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Emiliano Boffelli leads Argentina to World Cup win over Samoa

By PA
uan Cruz Mallia of Argentina applauds the fans at full-time following the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Argentina and Samoa at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on September 22, 2023 in Saint-Etienne, France. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Emiliano Boffelli was the difference-maker as Argentina survived a late charge to beat Samoa and reignite their World Cup campaign.

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With the Pumas losing to England in their opening Pool D fixture, they needed to beat Samoa to keep alive realistic hopes of progressing into the knockout stages.

They did that with an attritional 19-10 win in Saint-Etienne, with Boffelli delivering all the points.

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Any pre-match pressures were eased when Samoa’s Duncan Paia’aua was sent to the sin-bin in the opening minute of the match.

His absence was felt as Argentina hit the front with Boffelli going over in the corner before converting the try.

Three successful penalties from the Edinburgh winger followed, with a Christian Leali’ifano penalty getting Samoa on the board in the first half.

Samoa’s defence held firm in the latter stages as they pushed to get back into the game and Sama Malolo’s try – converted by Alai D’Angelo Leuila – put the cat among the pigeons.

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Points Flow Chart

Argentina win +9
Time in lead
74
Mins in lead
0
91%
% Of Game In Lead
0%
42%
Possession Last 10 min
58%
3
Points Last 10 min
7

However, Argentina, who finished fourth at the 2015 World Cup but failed to get out of the pool stage in Japan four years ago, held on and wrapped up the win through Nicolas Sanchez’s penalty.

The loss to England presented the possibility of another early exit but securing the points here gives them hope of continuing on and they now face South American rivals Chile in Nantes next Saturday.

Samoa, meanwhile, will now need results against potentially both Japan and England if they are to build on their winning start against Chile.

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Comments

2 Comments
B
Btroy 387 days ago

Boffelli is the academy award winner for his head contact "hollywood" and when tackled with his back turned...the pain was so severe he wouldn't accept a hand up from the tackler... thank goodness he recovered and miraculously played on...

J
Jmann 388 days ago

Listening to the commentators in this game pointing to Samoa's population - suggesting how amazing it is they compete at such a high level. For goodness sake 23 of the Samoan squad are New Zealanders or Australian. Born. bred and part of their rugby systems.

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