I EXPECTED Samoa to come at Scotland - but not quite in that manner. They were outstanding in the first half, and Scotland were probably lucky to be no more than three points behind at the break.
They did give up a very soft try, scored by Tommy Seymour, in that first half. But their own scores were excellent, the product of great power, footwork and timing.
Scotland’s kick-off reception was dreadful right from the start in the first half, and a lot of the tackling was poor as well. They were falling off tackles - there must have been around 20 missed tackles in the first half and another ten in the second, and even allowing for the fact that Samoa were sensational at times, that is still a massive concern that defence coach Matt Taylor will want to address in detail and at length this week.
In the second half Scotland looked after the ball a lot better, and Samoa tired as the game wore on. Having said that, they were still dangerous at times, as they showed right at the end when they got a great score.
John Hardie was our best player. I still have some misgivings about the way in which he was brought into the squad so late in the day in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup, but there is no denying the fact that he is a quality player. He does exactly what you want your ideal openside flanker to do - chase down every loose ball and tackle relentlessly and incessantly.
The other forwards also worked hard and tackled hard, but we saw very little creativity. Seymour had a good game on the wing, not only when he showed the opportunism to grab that try, but Mark Bennett looked vulnerable at centre when Samoa attacked at pace. That is another area that Taylor will look at this week, especially as it is one, like the defence as a whole, where Scotland have been much improved in recent games.
There were a couple of times, too, when I thought we should have kicked our penalties instead of kicking to touch and trying to drive the lineout. That would have kept the scoreboard ticking over and possibly sapped Samoa’s belief that they could still come back into the match.
Having said that, on the most crucial occasion that Greig Laidlaw opted not to take the three points, he got it right. That is when the scrum-half and captain chose instead to take the scrum - and it was a big, big call.
Laidlaw scored from the scrum, then added the conversion that put Scotland ten points up. If the team had failed to score at that point I’m not sure what the consequences would have been. You only have to think back to a similar decision made by England captain Chris Robshaw against Wales, and the furore and soul-searching that followed when his team failed to score and the Welsh went on to win.
So it must have taken a lot of nerve for Laidlaw to make that particular call. He executed the try well, forcing his way over from a few metres out as several Samoans tried to close him down.
That was just one example, albeit the biggest, most important example, of the leadership shown by Laidlaw and the other senior players in the team. That leadership has been one of the most impressive elements of Scotland’s displays at this tournament, and it has been crucial in helping the team dig themselves out of some difficult situations.
That leadership and many other qualities will all be needed next Sunday in the quarter-final against the Wallabies at Twickenham. That match will be a totally different game, even though it will still be a hard, physical battle. For a start, the opposition is entirely different and will want to play in a distinct style compared to Samoa, and it is a knockout game, which always changes the character of the contest.
No-one expects us to win against Australia - expect for the guys in the squad and the coaches. But Scotland are a fit squad, and an improving squad, and they have already shown they have the ability to turn really difficult situations around.
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