Wales 17 Samoa 10:HAVING LOST in beautiful style to South Africa, Wales won pig-ugly against Samoa. They scrambled their way to 17 points with a try they nearly failed to finish and a set of penalties that came from rare indiscipline on the Samoan side.
That said, they would settle for hideous any day. The result, as Warren Gatland, confirmed afterwards, was what counted. The performance did not. He paid tribute instead to the character and the fitness of his team.
Samoa refused to concede that their chances of qualifying for the last eight had disappeared with defeat. This was the one they wanted and even if they had grumbled about having to play again so soon after beating Namibia, they were always going to be at full throttle here. History, after all, said they should win this.
Wales’s record against Samoa at the World Cup spoke only of defeat, in 1991 and 1999. And this Samoan outfit, unlike teams of the past, was anything but hastily assembled. This was a crafted formation, carefully prepared to feed their ferocious runners with a regular supply of ball. That Wales prevented Alesana Tuilagi from running over Rhys Priestland more than four times is a tribute to every one of the 142 tackles they made in the match.
Their victory was not entirely based on defence. Jamie Roberts had another storming game in the centre, both as battering ram and as a deft passer of the ball across his fingertips.
His influence would have been even greater if Wales had not lost control of the breakdown in the second and third quarters. It was at this time that the game hung in the balance, when somebody had to make a stand.
Sam Warburton, Wales’s captain at 22, was their symbol of defiance. He had another extraordinary game, tackling himself to a standstill, bouncing back to his feet and forcing at least three turnovers. His task was made even more demanding by the early exit of Dan Lydiate who turned an ankle.
His replacement, Andy Powell, is never anything but highly visible, but there is something reassuring about the efficiency of Lydiate and Wales were forced into a scrambled defence sooner than they are when he is there to stop opponents at source. Without him Samoa had more room for the scrumhalf Kahn Fotuali’i to snipe and feed his forwards.
Samoa had more chances to score tries than Wales but they managed only one, on the stroke of half-time, when Anthony Perenise forced his way over from short range for a 10-6 lead.
They continued to govern the third quarter, when a whole series of penalties were awarded against Wales as the pressure began to show. Priestland kicked out on the full, a set move across the three-quarter line became a shambles of misunderstanding, Powell dropped a pass from a ruck. He juggled a pass immediately afterwards and a groan went up. But he clung on for Roberts to combine with Leigh Halfpenny, who had replaced James Hook at half-time, the fullback having damaged a shoulder. Halfpenny had a fine half, setting up the position from which Priestland landed his second penalty to put Wales into the lead, 12-10.
And the new fullback started the counter-attack that led to the Wales try. He caught a clearance, ducked under two tackles and darted away from a third. He passed to the centre Jonathan Davies, who raced away with only one pass to make. He paused and paused again and then tried an overhead flip to Halfpenny, only to miss him. Luckily Shane Williams was backing up and he went over.
There was still much work to do. Tuilagi was rampaging at Priestland and every ruck involved a brutal, entirely legal assault from the Samoan forwards, who set up a series of short-range drives, just like the ones that had led to their try. This was for the draw, which would have made the fight for the runners-up spot in Pool D very interesting. Suddenly Toby Faletau, who had another strong game, appeared with the ball on his own line and won the put-in at the scrum.
The last minutes were survived and Wales were celebrating a result, quite happy to put the performance in the bin.
WALES: Hook; North, J Davies, Roberts, Williams; Priestland, Phillips; James, Bennett, A Jones; Charteris, AW Jones; Lydiate, Warburton (c), Faletau. Replacements: Powell for Lydiate (9 mins), Halfpenny for Hook (h-t), Jenkins for James, Burns for Bennett (61 mins), B Davies for AW Jones (69 mins).
SAMOA: P Williams; Tagicakibau, Pisi, Mapusua, Tuilagi; Lavea, Fotuali’i; Taulafo, Schwalger (c), Perenise; Leo, Thompson; Treviranus, Faasavalu, Stowers. Replacements: So’oialo for Tagicakibau (55 mins), Sua for Lavea, Leo for Rekori (both 69 mins), Fuimaono Sapolu for Mapusua, Johnson for Perenise (both 70 mins), Paulo for Schwlager (73 mins), Salavea for Treviranus (77 mins).
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland)
