Samoa take their opportunities to earn home win over Tonga in horrific conditions
Perhaps the biggest talking point out of the match between Samoa and Tonga was the horrific conditions that the two teams did battle in.
The wind, rain and ripped up terrain meant that points were always going to be at a premium and it was the home team that ultimately made the most of their chances. Samoa triumphed 25-17 in the end, but it was Tonga who lead for lengthy periods of the game.
Despite being played in Samoa, the Tongans went into the game as slight favourites. Prior to kick-off, Tonga were ranked 13th in the world to Samoa’s 16th and the last two clashes between the sides had also fallen Tonga’s way, so there was plenty of motivation for the home side.
Nasi Manu was a late withdrawal from the match with hooker Elvis Taione taking over as captain. This change didn’t appear to affect Tonga’s belief, however, with Cooper Vuna scoring the first try from an excellent kick chase.
Racing 92 prop Ben Tameifuna crashed over just before half-time to give Tonga a 10-3 advantage – even though they had spent almost no time inside the Samoan 22.
Samoa struck back shortly after half-time when Alapati Leuia dotted down thanks to a linebreak from No8 Afaesetiti Amosa. That try, coupled with Ulupano Seuteni’s conversion, levelled the score at 10-all.
A Seuteni penalty only minutes later put the Samoans in the lead for the first time in the match, 50 minutes in.
Tonga then finally got their hands on the ball for more than just a couple of phases in a row and made the most of it. Samoa were forced to defend their try line for an extended period of time and eventually succumbed to the pressure.
Replacement hooker Sefo Sakalia dived over under the posts to restore Tonga’s lead – and James Faiva landed his first successful kick of the afternoon to cap off the 7-pointer.
Tonga headed into the final quarter with a 17-13 lead knowing that they had one hand on the victory. The away team put themselves under needless pressure moments later, however, thanks to a yellow card to Sione Vailanu for a no-arms tackle.
Samoa mounted repeated attacks in Tonga’s 22 from the subsequent penalty and try-scorer Sakalia went from hero to villain, receiving a yellow card for collapsing a dangerous Samoan maul. That brought Tonga down to 13 men with just 10 minutes left in the match. From the ensuing scrum, Samoa scored an easy push-over and took the lead back, 20-17.
Captain of @manusamoa Motu Matu’u knows how much it will mean to his team to play in front of a home crowd this weekend #PNC2019 pic.twitter.com/t39hdHMVGe
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 25, 2019
Samoa controlled the game until the final whistle, scoring one last try in the last minutes of the match through Belgium Tuatagaloa.
Both teams will just be happy to be done with the game, given the atrocious conditions. Tonga’s discipline obviously cost them in the end – but that’s what happens when you’re stuck inside your own half for 58 per cent of the game.
Samoa will take on the USA in Fiji next weekend and Tonga will travel to Japan to challenge the Brave Blossoms.
WATCH: The insightful RugbyPass documentary with Nemani Nadolo, the Fijian playing at Montpellier
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments