Wales: Survive Samoa scare
Wales kept their World Cup quarter-final hopes alive after seeing off Samoa 17-10 at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Sunday.
Trailing by four points (6-10) at half-time, Wales dug deep to deny the Samoans victory thanks to a try by wing Shane Williams thirteen minutes from full-time which proved to be the match-winner.
After major upsets in 1991 and 1999 against Samoa, it was Wales' first victory over their bogey team at a World Cup tournament.
The win, following their 16-17 opening loss to South Africa, puts Wales in the box seat to qualify second from Pool D with a likely quarter-final against Six Nations rivals Ireland.
However Wales were given a scare or two along the way and it looked as if Warren Gatland's reign as coach could be brought to an end in his hometown of Hamilton.
In bright and breezy conditions at a packed Waikato Stadium, James Hook's early penalty from the halfway line went narrowly wide and Samoa passed up a golden chance when Sailosi Tagicakibau spilled a low pass just metres from the tryline.
Wales suffered a blow when flanker Danny Lydiate limped off in just the 11th minute to be replaced by Andy Powell. But Hook was gifted an easy three points when Maurie Faasavalu high-tackled pivot Rhys Priestland.
Jamie Roberts crossed on 14 minutes but was brought back for a forward pass and Priestland missed his third drop-goal of the World Cup, before Samoa full-back Paul Williams levelled the scores with a well-struck penalty.
Samoa's forwards disintegrated under a powerful Welsh scrum to give Hook another penalty to make it 6-3.
Despite clearly having issues in the scrum, the Samoans had no such problems in the breakdown - with their pack happy to hammer away around the fringes of the breakdown to drive Wales back.
And they were left frustrated when an 18-phase spell ended with Fa'asavalu burrowing over from close range, only for the flanker to be pinged for a double movement.
A missed penalty from Williams soon after did little to lift the mood of the Samoans.
However, Samoa had the final say in the first half as their forwards took control and they dealt Wales an enormous hit when another crunching attack culminated in a try to prop Anthony Perenise's on the stroke of half-time. Williams' conversion gave the islanders a 10-6 half-time lead.
Hook was replaced by Leigh Halfpenny at half-time after a shoulder injury and the Welsh reduced the margin to 10-9 when Priestland's penalty fortuitously bounced off the crossbar and over.
The Wales backs were suddenly in the game and centre Jonathan Davies had the tryline at his mercy when a long cross-field kick bounced off his legs, but Priestland then kicked them 12-10 ahead after a ruck infringement.
And Wales were again rewarded for their greater endeavour when Halfpenny broke down the left and fed Davies, whose one-handed pass was gathered off the floor by Williams for his 55th Test try, 13 minutes from the end.
Samoa regrouped and continued to hammer away at the Wales line but they couldn't find a way through. Samoa's forwards massed for one final assault but the attempt was undone when number eight George Stowers lost control of the ball at the tryline.
Wales survive to fight another day.
Man of the match: Sam Warburton did some great work for Wales at key moments, and he was at the forefront of his team's effort, however it's hard to look past Welsh Wizard Shane Williams whose try allowed his team to breathe a little easier.
The scorers:
For Wales:
Try: Williams
Pens: Hook 2, Priestland 2
For Samoa:
Try: Perenise
Con: Williams
Pen: Williams
Wales: 15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Scott Williams, 22 Leigh Halfpenny.
Samoa: 15 Paul Williams, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 George Pisi, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 George Stowers, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Kane Thompson, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Mahonri Schwalger (c), 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Ti'i Paulo, 17 Census Johnston, 18 Joe Tekori, 19 Taiasina Tuifu'a, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu, 22 Tasesa Lavea.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Comments
kmacwaikato says...
@sirjona...EAT my shorts, well chew my Lavalava pal, manu played brilliantly for a nation with less than 500,000 people, all credit to Wales they played well and took there chances, The welsh fans were fantastic and a great time in hamiltron for all supporters was had. My friend when rugby union is even close to being the number one sport in your country then you can lecture on how to support the game. Go Samoa and go Wales a great game from two fierce world cup rivals we will get you fullas next time!
Posted 09:57 18th September 2011
Sasquatch says...
@Sirjona;
So people in the "civilised world" mock and insult a rugby team and it's supporters with childish rants like "EAT MY SHORTS". We in the SH make as much noise as possible during opposition place kicks. It's part of home ground advantage and it happens all the time in Tri- nations and Super games. Deal with it poopy pants.
Posted 09:28 18th September 2011
rugbylover11 says...
re: sirjona
Samoa deserves some respect. They had a 3 day break compared to your week or more. The reason why wales found it hard was because the samoans were contesting the ball and marking them well. At the end, wales should be congratulated, they should win after all they were 16 players the whole match as I said somewhere else.
