- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
In one of the biggest upsets in Australian rugby, Samoa have pulled off a shock upset to defeat the Wallabies by nine points today at ANZ stadium.
The end score was Samoa 32 – Wallabies 23. Australia condemned the Springboks for sending a sub-par team to Australia. However, the side they fielded against Samoa was lacking many of their stars and the scoreboard showed the result.
Samoa burst out of the blocks in the first half, racing to a 17 point lead, with the Wallabies unable to score and passing up opportunities to take simple penalties from in front.
The tone was set by Samoa’s best Alesana Tuilagi, who grabbed a loose ball to race away down the left side of the field. Matt Giteau chased in vain, with Tuilagi celebrating wildly. The score was 0 – 10 after just 13 minutes.
The momentum remained with the blue and white of Samoa, and their strong defence forced numerous errors by Australia.
In the 28th minute, Samoa won a line out on the Wallabies’ 40m line and pushed onto attack. A kick behind the line was collected by Nick Phipps but his attempt to clear a kick was charged down by Samoa and the ball bounced for Paul Williams to score.
Pisi converted, and Samoa were 17 points ahead after just 30 minutes.
The Wallabies were able to attack late in the first half, with Samoan Daniel Leo sent off for repeated infringements in the breakdown.
The extra man allowed the Wallabies to escape the crushing defence of the Samoans, and the Wallabies scored via Digby Ioane, and a penalty to Matt Giteau late in the first half saw the Wallabies back to 10 – 17 behind at half time, and in a far better position.
The Wallabies were boosted by an early penalty conversion by Giteau to bring the score to withint four points – but this was as close as they came.
A stunning try to Samoa came from some inventive ballplay in the 47th minute, as Samoa kept the ball alive after a crucial missed tackle by Giteau. A lovely ball thrown inside found Kane Thompson loose and in a mile of space to the line. Pisi missed his first kick, and the score was 13 – 22 to Samoa.
Leo returned to the play to end the extra-man advantage to the Wallabies, and while more penalties were awarded to the Wallabies in an increasingly one-sided penalty count, they couldn’t find a way through the strong defence.
From a Samoan scrum in the 57th minute, the ball was pushed left to danger-man Tuilagi, who kicked ahead and while Beale and Davies were able to clean up, an ankle tap on Davies saw a hungry defensive from Samoa able to crowd the breakdown and win the ball.
A big push forward saw the ball cross the line, and after conferring with the video, referee Jonkers awarded the try to Samoa to push them out to sixteen point lead after Pisi converted, the Wallabies trailing 13-29.
Coach Robbie Deans brought on big guns Will Genia and Kurtley Beale to energise the Wallabies attack, and the move appeared to pay dividends after Giteau pegged three points back via a penalty in the 58th minute to trail 16-29.
However, the Wallabies continued to waste chances, and Samoa poured on more pressure, with the Wallabies desperately holding out another try in the 64th minute. A penalty was conceded, and Pisi put the points on to lead 16-32.
Higginbotham showed touches of brilliance to set up Giteau in the 72nd minute, chipping and chasing within inches of the sideline to throw a final ball for Giteau to collect and score on the right. Giteau converted to put some pressure on Samoa, the score closing to 23-32.
However, the defence of Samoa wouldn’t let up, and a strong smell of a historic victory continued to inspire bone crunching tackles, forcing mistakes from a bruised Wallabies.
The Wallabies trounced Samoa 74-7 in their last meeting six years ago. Australia suddenly find themselves with a massive task to get their program back on track, only eight weeks out from the Rugby World Cup.
Following the loss to Manu Samoa, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said.
“We weren’t good enough at what we did. They’re a good combination, it was a globally selected side, it’s a world cup squad, where we’re at, we’re just stating we knew that.
“I think the injection late in the game showed what we could have done but it was too late.
“It’s a game that I’ll remember, obviously, we won’t focus on individuals at this stage but for blokes that get the call again they’ve had a good learning experience.
“Some of the Reds who didn’t come back into the squad until Monday will come back into contention but in regards to the injured players not much will change there, we’ll just have to wait and see, we’ve got six days until we face the Springboks.”
Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom said:
“I’m not happy about it, I don’t think anyone is, but we’ve got six days till will play the Springboks so we’ve got plenty to work on.
“I think the thing that let us down was that we weren’t effective enough in attack.
“They put on good shots and they deserved to win but we weren’t effective enough in attack.
“I think the island sides are better when they get their full complement back and I think they’d be happy to have all their players all the time.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.