Scotland 34-0 Samoa: Scots earn bonus-point Rugby World Cup Pool A victory
Scotland back in Rugby World Cup quarter-final equation after crucial Pool A win
By Michael Cantillon
Last Updated: 01/10/19 9:57am
Scotland got their 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign back on track as an eight-minute first-half blitz, during which they scored 17 points, ensured they went on to beat Samoa 34-0 in Pool A at a hot and humid indoor Kobe Misaki Stadium.
Greig Laidlaw added to his early penalty by converting his and Sean Maitland's tries inside the final 10 minutes of the first half, with Stuart Hogg kicking a long-range drop-goal.
Into the second half, Scotland eventually laboured to the bonus-point with five minutes left as Samoa wing Ed Fidow conceded two penalty tries - one for side entry at a rolling maul, and one for a no-arms tackle on Maitland in the corner - ultimately receiving a red card after two yellows.
Scotland, who lost their opening World Cup clash convincingly 27-3 to Ireland in Yokohoma, went into the game knowing they had to win in order to keep quarter-final hopes alive and securing the full five-point match haul was critical to that ambition. Samoa, meanwhile, were nilled in a World Cup Test for the first time in their history.
Gregor Townsend's charges made a confident start to the contest and hit the lead on nine minutes, when Samoa replacement back-row Josh Tyrell played scrum-half Laidlaw off the ball, and the nine struck through the posts off the tee for 3-0 from around 30 metres out.
The first half turned into a scrappy affair thereafter, however, as both sides made a host of handling errors in the warm, sticky conditions, and the Scots failed to make their wealth of territory count on the scoreboard.
Samoa's first foray into the Scotland 22 did not arrive until the 25th minute, but Scotland openside Jamie Ritchie did superbly to jackal over the ball and end the attack with the Samoans just starting to get into their attacking groove.
After half an hour, the Test's first try arrived when Scotland gained field-position courtesy of diminutive wing Darcy Graham getting up to challenge in the air, before Finn Russell executed a fabulous cross-field kick for wing Maitland to gather and dive over. Laidlaw's well-struck conversion left things 10-0 to Scotland.
Four minutes later, Scotland registered their second try as a Russell's half-break and offload set Ritchie away, who then fed Laidlaw on his shoulder. From there, the scrum-half did brilliantly to bump and ride the challenge of Samoa full-back Tim Nanai-Williams before sprinting to the line.
Two minutes from the half, full-back Stuart Hogg added three more points to the Scotland total when he launched a huge drop-goal from all of 45 metres when Maitland took a quick lineout, to put Scotland 20-0 ahead and firmly in command.
In dead time of the first half, Samoa No 8 Jack Lam gave away two successive penalties during five-metre Scotland maul drives, but Scotland skipper Stuart McInally's decision to turn down shots at goal eventually proved in vain when Townsend's side failed to break through for a third try.
Into the second half, Scotland turned down a string of kickable penalties with the ambition of notching the try bonus-point, but failed to make the platform of a five-metre scrum count when Russell's pass out to Graham flew into touch.
On 57 minutes, Scotland did get their third try, though, when Samoa wing Fidow was penalised for coming in at the side of a close-range rolling maul, stopping a probably try, and referee Pascal Gauzere, after reviewing the incident on screens within the stadium, awarded a penalty try and yellow card.
With time running out and errors creeping back in, Scotland were relieved to eventually land the bonus-point score as Maitland slid into the corner with five minutes left but lost control before the try-line after Fidow came across at pace and slid into his opposite number with his knees.
In consultation with his TMO, Gauzere once again deduced a probably try would have been scored but for the illegal act and duly awarded his second penalty try of the Test, yellow carding Fidow for a second time also, meaning he was shown a red card.
