Scotland are looking to book a place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals this weekend. A win over Samoa will see them qualify for the knockouts. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 12:30am (AEDT).
The Scots head to St James’ Park hoping that the oldest football stadium in north-east England will be kinder to them than it has been to regular football hosts Newcastle United this season. They face a Samoa side with nothing to lose after disappointing losses to South Africa and Japan.
Scotland have won three out of four games at this year’s tournament with their only loss coming to South Africa last weekend. While they have won all the games they were expected to win, they have yet to put together a full 80-minute performance.
With the quarter-finals looming, Vern Cotter is looking to address his side’s slow starts starting with Saturday.
“We’ve looked at getting our hands on the ball early,” Cotter said.
“We know that we’ll have to improve and we’re looking for a much better performance in the contact area. We learnt a lot from the South Africa game.
“It’s a game that we’ve worked ourselves to get to and we know what it means. We’re enjoying the position we are in and we want to put in a good performance this weekend.”
Scotland have made seven changes to the side that lost to south Africa as Finn Russell, Mark Bennett and John Hardie all return to the starting side. Full-back Stuart Hogg, hooker Ross Ford and winger Sean Maitland have all recovered from niggling injuries and have been cleared to play.
Meanwhile, for Samoa, coach Stephen Betham has also made seven changes following his side’s loss to Japan last weekend. Samoa will be without powerful winger Alesana Tuilagi, who received a five-week suspension for what was deemed a knee to an opponent during the loss to Japan. Northampton halfback Kahn Fotuali’i is set to captain the side in what could be the 33-year-old’s last World Cup game.
Betham said that Samoa need to restore some national pride on Saturday and that while the World Cup has been a disappointment, they are still capable of causing an upset on any given day.
“At the moment we’ve got a country that’s feeling a bit sad,” said Betham.
“It’s important for us not just to play for the people back home, but for ourselves. We’ve got a lot of talent but we haven’t shown anything of it all tournament.
“We can be dangerous on any day but we have to show up, not just on the field but off it. The motivation is there for us.”
Join The Roar from 12:30am (AEDT) for the live scores and commentary.
Pat malone
Guest
So disappointed, I wanted the team that exploits the residency rule (Japan) to beat the team that exploits the grandparent rule (Scotland) into the quarter finals Scotland must have some good officials - they have been in the easiest pool every world cup
JR Salazar
Guest
Samoa have made enemies of the Japanese with this shamefoor dispray. Betham will be sacked, and if World Rugby is smart, they downgrade these losers to Tier 3 Development One. Stick to sevens and league, losers. As for Laidlaw, he can atone for this by playing in Japan. Or get injured/sin binned in the next game. Whatever the case, this WILL BE Scotland's last victory at this competition cause in the QFs, these lads are TOAST.
DaniE
Roar Guru
Thanks jack for the call
Jack O'Toole
Roar Guru
FULLTIME - Scotland are through and even though they stumble into the quarter-finals, they get the win and more importantly move into the next round. Although Vern Cotter will have some major concerns over his side's performance, he will be no doubt happy with the end result and for everyone watching, we bore witness to a fantastic game of rugby. The game started with frenetic, end-to-end pace that carried on for the entire game. Samoa left their best performance until the very last game as Rey Lee-Lo had a unbelievable game at inside centre. Once again, discipline ruined what was an otherwise very solid performance from the Samoans as Scotland's technical ability at the breakdown and the set-piece just edged out the free-flowing, running rugby of Samoa. Captain Greg Laidlaw was fantastic for the Scots and was the biggest difference maker for the boys in blue as his personal haul of 26 points guided the Scots into the quarters. Wales play Australia in just over 10 minutes and while neither side will be too worried about the Scots following that performance, both will be keen to avoid Pool B winners South Africa. Thanks for joining us in tonight's coverage and apologise for any delays in updates. Take care and enjoy the next game!
Taylorman
Guest
Great game, hard luck Samoa, Japan. Scotland now through where England aren't. That'll go down well.
riddler
Guest
your whole internet is down? sorry for you if that is the case.. get next door to your mates for the game then!!
Red Kev
Roar Guru
Foxtel Play is an internet stream, a paid one, it was down, still is
Manu Fan
Guest
Fa'afetai lava (thanks v much) Jack for the live update
riddler
Guest
cheers jack for the call.. great game.. feel for the samoans..
ROTUMA ISLAND
Guest
Poor Japan.
DaniE
Roar Guru
What a game. Sad for Samoa and wish they'd shown this passion earlier in the tournament. Lots of passion from the Scots today though, such an effort.
riddler
Guest
i told you at the start.. internet.. live streams great coverage..
Jack O'Toole
Roar Guru
79' - Scotland work through the phases as they look to see this game out. Laidlaw boots into the touch and Scotland book themselves a place in the quarter-final against either Australia or Wales. SCO 36-33 SAM!!
Harry Jones
Expert
RedKev, it was like 7s. The team that decided to play 15s, won.
Red Kev
Roar Guru
I cannot believe I missed this match because Fox can't provide a decent service Thanks for the live score updates
Jack O'Toole
Roar Guru
79' - Scotland work through the phases as they look to see this game out. Laidlaw boots into the touch and Scotland book themselves a place in the quarter-final against either Australia or Wales. SCO 36-33 SAM.
Harry Jones
Expert
Oh, Samoa had that had that game
Harry Jones
Expert
What a finish!!!!
Jack O'Toole
Roar Guru
76' - TRY! Samoa have a scrum five metres out as a Samoan try would put them right back in this game. Samoa win the scrum and pick and drive towards the line. They win a penalty after Scotland are penalised for going off their feet. After a couple of phases Matu'u crashes over after a timely inside ball from Jack Lam as Samoa aren't finished just yet. Faapale converts to make it a three point game once again. SCO 36-33 SAM.
Jack O'Toole
Roar Guru
75' - Peter Horne ON Matt Scott OFF