Samoa have stuck with a winning combination for the final of the four-nation tournament in South Africa where they are up against their hosts in Pretoria on Saturday.
Reuters
Coach Stephen Betham on Thursday named the same line-up that eased to a comfortable 39-10 win over Italy in Nelspruit last week for the match-up with the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld.
There is only one change among the substitutes where flanker Alafoti Faosilva replaces Piula Faasalele, who won his first cap off the bench last weekend, a Samoa Rugby Union statement said.
Samoa beat Scotland 27-17 in their first game of the competition in Durban on June 8 and followed that up with five tries against the Italians last Saturday.
Samoa have lost all seven previous tests against South Africa but pushed the Boks close in a 13-5 setback at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand in their last meeting.
Samoa: 15 James So’oialo, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Paul Williams (Captain), 12 John Leota, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusiata Pisi, 9 Jeremy Sua, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Wayne Ole Avei, 1 Sakaria Taulafo
Replacements: 16 Ti’i Paulo, 17 Logovii Mulipola, 18 James Johnston, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Brando Vaaulu, 22 Seilala Mapusua, 23 Alafoti Faosiliva.
See there is a Ref change for the Bok/Samoa game.
We get another French ref this week, he was a assistant ref last week.
————————————————————————————————–
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees: Nigel Hennessy (Wales), JP Doyle (England)
Television match official: Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)
A pre-game analysis by Victor matfield
Not for the first time, we saw that a week can be a very long time in rugby! After a strong showing against Italy, I don’t think the Springboks will be too happy about their performance against Scotland, but they will be happy that it was a great character building performance for the team. Scotland came out with nothing to lose, but the Boks managed to keep their cool and pulled it through in the end.
The Scottish really made everything a contest. They didn’t allow us to set our drive, they didn’t give us quick ball at the rucks, and they really came hard off the line on defence. I would have loved to see a few more runners off the shoulders from our 9 and 10, because against a rush defence they really struggled to pick up runners coming late off the playmaker’s shoulder.
Heyneke is all about character, and despite the loss, he will be very happy with the character that the team showed to come back and actually win the game with ease.
Arno’s injury is a big loss for the Boks, but even bigger loss for us at the Bulls. He has been in fantastic form, and is one of those few players that can break through a defensive line.
But the silver lining to Arno’s injury was Siya Kolisi getting his debut. I thought Siya was very good when he came on. He had a fantastic year last year, and though he was a bit quieter this year in Super Rugby, he showed his class against Scotland, and I think it will be very difficult for Heyneke to leave him out next week. Depending on Willem Alberts’ injury, we might see Siya on the blindside flank next week, with Francois Louw back as openside flank.
I must say I still think Morné is playing very well, and Ruan has got a great kicking game. I just thought on attack I would have liked to have seen Ruan run more with the ball to tighten the Scottish defence, but both of them are quality players. With all the injuries to our scrumhalves, I’ve been wondering if Fourie du Preez isn’t still available to play for the Boks?
I thought Jean was outstanding keeping everyone calm under a lot of pressure this weekend. It’s often hard to appreciate just how much a captain is doing when you’re watching from the stands, but Jean is doing a great job.
Looking ahead to this weekend, you need to beat Samoa with a strong forward pack performance and a very good kicking game. They don’t like to play under pressure, and they don’t like to stop driving mauls. They would love us to throw the ball around so that they can go for the big hits and try to get turn overs.
Samoa have showed over the last two years that they are right up there with the best teams in the world. A lot of their players are playing Super Rugby or in the northern hemisphere. They are a team that are lethal from broken play, so we need to keep our game structured and hard up-front.
Like I said, Samoa get a lot of energy from their big hits. I was there when Derick Hougaard got hit by Brian Lima at the World Cup in 2003, and I also played with Lima in a tsunami fundraiser game a few years back. I started laughing on the field as he was just killing all the northern hemisphere backs. We gave him the nick name ‘chiropractor’ after the game; it is just in the Samoan blood to go for the kill on defence.
It’s always great to play at the big stadiums in South Africa, so playing in front of a packed Loftus will be special for the Boks. Throw in that this is a final, and that the opponents are a big team with a love of tackling, and the midyear Tests should wrap up on an electric note – especially after the comparative dip in Nelspruit. But if we’re winning games when we’re not at our best, we’ll be very difficult to beat when we do hit our stride. That may well happen this weekend…
Keep those engines warm, Bokke!
Victor
@ Puma:
Question is if the French Ref will at least listen to the third umpire this time?
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