Samoa thrash pool minnows Uruguay

13 April 2012
Samoa 60 Uruguay 13

Samoa announced their World Cup entry with some scintillating running rugby as Uruguay crashed to another comprehensive Pool C defeat at Subiaco Oval.

Uruguay, demolished 72-6 by South Africa five days ago, were stretched all over the pitch by a Samoan side intent on spinning possession wide.

Centre Brian Lima, playing in his fourth World Cup, and flanker Maurie Fa'asavalu both claimed try doubles, and there were also touchdowns for Tanner Vili, Lome Fa'atau, Sailosi Tagicakibau, Simon Lemalu, Dominic Feaunati and Opeta Palepoi.

Fly-half Earl Va'a kicked three conversions, and Vili landed two, as Samoa finished with 10 tries.

The only blot on Samoa's copybook was a yellow card for Fa'atau following a high and late tackle on Uruguayan scrum-half Juan Campomar.

Samoa, despite missing a handful of players at the World Cup due to availability problems, showed enough glimpses to suggest they will not be pushovers for group heavyweights England and South Africa in later games.

Uruguay gave as they got in the opening 10 minutes, especially up front, and Samoa's best attacking efforts fizzled out amid some committed work from Uruguay.

It took a special effort to unlock Uruguay's defensive organisation, but Samoa duly delivered in the 12th minute when Fa'asavalu galloped 50 metres and scored after he brushed off a weak tackle on halfway.

The try gave Samoa an appetite for more, and before Uruguay could catch their breath, the South Sea Islanders struck again.

Lima, playing in his fourth World Cup, sparked an adventurous move, and he was then on hand to touch down after receiving the scoring pass from lock Opeta Palepoi.

Va'a missed his second successive conversion attempt, but Samoa's growing supremacy left Uruguay with plenty to ponder, especially following a failed penalty kick from full-back Juan Menchaca.

And it got worse 15 minutes before half-time, when a Va'a defensive clearance saw Uruguay wing Joaquin Pastore try to flick the ball back into play. His move backfired though, and wing Tagicakibau picked up brilliantly to sprint clear.

Va'a slotted the conversion, extending Samoa's lead to 17-0, before openside Fa'asavalu claimed his second try by rounding off a flowing move featuring excellent handling by backs and forwards.

Uruguay had conceded four tries in 16 minutes, but Samoa didn't switch off, even though they clinched an important bonus point so early in the action.

Lima pounced for a fifth touchdown, converted by Va'a, when another huge gap appeared in midfield, but Uruguay gained a consolation score following a Samoan defensive fumble, with number eight Rodrigo Capo the grateful recipient.

Uruguay skipper Diego Aguirre kicked a second-half penalty for his team, yet the one-way traffic continued through further Samoan scores for Fa'atau, Lemalu and Vili.

Uruguay's former Bristol Shoguns prop Pablo Lemoine registered a pushover try 16 minutes from time, and it brought one of the night's biggest cheers from an enthusiastic 22,000-strong crowd.

Samoa had done more than enough though, and they will be supremely confident of registering a second Pool C victory when Georgia are their opponents next Sunday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in