so far. However, what we did see in their Semi final win over New Zealand is their ability to be clinical under pressure and come up with the big plays when needed.

Betfred have the Aussies 1/10 to win the final with underdogs Samoa at 6/1.

It could easily be a one-sided affair for Tedesco, Ado-Carr and Co, especially if Australia start quick and post points early.

I’m going for an Aussie win by 20 points or more which is evens at Betfred.