Samoa and Russia served up a less than remarkable game, in which Samoa Struggled to really assert control. The game will be marked by controversy, not covered here, for hits from Ray Lee-lo. But this background sets the stage for an at times dull game of rugby.
The game was filled with errors, with both teams unable to really assert any real pressure. It started well enough for Samoa, with a charge down immediately of a kickoff, a hope that it’d have interesting moments fueled by brilliance was kindled. But then Vui gave away a basic penalty at the lineout, spreading the smoke of disappoint.
It waited until the second half for things to get really interesting. This started with a try for Samoa scored by Fido bat attacking the space next to the maul. Thi was all catalysed by TJ ioane and a lovely set up off the back off the maul.
Ioane’s pop off is triggered by the scrum half breaking to the blindside, this drags the russian defenders for a split second leaving just one defender to deal with the actual russian ball carrier. This means that when Fido comes on the inside, with the russian flanker going for a big hit, he is able to get through without being touched.
This small move exposed russian reactions perhaps wearied as the 23 played their second game in 4 days. This also can probably be used to explain why Samoa struggled to assert true dominance over the Russians, until the 50th minute when the floodgates opened. Russia Falling away rapidly coupled with Samoa being able to play with significantly more freedom.
This freedom was then also given time to breathe. Russia’s aimless kicks allowed Samoa to really attack. This was also caused by Russia leaving a gap between the winger and the last main defender. This meant that a massive dog leg was formed in the russian defence.
When this happened the samoans were perfectly positioned to expse this. The speed at which they hit the ball gave them a significant advantadge. However the Russian scrum immediately transitioned into a sweeping role. This meant Leiua was unable to find support instead running into a diamond of Russian defenders.
However, while Leiua fractured the defence they managed to reform, his meant that hile Samoa had momentum it was partially stalled. There were still some bright sparks but after the original breaks they immediately reverted to hard carries in the middle channels.
However Samoa were stil able to break tackles of the Russian defence, alowing Tim Nanai Wlliams to make a break down the field,this finally breaking the Russian defence and giving Samoa an oppurtunity.
This series of plays led to Ed Fidos second score. The ability to free hands in the final phase was something possibly missed during the game. The continuation however was a clear positive from the move with the ability to finally press home an attack something previously missed leading to 13 scrums.
Russia however offered little threat in the contest. The best example being when in 67th minute they became camped upon the Samoan line. They seemed merely happy to sit upon the Samoan line and try and drive. However samao were able to fortify their line and a couple of spills (backward) took the ferocity of the attack. The period of 4 minutes ended with Russia coming away with no points telling a resounding story in which silence upon the scoreboard told the story of the game.
The Analysis Guy 