Australia have retained the Rugby League World Cup title courtesy of a 30-10 victory over Samoa in the final at Old Trafford this afternoon.
Man-of-the-match James Tedesco touched down twice for the Kangaroos, while Latrell Mitchell also helped himself to a brace and Liam Martin and Cameron Murray went over for the champions as well.
First-time finalists Samoa offered signs of a fightback in the second half, with Brian To'o and Stephen Crichton scoring historic tries for the Pacific Islanders.
However, they rarely looked like reeling Australia back in as Mal Meninga's side continued their remarkable record at the Rugby League World Cup by lifting the trophy for a 12th time from the last 15 editions of the tournament.
Australia built up a 14-0 lead by half time courtesy of scores from Mitchell, Tedesco and Martin, and they extended that advantage through Murray's try after 52 minutes.
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To'o went over on the hour mark to ensure that Samoa would not get whitewashed on their first-ever World Cup final appearance, while semi-final hero Crichton added another try to his personal tally 10 minutes later.
However, those came either side of Tedesco's second which kept Samoa at arm's length, and Mitchell capped off the victory in fitting fashion with Australia's sixth try of the final right at the death.
Australia have now won nine of the last 10 World Cups including the last three in a row, winning 18 straight matches on the biggest stage since losing the 2008 final against New Zealand on home soil.
The Kangaroos' triumph completed a hugely successful day for the nation, whose women's team were also crowned world champions courtesy of victory over New Zealand earlier in the day.
Barney Corkhill
