England v Samoa: RFL to stream and charge for game in Australia

England's challenge at the Four Nations was ended by a defeat by Australia

The Rugby Football League (RFL) is to stream next month's match between England and Samoa in New South Wales on its website and charge fans to watch it, after turning down offers from broadcasters to show the fixture.

Fans must pay at least £3.49 to watch the match on 6 May.

RFL chief commercial officer Roger Draper said talks had taken place with "a number of organisations".

But he added: "The terms offered were not considered acceptable."

The game against Samoa - England's last before this year's World Cup - will be the headline event of a Pacific triple-header at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

"We value the rights for our national team significantly higher than any of the offers and, therefore, felt that the right decision for this Test was to take it into our own hands and stream the game," said Draper.

The BBC was one of the organisations to have spoken to the RFL about broadcasting the match.

A BBC spokesperson said: "We do not provide comment on rights negotiations."

Fans, responding to the RFL posting the news on Twitter, were critical of the decision.

Many claimed the game's administrators were ignoring a chance to take the game to new fans.

The 2017 World Cup will take place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, starting in October.