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Argentina remain alive in Rugby World Cup 2023. Los Pumas overcame a feisty Samoa at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint Étienne on Friday. The win reset’s Argentina’s World Cup campaign after a flop first up against England.
It was not a showcase for running rugby. The rugby played was ugly for the most part. Argentina made 126 carries compared to Samoa’s 57. Argentina made 602 meters with ball in hand compared to 239 by Samoa and Argentina made 77 tackles while Samoa made 141. In short, Argentina controlled the match but did not play open rugby in the rain.
A combative first-half played with a slippery ball saw no shortage of knock-ons. Both teams also competed well at the break-down to secure turn-overs. The key area, however, saw Argentina on top: the points. Los Pumas outscored Samoa 13-3 in the opening half.
Emiliano Boffelli scored all of Argentina’s opening half points. He landed two penalties and converted his own try. Samoa was not so affective as Christian Leali’ifano landed 1/3. The former Wallaby, who played against Uruguay at the previous World Cup, landed a difficult penalty but missed two easier strikes.
The second-half was similar in play. Argentina and Samoa both competed in the collisions. Los Pumas regularly used the maul from lineups to drive forward. Samoa was forced back but able to recover. The brick-wall of defense begged the question as to whether Los Pumas needed a scrum-half and fly half who asked more questions of their formation?
Los Pumas scored early though Boffelli. The Rosario speedster again slotted a regular penalty. It took Argentina into a comfortable 16-3 lead. From there Julián Montoya’s men were happy to play for field position and not play expansive rugby.
Samoa did not threaten to score and were unable to get deep into Argentine territory. This changed communication problem. From a turnover, Argentina’s players assumed Samoa had knocked-on. As such, Juan Cruz Mallía happily played the ball and was stopped inside his try zone. It was called back for Samoa ball. The scrum was solid with Samoa attacking and winning a penalty. A quick tap saw waves of blue raids culminating in Australia u20 hooker Sama Malolo charging over five minutes from full-time.
With New Zealander D’Angelo Leuila converting suddenly there was a possibility of a lead change and a Samoa win. Los Pumas secured the kick-off and went about their work. The forwards won a penalty on half-way. In his 99th test match, Nicolás Sánchez landed the difficult change to seal victory and deny Samoa a bonus point.
Mateo Carreras was away for a late try. It was to have been a legitimate try and would have meant Argentina won 26-10. Referee Nic Berry erroneously had blown his whistle. He apologized three times to Mateo Carreras.
Samoa have six days before playing again. The Pacific Islanders take on Japan on Thursday, September 28 in Toulouse. Los Pumas have two additional days before facing Chile in Nantes. The fixture will be the first ever between two South American teams in Rugby World Cup history.
SCORING
ARGENTINA (19)
Try – E Boffelli (9′)
Con – E Boffelli 2/3 (10′, 54′); N Sánchez 1/1 (79′)
Pen – E Boffelli 3/4 (25′, 34′, 55′)
SAMOA (10)
Try – S Malolo (75′)
Con – A Leuila 1/1 (75′)
Pen – C Leali’ifano 1/3 (28′)
YC – D Paia’aua (1′)
TEAMS
ARGENTINA
1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Eduardo Bello, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matías Alemanno, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Juan Martín González; 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Matías Moroni, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía
Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Nicolás Sánchez, 23 Lucio Cinti
SAMOA
1 James Lay, 2 Seilala Lam, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 4 Brian Alainu’u’ese, 5 Chris Vui (capt.), 6 Theo McFarland, 7 Fritz Lee, 8 Steven Luatua, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Ben Lam, 12 Tumua Manu, 13 UJ Seuteni, 14 Nigel Ah-Wong, 15 Duncan Paia’aua
Replacements: 16 Sama Malolo, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Taleni Junior Agaese Seu, 20 Sa Jordan Taufua, 21 Melani Matavao, 22 D’Angelo Leuila, 23 Danny Toala
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Jordan Way (Australia); Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
