SAMOA’s new captain has warned Scotland that his team’s morale is high despite two consecutive losses. Kahn Fotuali’i, the scrum-half, has taken over as skipper from the injured Ofisa Treviranus. He is sure his squad have the talent - and, perhaps just as importantly, the inclination - to bow out of the Rugby World Cup on a high.
The Samoans began their Pool B campaign with a solid if uninspired 25-16 victory over the United States in Brighton the day after Japan’s stunning win against South Africa. But they then felt the backlash from the Springboks, losing 46-6 at Villa Park as the former world champions brought back their big guns.
A loss to the top seeds in the group was not in itself a disgrace, but Samoa, the second seeds, then needed to recover their form against Japan to retain any hope of reaching the last eight. Instead, they lost 26-5, having three men yellow-carded.
They also had Alesana Tuilagi cited after the game for foul play early in the first half. The five-week ban on the winger increased Samoa’s sense of injustice, but it cannot have helped their concentration this week as they prepared for today’s final fling against Scotland at St James’ Park. Even so, Fotuali’i appeared confident that his team could bounce back and do their ability justice.”
“After the loss, morale dropped, but that’s just natural for players and sports people to feel like that, because no-one wants to lose,” he said. “For us we’re pretty good - we always pick ourselves up because we know we need to push on. This week it’s Scotland and we know we have a tough task ahead, but we’re pretty excited about it.”
Samoa have been widely written off before today’s game in Newcastle, partly because of their own poor form, but also because Scotland have been in decent form. But their captain warned that nothing can be taken for granted, citing the example of England, the hosts, who were widely expected to qualify for the knockout stages but instead lost to Wales and Australia in successive weeks to go out.
“Look at England - a lot of people assumed they were going to make it through, just because they were the host nation and playing well," he said. “We haven't played to the best of our ability this group were capable of, but we haven't really fired a shot. We've got a chance this weekend to say we are a good enough side.”
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