What's happening
Samoa - Georgia

October 19 Match

WHAT'S HAPPENING? (posted 20th October 2003)
A win over Georgia, 46-9 by the Samoans last night in Perth before a crowd of around 21,000 saw the Samoans dispose England to second place on the points ladder for Pool C - for now at least :) Samoa again scored the maximum 5 points for the match, a feat that England was unable to manage against South Africa the night before in Perth. But the points table could tell a completely different tale by next Sunday when the Samoans have to face the English powerhouse team in Melbourne. The Samoan teams' run doesn't get much easier either as they will then have to go on to face South Africa the week after in Brisbane. Can't wait to see that game!

The Samoan team was strong throughout the match, scoring three tries in each half of the game. Earl Va'a kicked two penalty goals over and converted five out of the six tries. The Georgian team however, fought bravely and defended strongly to keep the Samoans from scoring even more tries. In fact, during the second half, it wasn't until the last quarter that Samoa managed to score that half's three tries, an indication that the game wasn't entirely one sided Samoa's way. By the final quarter though, Georgia's players were exhausted - little wonder given the amount of tackling and defending they'd carried out during the game!

There was only one sin bin offence for the match coming from Jimsheladze (Georgia). Try scorers for Samoa were: Tagicakibau, Earl Va'a, So'oialo, Sititi - their captain, Feaunati, and the veteran Brian Lima.