France head coach Laurent Frayssinous indicated that the widening gap between the NRL and Super League played a major role 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 to replace injured Deine Mariner and crossed for four of Samoa's 14 tries during a commanding Pool B-C victory in Parramatta.

Mariner opened the scoring, while Benaiah Ioelu grabbed two tries and Jermaine McEwen, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Stephen Crichton, Shawn Blore, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Izack Tago and Francis Molo each added one. France's lone try arrived in the first half through Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet.

Frayssinous said his side looked disorganized during an opening 20 minutes in which Samoa scored five times. Head injuries to winger Leo Darrelatour and stand-off Cesar Rouge added to the problems, although Rouge later returned after assessment.

Asked why the margin exceeded the 62-4 loss to Samoa four years ago, Frayssinous pointed to the NRL talent in the opposition 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 Samoa player is based in the NRL, while France fields mostly Super League players apart from South Sydney Rabbitohs centre Latrell Siegwalt.

"The NRL keeps growing and keeps getting better every year," Frayssinous added. "Watching NRL every year, it is at the top, at the top, at the top. A step up, step up, step up.

"Does that mean Super League is not? No. Super League is getting better every year, but not as fast as the NRL. The smartness, the skill the players show under pressure, the touches, week in, week out, that is something we need to improve in Super League, simple as that."

Frayssinous welcomed the idea of NRL 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 impact after replacing Mariner, who will undergo a hamstring scan, highlighted Samoa's depth, as head coach Ben Gardiner confirmed.

"We were planning for him 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 remain strong favorites for a fourth straight Women's Rugby League World Cup title, yet coach Jess Skinner called for further improvement after a 40-0 win over Samoa in their Pool A opener.

Samoa, appearing at the women's tournament for the first time since 2008, defended stoutly and created chances without scoring, showing more promise than the final score indicated.

Stand-off Jocelyn Kelleher impressed on debut with her kicking, while Australia scored seven tries through Jaime Chapman, Julia Robinson, Shaylee Bent, Keeley Nizza, Olivia Kernick, Keilee Joseph and Jessica Sergis.

Skinner wants Australia to reduce errors ahead of their clash with England in Perth.

"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 urged greater crowd support for the women's matches at the World Cup.

Australia's game at Western Sydney Stadium followed the men's match as part of a double-header, with many spectators leaving before the women's contest.

"Let's get around women in sport, right? All women in sport, particularly at this Rugby League World Cup," Skinner said. "We have a lot of talented women across all the teams and the message would be to stay and support that.

"Something really cool is happening in this generation of sport, with our ladies, and you are going to miss history-making moments at this World Cup, no doubt."