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Rugby World Cup

Fiji heroics against England inspired Samoa in heartbreaking loss

By PA

334 days ago

Samoa's prop Michael Ala'alatoa (C) leads the haka performance before the pre-World Cup rugby union test match between Ireland and Samoa on August 26, 2023 at Jean-Dauger stadium in Bayonne. (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP) (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua wants his players to be more clinical at the World Cup, having been inspired by Fiji’s historic Twickenham win over England earlier on Saturday.

Samoa came close to claiming their own historic win against World No.1s Ireland, only to ulimately fall to a 17-13 defeat in miserable conditions in Bayonne.

Second-half tries from Conor Murray and Rob Herring saw Ireland scrape a record 13th straight win after Samoa threatened an upset at Stade Jean Dauge by battling back to lead following Jimmy O’Brien’s maiden Test score.

Mapusua’s men complete their Pool D campaign against Steve Borthwick’s side in Lille in early October.

“There’s definitely a lot to take from today,” he said. “We’ll take a lot of confidence out of that.

“A harsh lesson to learn but we’ve got to nail our opportunities when we get them.

“At the World Cup, we might only get one (chance) in a game, so we’ll definitely take those lessons on board.

“Seeing Fiji not just beat England but in the manner they did, was really inspiring for all of us Pacific islands.

“It’s encouraging to see where our teams in the Pacific are heading. It was awesome to see them make history today.

additional reporting RugbyPass

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1 Comment

Flatcoat 332 days ago

Go well Samoa..

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SK 26 minutes ago

The 'massive challenge' seperating All Blacks and Sprigboks transitions

SA will transition in stages. Through the PONI program they have already begun their transition. They will need to develop 15-20 players in the next three years and put 20 to 40 caps on each of these players while phasing out the guys no longer relevant. I reckon they have already started that with bringing in several youngsters or fringe players in and giving them caps. Then through their structures and alignment camps they have identified a group to select from going forward. Transition will happen in phases and I reckon this year we will see just a handful of new faces which we already have. The largest change will come in 2026 where you will see all 15-20 new players lining up regularly picking up caps. Whether its enough to win in 2027 is anyones guess but I would say they will be in a similar position to France heading into last years world cup. I think the teams most likely to peak in 2027 will be the All Blacks, France and England as they are already building around a young core and will be the most experienced and cohesive groups going into 2027. Ofcourse SA will retain a core group of their golden generation but whether or not they win in 2027 will depend on how they transition.

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SK 38 minutes ago

There's only one answer to the Springboks' fly-half conundrum

Libbok is the best all court player, he has the most slick distribution and knows how to put players in space but lets be honest, Libbok could not hit a barn door with a shotgun. He is really poor off the tee in any conditions that resemble a challenge. Mgomezulu has to play in the same team as him so he can kick for posts. Apart from that there is a real case to have Mgomezulu in because of his attacking quality. He has to be a fullback or a centre to support him or Faf has to kick but Faf is not a long term option because he is getting on in age. The ideal would be to have Nohamba in the team because now you have a kicking scrum half who is quite reliable with the boot and who has a crisp service but the problem is his defensive weaknesses are well documented. De Allende is all class but does he make the team at the next world cup? He will be 35 or 36 at that time and thats hardly a good age for a 12. The option for me is to shift Willemse to 12, let Mgomezulu play 15, and start Libbok. That will be the combo in 2026 that seems the most versatile and hopefully Nohamba comes along and plays 9.

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Jmann 1 hours ago

The 'massive challenge' seperating All Blacks and Sprigboks transitions

SA must go through the same as the peerless 2008-2017 NZ team did. And although they have never reached the same heights as Rugby’s GOAT team. They will face the same fate.

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Ardy 6 hours ago

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The VAR was established based on a false premise that the decisions would be correct. All that has happened is another referee with their own biases comes to a different opinion. We need to accept that the referee with assistants are the final arbiters of the game and only use a video review in the case of tries. Installing this level of review shows up the complexity and difficulty of getting decisions accurate at all times. It is a waste of time and money in a game with more stoppages than most, it is very frustrating to those watching the game and that is what it was supposed to fix.

