Wakefield Trinity star surprised to receive call-up to World Cup
Wakefield Trinity star Jazz Tevaga has admitted he was surprised to be chosen for the Samoa squad for the Rugby League World Cup.
Tevaga enjoyed a successful first season with the Wakefield club, both personally and being part of a Super League Grand Final winning team.
But after coming to England he expected he would be left out of the World Cup squad and was actually celebrating his club’s fantastic triumph when he was informed of his selection.
Tevaga – the only Trinity player to be at the World Cup after injuries cost a number of players their chance to be in the England team – said the team’s celebrations after the Grand Final went on for four days and he nearly missed the international opportunity.
He explained: “The missus, she wasn’t too happy, to be honest, because she had to do all the packing.
“She literally had to pull me out of the pub because we had the flight the next day.
"So I was almost this close to pulling the pin on the World Cup because I was so stuck in the parade and celebrations.”
"I actually wasn’t expecting the call from Ben (Gardiner, Samoa coach), but when I got it, of course I couldn’t say no.
“He called me a couple of weeks ago and let me know that I was sort of in contention. So once he gave me the call, I sort of cut back on the beers and locked in!”
Tevaga had feared his move to Super League would signal the end of his international career.
The 31-year-old, whose 162-game NRL career came to an end in 2025, will make his first appearance at the tournament since 2017.
He added: “That was an in-house joke last year.
“The boys were sort of saying that was my last tour before I headed over to the Super League.
"So when I got back, when I come back into camp, the boys were like, ‘He’s back! This is the real farewell tour!’”
Tevaga was selected on the bench when Samoa opened their tournament against France at the CommBank Stadium last Friday and will be hoping to retain his place in the squad for the second game against Papua New Guinea this Saturday.
He featured in Samoa’s 2017 World Cup campaign, when the Pacific nation reached the quarter-final, but missed the 2022 tournament as the side went on a remarkable run to the final, where they were beaten by Australia.
Controversially the down under World Cup is being shown exclusively on pay channel Premier Sports after the BBC decided not to broadcast the tournament for the first time in more than 50 years.