Rugby World Cup 2019: Samoa knuckle down after sin-bin trouble to thrash Russia
Samoa had to dig deep after being reduced to 13 men in the first half after two sin-binnings to overpower Russia and score a bonus-point victory at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.
Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Marauding winger Ed Fidow bagged a quickfire double as Samoa beat Russia 34-9 in a bruising Rugby World Cup encounter on Tuesday.
Fidow provided the spark in a tempestuous Pool A clash after the Pacific Islanders were reduced to 13 men in the first half for two reckless tackles in Kumagaya.
Samoa, World Cup quarter-finalists in 1991 and 1995, began the game pumped up after a passionate performance of their “siva tau” war dance.
Stream the Rugby World Cup 2019 on KAYO SPORTS. Every match Live & On-Demand on your TV, computer, mobile or tablet. Get your 14 day free trial >
And they went ahead after 15 minutes when a superb pass from Tim Nanai-Williams — cousin of All Black star Sonny Bill — found Alapati Leiua to crash over for the first of his brace.
But Russia fly-half Yury Kushnarev, making his 111th appearance for the Bears, kicked a pair of penalties to give the Bears a 6-5 half-time lead, which should have been more after Samoa played almost 10 minutes with 13 men.
Centre Rey Lee-Lo was lucky to escape with a yellow card for a high tackle on Russia captain Vasily Artemyev before hooker Motu Matu’u followed him to the sin bin after another dangerous challenge on Artemyev.
“We didn’t learn from last weekend with people being cited,” Samoa coach Steve Jackson said. “We’ve got to be better in that area.”
Russia — playing just four days after losing 30-10 to Japan in the tournament opener — failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage.
Pisi, who at 37 became the oldest player to represent Samoa at a World Cup, had a kicking game to forget, missing four of six attempts with the boot.
But Samoa, playing their first game of the tournament, ultimately had too much firepower for the Russians, who were blowing hard after their short turnaround.
Scrum-half Dwayne Polataivao failed to come out for the second half after taking a blow to the head, but the Samoans hit back though when Afaesetiti Amosa bulldozed over five minutes after the restart.
Russia’s Kirill Gotovtsev was yellow-carded for a high tackle attempting to block Amosa, who was stretchered off after twisting his knee in the process.
A superb drop goal from Kushnarev hauled Russia back to within a point before Fidow grabbed Samoa’s second try in the 49th minute, bursting through after a clever pass from replacement hooker Ray Niuia.
The prolific Fidow extended Samoa’s lead shortly afterwards with the bonus-point try as the Russian began to wilt to make it 10 tries in nine appearances for his country.
Fortunate to still be involved in the game, Lee-Lo made up for his yellow by adding Samoa’s fifth try as the floodgates threatened to open. Leiua added the icing on the cake just before the buzzer to give the score a slightly flattering hue.
“It was a tough game, we knew the Russians were going to come in the first 20-40 minutes, we just had to stick it out and I’m really proud of the way the boys came back in the second half. We’re here to create a legacy,” Samoa captain Chris Vui said.
Samoa move on face Scotland in their next game while Russia, still searching for their first-ever World Cup win, take on Ireland.