2014 Four Nations: Australia v Samoa preview

Australia will head into their last round-robin clash against Samoa on Sunday knowing exactly what they must do to reach the Four Nations final.

After claiming their first victory of the competition against England last weekend, the world champions edging out Steve McNamara's side in a controversial 16-12 triumph, the Kangaroos moved up to third in the Four Nations ladder.

Now all four teams enter their final round-robin matches with a chance of making the Four Nations showpiece in Wellington.

England, who saw off Samoa in their tournament opener, travel to Dunedin on Saturday to face New Zealand, with the Kiwis currently the only unbeaten side in the competition.

Should England prevail by 10 points or more against New Zealand they will take top spot and secure a place in the November 15 final, although a victory of nine points or fewer will leave the door open for the Kangaroos to leapfrog them.

Similarly, if England win, Australia will have the opportunity to overtake New Zealand, although the Kangaroos' minus 14 points difference means they will face a sizeable task against a spirited Samoan side, who are gunning for their first victory after pushing England and the Kiwis to the brink.

An England victory would rule Samoa out of the running, but should New Zealand win and the Pacific Islanders pull off a shock victory over the Kanagroos they could make an unexpected appearance in the final.

Papalii promoted

Josh Papalii has been promoted to the Australia starting line-up for Sunday’s crucial match against Samoa in Wollongong.

Canberra forward Papalii was among the replacements in Sunday’s win over England but he has been handed the No 10 shirt by Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens.

"That first game, we just got rolled over by New Zealand, we started to get our stuff together for England and, this time, we know it is not going to be any easier," Papalii said.

"Front row is a pretty basic position and you just have to run hard and tackle hard. Hopefully, I can deliver for the boys and come away with a win."

Sam Thaiday switches back to his normal slot in the second row after being used as a makeshift prop for Australia’s last two fixtures, with regular front-rowers Matt Scott, James Tamou and Paul Gallen ruled out through injury or suspension.

Sheens has also drafted uncapped Penrith full-back Matt Moylan into his 20-man squad as part of an extended bench.

Samoa coach Matt Parish has recalled Reni Maitua from suspension for a place on an extended bench that also includes St Helens’ Mose Masoe.

Australia: G Inglis; J Mansour, M Jennings, D Walker, S Mata'utia; D Cherry-Evans, C Cronk; A Woods, C Smith (capt), J Papalii, S Thaiday, G Bird, C Parker
Interchange: B Cordner, R Farah, A Guerra, R Hoffman, B Hunt, D Klemmer, M Moylan

Samoa: T Simona; A Winterstein, T Lafai, J Leilua, D Vidot; B Roberts, K Stanley; I Liu, P Godinet, D Fa'alogo (capt), F Pritchard, L Ah Mau, J McGuire
Interchange:  D Lui, R Maitua, S Sue, M Masoe, J Sene-Lefao, T Moga