France head coach Laurent Frayssinous suggested the growing gap between the NRL and Super League was a huge factor in Friday's 78-4 defeat by Samoa at the Men's Rugby League World Cup.
Melbourne storm winger Sua Fa'alogo came off the bench as a replacement for the injured Deine Mariner to score four of Samoa's 14 tries in an emphatic Pool B-C victory in Parramatta.
Mariner had opened the scoring, with two tries for Benaiah Ioelu and one each for Jermaine McEwen, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Stephen Crichton, Shawn Blore, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Izack Tago and Francis Molo. France's sole try came in the first half from Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet.
Frayssinous admitted his team were "all over the shop" in an opening 20 minutes where Samoa scored five times - with France not helped by head injuries to winger Leo Darrelatour and stand-off Cesar Rouge, although the latter was able to return after an assessment.
But, asked why France had fallen to an even heavier defeat than the 62-4 loss they suffered against Samoa in Warrington at the last World Cup four years ago, Frayssinous pointed to the level of NRL talent in the opposing ranks.
"I have a question for you," Frayssinous said. "Do you think the NRL is far better now than four years ago? Then you have the answer."
All but one of the Samoa squad are with clubs in the NRL, while France's team is largely made up of Super League players, although they do have South Sydney Rabbitohs centre Latrell Siegwalt in their line-up.
"The NRL keeps growing and keeps getting better every year," Frayssinous added. "Watching NRL every year, it's at the top, at the top, at the top. A step up, step up, step up.
"Does that mean Super League isn't? No. Super League is [getting] better every year, but not as fast as the NRL. The smartness, the skill the guys have under pressure, the touches, week in, week out, that's something we need to improve in Super League, simple as that."
Frayssinous made clear he would welcome the NRL's proposed investment in Super League.
"Definitely," he said. "What the NRL has done here is so good, what they bring to the game is great, so we want the NRL to do it the same in Europe."
Fa'alogo's performance as a replacement for Mariner - who will have a scan on a hamstring strain - demonstrated Samoa's strength in depth, as their head coach Ben Gardiner acknowledged.
"We were planning for him [Fa'alogo] to play at some stage, and he just got on a bit earlier than he probably would have thought," Gardiner said. "And to his credit, he went out and had a blinder."
Australia are widely expected to win a fourth successive Women's Rugby League World Cup, but a 40-0 victory over Samoa in their Pool A opener still had head coach Jess Skinner seeking improvement - in the stands as well as on the pitch.
Samoa, playing at the women's World Cup for the first time since 2008, were much better than the scoreline suggested, defending their try-line superbly and causing the co-hosts problems without being able to convert pressure into points.
Stand-off Jocelyn Kelleher was the standout Australia player on her debut - her kicking game was superb - and the defending champions scored seven tries without reply, through Jaime Chapman, Julia Robinson, Shaylee Bent, Keeley Nizza, Olivia Kernick, Keilee Joseph and Jessica Sergis.
Skinner, though, wants to see Australia cut out errors before they face England in Perth a week on Saturday.
"There are lots of work-ons for us moving forward," Skinner said. "It was a little bit scrappy at times.
"We need to work on our starts, and we need some high finishes to end our sets and probably some strong defence in the first three tackles. But overall, there were lots of little wins to be proud of."
Skinner also called on the crowds to be more supportive of the women's game at this World Cup.
Australia's opener at Western Sydney Stadium in Parramatta was staged as the second part of a double-header with the men's match between France and Samoa - with a number of fans not staying to watch the defending champions.
"Let's get around women in sport, right? All women in sport, particularly at this Rugby League World Cup," Skinner said. "We've got a lot of talented women across all the teams and the message would be to stay and support that.
"Something really cool's happening in this generation of sport, with our ladies, and you're going to miss history-making moments at this World Cup, no doubt."