Samoa have lost three starting stars for the rest of the tournament after their 60-6 hammering at the hands of English.
Braden Hamlin-Uele lasted barely ten minutes before limping out with a lower leg injury that will see his World Cup ended before it had really begun.
He was followed off by Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, who suffered a syndesmosis in the first half and played no further part.
Last off was Tyrone May, who dislocated an ankle shortly after the break, causing a long stoppage as the Catalans utlity was stretchered from the field.
Technical problems ruin opening ceremony and cut Aussie broadcast
The World Cup has begun – but got off to an inauspicious start at St James Park in Newcastle with the opening ceremony ahead of England v Samoa marred by repeated losses of sound in the stadium.
Leeds rock group The Kaiser Chiefs were set to perform, only for the PA system to break and leave the band, plus a large group of schoolchildren who were due to take part, standing in silence on the pitch.
The three trophies – men’s, women’s and wheelchair – were intended to be delivered with much fanfare by legends Jason Robinson and Kevin Sinfield, but instead ended up being silently placed on plinths to a bemused audience.
Later, the glitches were resolved in time for the national anthems, though the kick off was delayed as a result.
In the second half, fans around the world lost footage as another technical problem caused an outage on Fox League and the world feed for viewers outside of the UK.
Hughes out of Kiwis opener
The Kiwis have suffered a major blow ahead of their first match with star halfback Jahrome Hughes ruled out with an upper leg injury.
Hughes has a thigh strain and will not be risked against Lebanon. It is not thought to be related to the calf injury that caused him to miss several games this year for the Melbourne Storm.
He will be replaced in the halves by Kieran Foran, who will play halfback alongside Dylan Brown. Foran was initially named on the bench, with his place there now taken by Jeremy Marshall-King, who will make his Kiwis debut.
