Tale of Two Halves as Samoa defeats Eagles

It was a tale of two halves as Samoa hung on to defeat the USA in the opening round of the 2015 Pacific Nations Cup. Coming off of their strong performance against the All Blacks, 9th ranked Samoa looked to get their tournament off on the right foot against an Eagles side that wasn’t expected to keep up with the powerful Pacific Island nation.

Trailing 21-3 at the half, the USA turned the tides on Samoa in the second half and nearly stole a victory in the dying moments. The crowd of around 10,000 fans turned out at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California and were given a treat of a match.

True to form, Samoa came out playing at blistering pace and ferocity that any team would struggle to match. The USA matched their physicality, but it wasn’t long before cracks began to show. Samoa played downhill for much of the first half as they looked to run the USA off the pitch.

Patrick Fa’apale opened the scoring for Samoa with a penalty in the 3rd minute. A theme that would be repeated during the first half as Samoa pressured the USA into penalties within shot at goal. Just a few minutes later, Fa’apale got his second opportunity at goal and missed.

Samoa looked to cross the line minutes later as Alesana Tuilagi took a pass and rumbled down the sideline, before Eagles No. 8 Danny Barrett saved a try by forcing him out at the five meter line. Samoa extended their lead to 6-0 at the 15th minute with another penalty goal from Fa’apale.

The USA cracked the scoreboard in the 22nd minute with a penalty from debutant AJ MacGinty. It wasn’t long before Samoa answered back through another penalty from Fa’apale to extend their lead to 9-3.

An exciting run of play almost saw USA wing Taku Ngwenya take a loose ball and streak down the sideline. Ngwenya looked to take the corner, but was slowed down just enough that another defender caught him. Not long after, Samoa struck the end zone as Ah See Tuala began a counter attack that ended with him offloading to a bursting Tuilagi for a score. The conversion extended Samoa’s lead to 16-3.

Five minutes later Tuala scored a try of his own off of a corner kick from Tuilagi that came off of a penalty near the USA goal line. Fa’apale missed the conversion, but Samoa looked in control with a 21-3 lead. USA’s MacGinty had a shot at goal with no time left in the half, but came up missing.

Sensing a match that was on the brink of getting out of control, the USA needed to turn the tide in the second half to avoid a blowout. After having little possession in the first half, the Eagles came out and set the tempo during the second half. Within minutes of the second half kickoff, the USA saw a golden opportunity left wanting as a rolling maul stalled at the goal line and Samoa turned the ball over.

In years past, that would have been enough to crumble the USA, but they maintained pressure and set up a penalty goal for MacGinty who connected in the 53rd minute to cut the score to 21-6. MacGinty added another in the 63rd minute to put the score at 21-9. Samoa remained in control on the scoreboard, but there was a notable change in the tone of the match as the USA began to build on their possessions.

Another golden scoring chance was lost around the 70th minute when the USA pounded away at the Samoan goal line for multiple phases only to be turned away. While Samoa lacked the attacking edge that they displayed in the first half, they continued to play bruising defense.

Turned away, yet again, the USA bounced back and once again pushed the ball deep into Samoa’s half. This time, the USA came away with a try in the 75th minute as Titi Lamositele pushed through another goal line stand by Samoa.  The conversion from MacGinty cut Samoa’s lead to 21-16 with just minutes to play.

With time left to mount one last surge, the USA took the kickoff and worked their way deep into Samoa’s half again. With time almost expired, Samoa was awarded a penalty less than twenty meters from their goal line. With time left for one more play, Samoa kicked to touch, won the ensuing lineout, and ended the match.

The USA will take away many positives from this match, but should be haunted by the number of opportunities that they didn’t finish in the second half. The Eagles look to rebound as the Pacific Nation Cup continues next weekend in Sacramento as they take on Japan.

USA 16
Tries – T. Lamositele (75)
Cons – A. MacGinty (76)
Pens – A. MacGinty 3 (22, 53, 63)

SAMOA 21
Tries – A. Tuilagi (33), A. Tuala (38)
Cons – P. Fa’apale (34)
Pens – P. Fa’apale 3 (3, 15, 25)

USA
1 E. Fry 2 P. Thiel (Z. Fenoglio 58) 3 M. Moeakiola (T. Lamositele 26) 4 H. Smith (A. Durutalo 64) 5 G. Peterson (S. LaValla 50) 6 C. Dolan 7 J. Quill 8 D. Barrett 9 S. Suniula (M. Petri 60) 10 A. MacGinty 11 B. Scully 12 T. Palamo (A. Suniula 64) 13 S. Kelly 14 T. Ngwenya (Z. Test 73) 15 C. Wyles (capt.)

Not used: C. Baumann

SAMOA
1 S. Taulafo (V. Afatia 58) 2 M. Leiataua (M. Matu’u 58) 3 A. Perenise 4 F. Paulo (M. Paulino 76) 5 F. Lemalu 6 T. Ioane 7 J. Lam 8 V. Tuilagi (O. Fa’afou 64) 9 V. Afemai (P. Cowley 76) 10 P. Fa’apale 11 A. Tuilagi (capt.) 12 F. Afamasaga (J. Leota 60) 13 P. Perez 14 S. Sinoti 15 A. Tuala

Not used: J. Grey, F. Autagavaia