Samoa A falls short at Teufaiva [1]
Monday, October 15, 2012 - 23:13. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
By Pesi Fonua
If the Fiji Warriors, the champions of the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2012, thought that they were going to have a cruising game this afternoon against Samoa A at Teufaiva, they were wrong, as the Samoans appeared determined not to leave Tonga without a win.
The Samoans went on attack right from the start, and four minutes from kick off scored the first try of the game, which was converted by fullback Titi Esau and Samoa lead 7-0.
The Fiji Warriors, who were declared champions of the Pacific Rugby Cup after Tonga A beat the Samoa A last Thursday, appeared to be in a state of shock with the aggressive attacking style of the Samoans. The Fijians were making mistakes, and the Samoans were awarded three penalties. Titi missed the first two but in the 17th minutes of the game he was successful, and he extended the Samoa A lead to 10-0.
The Fiji Warriors eventually got their act together and crossed the line on the 28th minute, but the conversion went out wide and the score was 10-5.
Before the end of the first half, Samoa A had scored two tries within three minutes. The first by their second five, Lafeta Laau, which was converted and three minutes later, Oneone Faafou Soisoi crossed the line. It was not converted and at half time the score was 22-5.
In the second half, the Fiji Warriors came out firing, and they scored their first try in the second minute of the game. It was a converted try and the score was 22-12.
The Fijians came to life in the second half and they started running with the ball, and during the remainder of the second half they scored three more converted tries, and also converted three penalties to take the lead.
Samoa A during the second half managed to convert only four penalties.
The score at the end of the game was 42-34 for the Fiji Warriors.
The final game of the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2012 will be between Tonga A and the Fiji Warriors on Saturday, 19 October.