Samoa wing David Masoe evades a tackle to score his team's first try against Japan
Photo: Phillip Marshall
13 APRIL 2007
By Dean McFarlane
Samoa secured a 28-12 win against Japan in Division A of the IRB Under 19 World Championship at Deramore Park, Belfast, gaining a vital bonus point in the process.
Japan dominated the opening exchanges and were rewarded after nine minutes when a driving maul near the Samoan line ended with Choong Woo Han touching down.
Despite being reduced to 14 when Ikoke Solomona was yellow carded after 19 minutes, Samoa responded with a try from David Masoe and conversion from Titi Jnr Esau.
From that point Samoa never relinquished the lead and extended it as the half time whistle blew with a converted try from Fualaga Pemita. The Samoa centre charged down a kick and was quickest to react as he rounded behind the posts.
14-5 ahead at the break, Samoa added to their lead in the opening minute of the second half. At the end of a flowing move, Thretton Palamo sidestepped the Japan cover to dive under the posts. Esau converted again and Samoa looked comfortable with a 21-5 lead.
Samoa secured the bonus point with a try from Salevi Leota, but Japan came back strongly in the closing stages and crossed the line right on the full time whistle.
Replacement Mizuki Yanagihara found his way through the strong Samoa defence after many phases of possession resulted in the ball being spun out. He converted his own try to reduce the deficit to 16 points but it was Samoa who came away with their first victory of this year's tournament.
Japan captain Tappei Higashide
We didn’t play our style of rugby so I am a little disappointed. Hopefully we can do this in our next matches. We need to concentrate more on individual performances for the next game.
Japan coach Mitsutake Hagimoto
We worked hard on tackling and contesting for the ball and this was better in this game. Compared to other teams our players are not so big so we have to concentrate hard and train hard to compete.
Samoa captain Alatasi Tupou
Our defence was strong especially when Ikoke was yellow carded. We will look at our finishing for the next match as we missed some opportunities in this game.
Samoa coach Sami Leota
We expected Japan to be strong and attack us hard; we dealt well with the pressure. We asked the players to settle down at half time and concentrate on the simple things in the game. Japan gave us a very hard game today.
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