2011 Rugby World Cup Pool D Preview: Samoa vs South Africa
Samoa may be considering their Friday, September 30th encounter against the defending champions Springboks as a knockout game because a defeat will end their 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) campaign. Samoa will play their last pool match against the Springboks
at North Harbour Stadium, at North Shore City in what should be a very hotly contested match.
A win or even a bonus point win will not be enough to secure Samoa a place in the quarter-finals. Their chance to progress to the second round of the event depends on the result of the Fiji and Wales encounter. If Fiji can upset Wales then Samoa can proceed
to the knockout stages of the tournament with a losing bonus point.
However, if Wales beat Fiji, Samoa will find it difficult to progress to the second round even if they manage to secure a bonus point victory over the Springboks. The probability of Springboks suffering a loss at the hands of Samoa is very low as the later
are yet to overcome the Springboks in any format of the game. Both sides have so far played six matches with each other, with Springboks outplaying Samoa in each game.
South Africa and Samoa are placed at the second and third position respectively with 10 points each. Samoan head coach, Titimaea Tafua, has made two personnel and one positional change for the game. The Samoans will be without the services of their first
choice winger, Sailosi Tagicakibau, who is struggling with a calf injury. David Lemi has replaced Tagicakibau in the starting lineup.
Samoans will be looking forward to continue following their disciplined, structured approach to the game, coupled with their much improved performance in the tackles and scrum.
Springboks head coach, Peter de Villiers, praised the Samoan’s performance at Scrum in their last match against Fiji. He said, “The one thing that stood out in that game was how good Samoa were at scrum time, They annihilated the Fiji scrums. So that's a
bit of bother for us.”
De Villiers has made seven changes in their squad for their Friday game against Samoa. Victor Matfield will lead the Springboks into the field because their World Cup winning captain and hooker, John Smit, has been named to the bench for the match. Smit
was moved to the bench to give Bismarck du Plessis a place in the starting xv.
Springboks and Samoa teams for Friday’s encounter are given below:
Samoa
Starting XV: 15 Paul Williams, 14 David Lemi, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 George Stowers, 7 Maurie Faasavalu, 6 Taiasina Tuifua, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Census
Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger (c), 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Anthony Perenise, 18 Logovi'i Mulipola, 19 Ofisa Treviranus, 20 Filipo Lavea Levi, 21 Junior Poluleuligaga, 22 George Pisi.
South Africa
Starting XV: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Fourie Du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie Du Plessis,
2 Bismarck Du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Jean De Villiers.
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