Samoa overcome early scare by spirited Chile to secure bonus-point victory

Samoa made a slow start before outclassing World Cup debutants Chile 43-10 with backline craft and forward power to get their Pool D campaign off to a winning start at the Stade de Bordeaux on Saturday.

Los Cóndores delighted the massed ranks of their exuberant fans by scoring the opening try of the match through their prop Matías Dittus and Samoa needed the place-kicking of Christian Leali’ifano to creep ahead towards the end of the first half. Tries from Duncan Paia’aua and Jonathan Taumateine immediately before and after half-time gave the Pacific Islanders some breathing room and two tries from rolling mauls then secured the bonus point.

Despite having two players in the sin bin, the Chileans continued to fight and had the better of a scrappy final quarter until Samoa’s reserve hooker, Sama Malolo, scored his second try late on with yet another rolling maul.

Chile’s breakout star of the tournament so far has been their No 10, Rodrigo Fernández, a running fly-half with a wicked sidestep who got Los Cóndores going with a slick show and go down the left that led to the early try for Dittus. It continued a theme from this tournament of the underdogs scoring first and fast.

But the Pacific Islanders were a constant threat with their direct, aggressive running and Chile conceded a string of penalties in trying to stop them which Leali’ifano steadily converted into points. The former Wallabies fly-half, eligible after World Rugby permitted players who stand down from internationals for three years to change allegiance, turns 36 at this tournament and has overcome leukaemia on the way to an unlikely second chapter in his Test rugby career.

He provided the steady hand Samoa needed in what turned into a scrappy encounter as both sides wearied in the heat, and survived a monster tackle late on from Domingo Saavedra. While the game was short on quality at times, it featured running rugby from both sides, tries, some big hits and the haircut of the tournament in Taumateine’s bleached platinum-blond mullet.

Such a bold look demanded a performance to match and Taumateine delivered, bustling over in the corner after the break and flinging the ball into the crowd in delight with some fans still taking their seats.

There is little substitute in rugby for raw power and Samoa’s told in the end, their maul proving too much for Chile and setting a marker for their remaining opponents. Samoa next face Argentina on 22 September, while Chile play England, the Pool D frontrunners, on 23 September, having already used up their best two shots at a shock first World Cup win.