Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The Manu Samoa Under 20s continued their spirited fight at the Junior World Cup in New Zealand last night with a gutsy effort against a high-flying South African team.
Although they lost, 21-8, at the ECOLight Stadium, Pukekohe, the young Manu Samoa can hold their heads high, after putting in a performance that nearly re-wrote history.
google_ad_client = "ca-pub-2469982834957525";
/* Left 300X250 */
google_ad_slot = "8433753430";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script> {/googleAds}
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
South Africa last week hammered tournament favourites, New Zealand.
Last night, however, the Boks was given a real run for their money, needing a late try to seal victory.
“We gave it our all,” Captain Stowers said. “We just said to ourselves that we wanted to win it for our families and country. It was a case of Samoa mo Samoa unfortunately we just came up short.”
Coach Lemalu Semo Sititi’s men held a slim but surprising 8-7 lead at the halftime break, from a William Mu penalty and a try by Nathaniel Apa.
Two separate incidents resulting in two Samoan players being sin binned at critical points of the game did not help.
“It’s just hard to defend when you are a man down but that was the reality for us,” said Stowers. “Against a team like South Africa, you need all hands on deck. We had two players in the bin on different occasions and that made it extremely difficult. They scored when we had a man down so it’s disappointing.”
With their tales up at 8-7, Samoa struggled to keep that lead in that second half, as their ill-discipline and inaccurate execution let them down.
The Junior Springbok squandered many opportunities but tries from centre Andre Esterhuizen and winger Sergeal Petersen saw them win the match 21-8.
Scores
Samoa – Try: Nathaniel Apa. Penalty: William Talataina Mu.
South Africa –Tries: Aidon Davis, Andre Esterhuizen, Sergeal Petersen. Conversions: Handre Pollard(3).
<!-- 336x280 (bottom-article) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-2469982834957525"
data-ad-slot="1033882026"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script> {/googleAds}
<