Samoa prepare for Springboks

Samoa are facing the task of picking themselves up for a World Cup eliminator against South Africa in Brisbane.

The South Sea Islanders emerged with enormous credit from their 35-22 Pool C loss to England.

Samoa led deep into the final quarter, before England pulled away, but it was no consolation. The World Cup exit door now looms, unless they can defeat the Springboks next Saturday.

After such a physically and emotionally-draining game, it will take a colossal effort to reproduce such quality against South Africa.

The winners are set to qualify for the knockout stages as runners-up behind England, meaning a probable quarter-final appointment with New Zealand in Melbourne next month.

“I have got tremendous pride in the players. We believed in ourselves, otherwise there would have been no point turning up,” said Samoa coach John Boe.

“I said at half-time that we just had to stay smart, be patient in defence and keep moving the ball about, but in the last 20 minutes, we didn’t quite have the petrol to keep going.

“England don’t make mistakes. They are quite mechanical, they don’t take risks and are very well-drilled from numbers one to 15.

“I still think that England, France, Australia or New Zealand will win this tournament. England were as good as I thought they would be,” he added.

“From our point of view, we would like to think that we’ve made a statement that this team deserves to survive. We’ve had hurdles placed in our way, but we’ve shown that we deserve assistance.”

Samoan skipper Semo Sititi, who scored his team’s try, added: “I thought that the penalty try awarded to England was the turning point of the game.

“Overall, I am very pleased with the boys, and we have now got our last group game against South Africa ahead of us.”

Samoa now flt to Brisbane, where they will need to quickly recharge their batteries.

South Africa, in contrast, have had an extra two days’ preparation time, and that could ultimately prove crucial in the quest for quarter-final status.

But rugby watchers everywhere will await the outcome with interest, given that Samoa, based on Sunday’s revealing evidence, have the ability to cause a major upset.