Marauding winger Ed Fidow yesterday bagged a quick-fire double as Samoa beat Russia 34-9 in a bruising Rugby World Cup encounter.
Fidow provided the spark in a tempestuous Pool A clash after the Pacific islanders were reduced to 13 men in the first half for two reckless tackles in steamy Kumagaya, Japan.
“To lose two players, go down to 13 men and we didn’t lose on the score, [I’m] really proud of the effort,” Samoa coach Steve Jackson said. “We knew we would come out after halftime and the boys were still fresh. I’m just glad we got over the line.”
Photo: AFP
Russia coach Lyn Jones bemoaned his team’s short, four-day turnaround after his team lost 30-10 to Japan in the tournament-opener on Saturday.
“It’s very disappointing. The performance wasn’t what we expected. However, the short turnaround has affected us tactically and mentally,” the Welshman said. “I thought we could play the same tactics as Japan, but it wasn’t going to be tonight. We needed more time to prepare. It’s not the physical deterioration, it was the mental. We just weren’t there tonight.”
Samoa began the game pumped up and they went ahead after 15 minutes when a superb pass from Tim Nanai-Williams found Alapati Leiua to crash over for the first of his brace.
However, Russia flyhalf Yury Kushnarev kicked a pair of penalties to give the Bears a 6-5 halftime lead which should have been more after Samoa played almost 10 minutes with 13 men.
Center Rey Lee-Lo was lucky to escape with a yellow card for a high tackle on Russia captain Vasily Artemyev, before hooker Motu Matu’u followed him to the sin bin after another dangerous challenge on Artemyev.
However, Russia let Samoa off the hook as they failed to capitalize on their numerical advantage and, playing their first game of the tournament, Samoa ultimately had too much firepower for the underdogs, who were blowing hard after their short recovery time.
Scrumhalf Dwayne Polataivao failed to come out for the second half after taking a blow to the head, but Samoa hit back when Afaesetiti Amosa bulldozed over five minutes after the restart.
Russia’s Kirill Gotovtsev was yellow-carded for a high tackle attempting to block Amosa, who was stretchered off after twisting his knee.
A superb drop-goal from Kushnarev hauled Russia back to within a point, before Fidow grabbed Samoa’s second try in the 49th minute, bursting through after a clever pass from replacement hooker Ray Niuia.
The prolific Fidow extended Samoa’s lead shortly afterward with the bonus-point try as Russia began to wilt.
Fortunate to still be involved in the game, Lee-Lo made up for his yellow by adding Samoa’s fifth try, before Leiua added the icing on the cake just before the buzzer.
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