Samoa opened their account at the 2023 Rugby World Cup after storming to a 43-10 bonus-point victory against Chile at the Stade de Bordeaux in France on Saturday. An even first half saw penalty kicks dictate the swing of the scoreboard, but Samoa suddenly raced away with four quick-fire tries to condemn Chile to their second successive Pool ‘D’ loss.
Samoa took an early lead through a Christian Leali’ifano penalty, but Chile scored the first try of the game when Matias Dittus went over and Santiago Videla converted.
Despite being reduced to 14 when Ulupano Seuteni was sin-binned, former Australian fly half Leali’ifano put Samoa back in front with two penalties. Kicking proved to be crucial to snatch points as Matias Garafulic’s effort gave Chile the advantage but another Leali’ifano penalty edged Samoa 12-10 ahead.
Duncan Paia’aua scored Samoa’s first try of the game, pouncing on a grubber kick to cross, with Leali’ifano adding the extra points for a nine-point lead at half time. Jonathan Taumateine claimed Samoa’s second try just minutes after the break and a ruthless period saw Samoa extend their lead further when Fritz Lee crossed and Sama Malolo earned the bonus point with a converted try, scoring near the posts from a maul.
The game became 14 against 14 when Chilean back row Alfonso Escobar and Ereatara Enari were sin-binned within a minute of each other, but Los Condores’ miserable afternoon got worse when Esteban Inostroza was shown a yellow card within minutes of coming on as a substitute. (C.D)
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