This was the same ref that conducted the match between samoa and scotland last year. With one minute left and the score equal, he was still looking for a way to give scotland the match. And it was the right moment when there was a maul at the last minute, he suddenly penalised the samoan lock who lifted up his hands in confusion for he didn't do anything wrong. He called him the "nr 8" when the lock came in as a replacement so his number was not 8 hehehe!!! He tried to convince the samoa captain but everyone saw the decision was wrong.
The ref that was in charge of the england vs georgia game, can be rightly labelled as a great ref. He is from SA. He has always been neutral since he started doing the international job.
First try for samoa was the nr 8, the ball touched the line but the ref was in the wrong spot. Second try was by nr 7, ref said double movement. If it was a double movement, then the welsh try by their nr 8 against the Bok was also a double movement. Scrum mistakes and wrong decisions by the ref was another factor. One penalty in the last half against samoa was a gift for wales. The ball was already out onto the samoan side.
So are the ulterior motives of some refs that can't be hidden.
Having said that, congratulation to the welsh, they were nervous from the beginning. With their same team from the game against the Bok, they were being blessed with a win. Is time to change the history of their WC campaigns. At least their hope for a QF place is still there.
Posted 09:26 18th September 2011
RugbyLocos says...
Samoa awesome !!! - close to knocking Wales out again, and certainly deserve to be in the tri-nations set up ahead of Argentina. They'll be up for it against the boks - should be a great game also. Worrying times again for Wales with Hook and Lydiate injuries.
Posted 09:15 18th September 2011
Roddyo says...
Excellent Wales and thanks and respect to Samoa for another great game. If either of these sides were in one of the weak groups like Englands they would both progress. Great to see Wales so fit.
Posted 08:57 18th September 2011
coronach says...
enjoyed that match; was hoping for a 17-17 draw towards the end.
Samoa, Canada, Georgia all play today after playing on Wednesday, their opponents have all had 7-8 days between matches.
Must keep these tier two teams in their place!
Posted 08:50 18th September 2011
7nezking says...
what a shame Manu Samoa ran out steam, not because Wales were hammering them but more because they rarely used positional kicking to touch but instead multiplied the phases. You also can't neglect the fact that the Samoans played mid-week whereas Wales had a full week to recover.
But Wales did a lot of mistakes and were really shaky at line-outs,
@ sirjona, don't tell me you guys in the NH never try to disturb the kicker...I've always seen it done in the 6N and TOP14
Posted 08:47 18th September 2011
exdigger says...
Well done Wales. Should have been 2 from 2...
Posted 07:51 18th September 2011
J_HDK says...
Samoa V SA will be interesting. Particularly the hard hits going in on SA in their final group game could result in a few injuries for a probable QF appearance against Aus.
@Powerplay - I didn't see the game. But that image of the tackle on Priestland looks pretty high to me.
Posted 07:49 18th September 2011
mana says...
once again another gutsy performance by Manu,....well played.oh,yea good on ya,boyos.
Posted 07:06 18th September 2011
Guffa says...
Proper game of rugby, Samoa are becoming an excellent and complete team (contrary to condescending and ill informed commentary a lot of the time), so Llongyfarchiadau Cymru for toughing out the first half and turning the screw in the second, especially with injuries and disruption at the moment. Fair play to Halfpenny, with little rugby under his belt recently, he was superb under a lot of pressure and obviously turned the game with his break for the try. Now for bloody Fiji......
Posted 07:01 18th September 2011
Peterpump says...
Well done Wales,Not there best performance but it was good enough.
Bring on Namibia and Fiji
Posted 06:57 18th September 2011
PontySurrey says...
Agree MelkDave - what a match. Had a bad feeling until the last 20 minutes when the Samoans ran out of steam. This group has got a long way to go!
Posted 06:47 18th September 2011
benc says...
Phew squeaky bum time for Wales but just about deserved after last weeks disappointment. If all goes to plan Wales v Ireland would be a cracker
Posted 06:41 18th September 2011
round15 says...
Well done Wales we didnt play as well as we did against South Africa but we learnt from last week it all about winning. Full credit to Manu Samoa what a quality side think the tri nations soon to be four nations have got to increase it again to get you guys playing regularly.
Posted 06:34 18th September 2011
sirjona says...
Island power etc EAT MY SHORTS don't you SH teams think its about time you learnt some respect in the civilized world we give the kicker silence. Come to Cardiff on match day and you will hear announcements asking for respect. And by the way five times over the top and all your men still on the pitch how lucky you are. Consider yourself educated by the magician that is Shane Williams, as for Tuilagi , in my eyes no great shakes.
Posted 06:33 18th September 2011
melkdave says...
That was some match Samoa battled for everythng Wales just had enough but it was close to say the least .Well done both teams for annother spectacular game in this RWC
Posted 06:26 18th September 2011