The widening gap between the haves and have nots of international rugby was brutally displayed again as the Wallabies opened their Test season with a 74-7 thrashing of Samoa.

Hard on the heels of New Zealand's 91-0 drubbing of Fiji, an Australian side missing a bevy of first choice players came home with a head of steam to record their highest tally against the Samoans in four Tests played between the sides.

The Samoans' brave defeat at the hands of England at the 2003 World Cup became a distant memory as Rocky Elsom and Mark Chisholm capped their starting debuts with tries and Stirling Mortlock, Wendell Sailor and Nathan Sharpe each scored doubles.

Matt Giteau also controlled the midfield beautifully in his 57 minutes at five-eighth.

But it was a result hard to celebrate with the Samoans relying on a group of players largely drawn from Island club ranks and Europe with out much preparation or financial support.

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones talked up a contest before the match but reality hit home after a bright start from the visitors, Australia scoring 12 tries to one in the last 58 minutes.

Jones said after the game it was vital that the International Rugby Board started helping out island teams like Samoa.

"Those three countries - Fiji, Tonga and Samoa are of great importance to world rugby but it has to be driven by the IRB," Jones said.

"The thing is you'd like Samoa to be able to compete better in Test matches likes this.

"To do that they have to have the resources to run better programs in Samoa and they have to have the resources to be able to bring back players from overseas."

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