Win keeps Aus 'A' on top
Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:56
Australia A defeated Samoa 20-15 in their Second Round International Rugby Board (IRB) Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) match in Apia on Sunday.
Intercept tries to Timana Tahu and captain Morgan Turinui, as well as penalty goals to Matt Carraro and Mark Gerrard proved enough in wet and humid conditions in the Samoan capital.
Australia A have now won both their away matches to maintain their lead at the top of the PNC standings and return to Sydney for a clash with Tonga at North Sydney Oval next Sunday, June 22.
Australia A lead the standings with nine points, one more than New Zealand Maori, with Fiji on six and Japan five.
The Aussies held off a valiant second-half comeback by Manu Samoa to win the water-logged match and retain their unbeaten record.
The Australians, including 17 Wallabies in the squad, led 10-3 at half-time and were then forced to defend for long periods of the second spell as the home side came back at them.
"We are very happy to get out of Apia with a win,'' Australian A captain Morgan Turinui said.
"I told the boys before the match 'expect a tough physical game' and that was what we got.
"But we were happy with the result. It was the result we wanted, even though we didn't play the way we wanted to."
Manu Samoa coach Tuala Lepale Niko Palamo said his side were the architects of their own downfall.
"We should have won, but we handed Australia two easy tries," he said.
"We also had a lot of missed penalty kicks which could have changed the end of the game."
Both sides scored two tries apiece and the difference was in the accuracy of the kicking by Australians Mark Gerrard and replacement Matt Carraro.
In the wet and mud, both sides resorted to kicking tactics for territory and to force errors.
Samoa was the first to break, allowing Australian wing Timana Tahu to snap up a loose ball and dash 40 metres to the line.
Fellow wing Mark Gerrard landed the conversion and a later penalty, while fullback Neli Sasulu landed a penalty for Samoa to close out the first half scoring.
Samoa closed the gap to 8-10 immediately after half-time with a well organised line-out move involving scrumhalf Notise Tauafao and prop Census Johnston, which led to a try in the corner by hooker Loleni Tafuna'i.
Australia fought back to open up a 20-8 lead with a try to Turinui, cashing in on another Samoa backline error, plus a conversion by Gerrard and a penalty by his replacement Matt Carraro.
With time running out, Samoa mounted a series of attacks on the Australian line and prop Muliufi Salanoa eventually penetrated the defence.
Replacement scrumhalf Vale Mai landed the conversion to close out the scoring.
Scorers:
Samoa:
Tries: Tafunai, Salanoa
Con: Mai
Pen:
Sasulu
Australia A:
Tries: Timana, Turinui
Cons: Gerrard 2
Pens: Gerrard, Carraro
Teams:
Samoa: 15 Neli Sasulu, 14 Eser Lauina, 13 Henry Fa'afili, 12 Anitelea Tuilagi, 11 David Lemi, 10 Fuimaono Eliota Sapolu, 9 Notise Tauafao, 8 George Stowers, 7 Bell Sasulu, 6 Semo Sititi, 5 Chad Slade, 4 Filipo Levi (captain), 3 Census Johnston, 2 Loleni Tafunai, 1 Heroshi Tea.
Replacements: 16 Muliufi Salanoa, 17 James Johnston, 18 Daniel Leo, 19 Jonathan Fa'amatuainu, 20 Uale Mai, 21 Paletuatoa Toelupe, 22 Gasolo Salima.
Australia A: 15 Sam Norton-Knight, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Morgan Turinui (captain), 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Timana Tahu, 10 Daniel Halangahu, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Julian Salvi, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Poutasi Luafutu, 5 Peter Kimlin, 4 Al Campbell, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Sean Hardman, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 John Ulugia, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Van Humphries, 19 Leroy Houston, 20 Josh Holmes, 21 Scott Daruda, 22 Matt Carraro.
Referee: Keith Brown (New Zealand)
