Deine Mariner remains “confident” he scored what would have been a crucial try on the stroke of half-time but has refused to blame the Bunker for Samoa’s loss to New Zealand as his side turns its attention to next year’s World Cup.
Samoa scored the first two tries in Sunday’s Pacific Championships final but was overrun in the second half as the Kiwis stormed home to win 36-14.
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The men in blue went into the sheds ahead 14-6 after a late penalty goal, but it could’ve been 18-6 after Mariner was denied a try in the corner even though replays suggested he fought his way through three defenders to get the ball down.
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Ashley Klein sent it upstairs as a no try and the Bunker didn’t have the evidence to overturn the live ruling, much to the disappointment of the 28,000 fans in attendance.
“I’m pretty confident I scored that. I don’t know how your arm can be over the try line but the ball doesn’t touch the ground. I felt it and I tried to celebrate, but I was still held down,” Mariner said after the game.
“When you’re in the moment, it’s one of those things where you just have to flush it.
“It’s tough, but the decision is up to the Bunker and the referees. They’re going to make mistakes sometimes, but at the same time, they make right calls. I knew I scored it, but I just had to get on with it and move on.
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“When I’m on the wing, I’ll do anything to get over the line. I was trying to use momentum to get there. It was a 50-50 decision the Bunker had to make and it didn’t go our way. It’s all good.
“It was a ‘what if’ (moment) but we still had a lead going into half-time. We still had 40 minutes to play, so whether I scored or not, we still had a full half to play footy. I don’t think it was a big moment – it was just a try that wasn’t awarded.”
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While Samoa faded late, the 2022 World Cup finalists loom as a major threat to Australia’s crown at next year’s tournament with stars like Stephen Crichton, Spencer Leniu, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and possibly Tino Fa’asuamaleaui all set to come in.
Results against top teams like Australia, New Zealand and England haven’t come over the past few years, but coach Ben Gardiner can see that things are heading in the right direction for the game’s showpiece event.
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“We’d like another crack at everyone. That’s what the World Cup is about – you get to challenge yourself against the best,” he said.
“At the moment, we’re a little bit away from being the best, but we want to put our best foot forward against the best teams in the world.
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“I think that when we put our best team on the paddock and we have everyone available at the right time, we’re going to be able to go out there and challenge those teams and put some pressure to see what they’re made of.
“We’ve made no secret of the fact that we’ve been working towards getting to the World Cup to put our best foot forward.
“I thought this tournament was putting our best forward. The improvement that we showed in comparison to where we were in the Pacific Championships in the first year I coached and then when we went to England last year, I think we’ve taken massive steps forward.”
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