PNC- Australia A slip past Samoa

It is a case of could of, should have for Samoa. They gave 2 away two intercept tries when they were on attack and class players like Timana Tahu and Morgan Turinui lapped them up with utter ease to win 20-15 in Apia today. Spirit was not an issue and the Blue jerseys sunk their bodies into everything today, one problem was they kicked a lot and didn’t get real attacks generated. This allowed the Aussies to dictate terms and gain territory, which is so crucial in wet rugby like today.

Sam Norton-Knight was solid behind the backline, every Samoan kick was met with solid safety from this man, he is a light frame playing against these monsters but punched above his weight & proved his worth today. Several minutes were a game of force back and yards always went the way of the visitors.

Number 8 George Stowers for the home team was a brick, Australia A continued to target him on the blindside and every time they were met with a roadblock. This massive man drove the Australians backwards and at times they reversed 10 metres when the full blue wave of Maun Samoa chimed in. This vigour was backed up by inspirational Semo Sititi and some potentially dangerous half breaks unfortunately were snuffed out.

The conditions did play a big part today, this stopped a lot of the potential in both back line’s and the arm wrestle today was very skilful considering the field of play.

Local super star Umai Lui got a taste with the last 10 mins, everyone was anxious to see what magical runs he could do. Surprisingly his first 2 touches of the ball saw clever chip kicks and one of them nearly saw a try. He also nailed a conversion from the sideline and proved he could be a handy man for longer, as today Samoa missed 4 attempts at goal.