Blog Post

Manu Samoa About to Take on the Scots

  • By STAFF WRITER
  • •
  • 30 Sep, 2019

We take a quick look at how the two teams stack up before kick-off

Big man Kane Le'aupepe will play a key role for the Manu Samoa in the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Image Pacific Illustrated

The Pool A game between Scotland and Samoa promises to be an interesting affair as the Rugby World Cup continues today. Scotland is coming off a comprehensive 27-3 defeat to Ireland and Samoa have had a taste of success after a convincing 34-9 victory against minnows Russia.

Despite the results of their respective first matches, Samoa will need to play the house down tonight if they are going to beat Scotland. The Scotts are currently ranked 8th in the world compared to their fairly modest 16th place ranking.

Samoa has also lost two of their key players, center Rey Lee-Lo and top hooker Motu Matu’u to three-match suspensions. In addition to the suspended players, Samoa is in further trouble with injuries to four of their players who played in the win against Russia, this will no doubt serve to dampen their momentum, which they will need to defeat a quality team like Scotland.

Manu Samoa skipper Jack Lam is back at the helm to play his first match of the 2019 RWC, Samoa vs Scotland. Image Pacific Illustrated

Some good news for Samoa though is that their skipper Jack Lam is back in the team after recovering from injury. Scotland has also made some changes to their team after the defeat to 2nd rank Ireland, their entire back row has been changed with Magnus Bradbury, Jamie Ritchie and Blade Thomson coming in for John Barclay, the injured Hamish Watson, and Ryan Wilson.

See the full team rosters below as released by Coaches Gregory Townsend (Scotland) and Steve Jackson (Samoa).

SCOTLAND

  1. Allan Dell
  2. Stuart McInally (capt.)
  3. Willem Petrus Nel
  4. Grant Gilchrist
  5. Jonny Gray
  6. Magnus Bradbury
  7. Jamie Ritchie
  8. Blade Thomson
  9. Greig Laidlaw
  10. Finn Russell
  11. Sean Maitland
  12. Sam Johnson
  13. Chris Harris
  14. Darcy Graha
  15. Stuart Hogg
  16. 16. Fraser Brown
  17. Gordon Reid
  18. Zander Fagerson
  19. Scott Cummings
  20. Ryan Wilson
  21. George Horne
  22. Adam Hastings
  23. Duncan Taylor
Flacons prop Logovi'i Mulipola gets his first start at the 2019 RWC against Scotland. Image Pacific Illustrated

SAMOA

  1. Logovi'i Mulipola
  2. Ray Niuia
  3. Michael Ala'alatoa
  4. Teofilo Paulo
  5. Kane Le'aupepe
  6. Chris Vui
  7. TJ Ioane
  8. Jack Lam (capt.)
  9. Melani Matavao
  10. Tusi Pisi
  11. Ed Fidow
  12. Henry Taefu
  13. Alapati Leiua
  14. Belgium Tuatagaloa
  15. Tim Nanai-Williams
  16. Seilala Lam
  17. Paul Alo-Emile
  18. Jordan Lay
  19. Piula Faasalele
  20. Josh Tyrell
  21. Pele Cowley
  22. Ulupano Seuteni
  23. Kieron Fonotia
Manu Samoa fans at the Wallabies vs Manu Samoa test in Sydney Sep 2019. Image Pacific Illustrated

Head -to head matchup

Samoa have struggled against Scotland in previous encounters. The Teams have played a total of 11 test matches, with Scotland winning an impressive 9, 1 was drawn and Samoa has won only 1. In Rugby World Cups, the teams have met 3 times, with Scotland winning on all 3 occasions, the last time they met was at the Rugby World Cup in New Castle in 2015.

Seilala Lam named as second hooker against Scotland in his first RWC match. This will be the first time he and brother Jack Lam play in a RWC match together. Image Pacific Illustrated.

Team Facts

Scotland has a perfect track record against non-tier one opponents at Rugby World Cups- they have won all of their 20 encounters against such opposition. Samoa, on the other hand, has not fared as well against their stronger tier 1 rivals winning only 5 of their 19 games, the last victory coming way back in 1999 when they defeated Wales.

Also, Scotland has never lost their first 2 in a Rugby World Cup before, Samoa, on the other hand, have never won their first 2 matches. A defeat for Scotland will mean they will face the possibility of elimination and victory for Samoa will give them hopes of a quarterfinal spot.

This is an extremely important game for both teams in the context of their World Cup aspirations. The match begins at 19:15 local time on Monday, September 30, 2019, at the Kobe Misaki Stadium.

Manu Samoa team huddle prior to starting the siva tau against the Wallabies in Sydney. Image Pacific Illustrated

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