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JD Kiwi 8 hours ago

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Tom 11 hours ago

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Tom 13 hours ago

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RW 13 hours ago

There's only one answer to the Springboks' fly-half conundrum

Improve the the chat, block Turlough

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DP 14 hours ago

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Rob 15 hours ago

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Bull Shark 16 hours ago

There's only one answer to the Springboks' fly-half conundrum

It’s all going to come down to kicking form. I suspect if Libbok shines up on his kicking in training he’d start with DW at 15 and SFM covering 23. Getting yanked if it’s a tight game. But it won’t be long until SFM is the incumbent 10.

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DG 17 hours ago

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RugbyAnalysis 17 hours ago

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Turlough 18 hours ago

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I think SAs problem is one of arrogance. Their boasting and goading before the Irish series was a perfect example of it. Ebens blood covered face is a good reminder of where lack of humility gets you. Hopefully they can proceed with more honour and less arrogance from now on. Pollard kicked 100% versus Ireland and still lost. Change it now.

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MO 18 hours ago

South Africa stun New Zealand as men’s Olympic sevens semi-finals set

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WR 18 hours ago

There's only one answer to the Springboks' fly-half conundrum

Tough one but I disagree. Putting Libbok in most matches will cost us. Especially against better teams. He just doesn't have what it takes. Aside from his kicking woes, he is a very good player. Pollard are the best option for tough games, but SFM is the best choice for me. He can do what both other players can do. He can play more positions than them. He is the best SA have now and will be for a very long time to come. We have an absolute super star like Kolbe, KLA and Moody in SFM. Time to get him in that 10 jersey and let him show case his absolute class. To let him grow and learn all he can from Tony Brown as we won't have TB for always. Most likely only until 2027. NZ will want him back. Time to cash in and go for broke. ML as an impact player might be a better option unless it's against a top 5 team, then best to have HP on the bench in case. That's not experience that can be chucked away. That would be stupid. We have WLR and DW at 15, HP and SFM at flyhalf. If anything, why not see how ML performs as a a scrum half? I know it's not his usual position, but he can be converted. You can't exchange what (in my personal opinion) is one of the best centre pairings currently in the world for ML or HP. That would be a disaster. No, we need HP at least on the bench playing top 5 in the WR.

36 Go to comments

WR 18 hours ago

South Africa stun New Zealand as men’s Olympic sevens semi-finals set

Well, on X they claim they beat SA by 2-1 and won the series against SA. Nevermind that it's 2 different competitions with completely different players, and a completely different country. AGAIN, they think that talking about it and claiming it, that they are the winners. That they DESERVE IT. Yet, as per usual, they CHOKED AGAIN in the quarterfinals. The Boks had 2 good games. That's it. The French is a different story altogether. They know how to reach a final. 2 games to go for either Gold or Bronze. Good news that, but coming in 4th don't get medals, so the Boks have to get in the final to be assured of a medal. It won't be easy. Only teams that CAN play is still in the competition, not teams that thinks talking themselves into a medal will get them a medal. Fiji is now the favorites would be my guess, but anyone can take it from here. Good luck Boks!! As usual you have my full support💯

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Mzilikazi 18 hours ago

James Horwill: ''You can't tell me the code’s in trouble when you see every ticket's sold.'

Thanks , Brett. It will be a very powerful Lions team, but the WB’s will be stronger too, would be my feeling. I don’t see it being all one way traffic.

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StephenE 19 hours ago

Claims that Ireland-South Africa series has been decided in Paris

Not sure what the logic is… Rugby Sevens is a different discipline to 15 man Rugby so can’t be compared or used as a decider. Series was a draw, unfortunately no deciding match. South Africa are WC Champions and No. 1 in the world rankings, surely that is proof enough that there is no doubt who the better team is.

11 Go to comments

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