Samoa has secured its first win under the new management and coaching by Namulauulu Alama Ieremia in a 30 to 10 win over Tonga at Apia Park today.
Namulauulu says the match was hard as expected and prepared for, his gratitude was to the players in his team for their strong effort that won them a good spot to move forward.
The first half was all Samoa, with an early penalty try after a deliberate knockdown by the Tongans at the line and few minutes later, a strong forwards pack maul leading to Jeff Lepa crossing the try line for Samoa.
Two penalty kicks later one to each team and the hooter sounded for halftime with the score, Samoa 23 to Tonga 3.
It was the second half though that put some nervous energy into Apia Park as Tonga outmuscled Samoa to earn themselves a big try with a little over 20 minutes to go in the game.
"They came in very strong in the beginning of the second half, and we knew it was going to get tough from then on and as you saw, obviously it wasn’t the prettiest of halves but we took opportunity to take points we needed when we needed them," said head coach Namulauulu.
With ten minutes to go, Tonga broke into Samoa's five meter line once more and threatened to storm their way in to score again but a crucial knock on led to Samoa stealing possession.
The score being at a standstill at 23 to 10, it was the quick heroics from a young Danny Tusitala that put the game out of reach once and for all for Samoa, when he scooped up a loose Tongan ball about 20 meters from their try line and raced to the corner for a try that was converted by 18 year old D'Angelo Leuila making the margin 30 to 10.
"I saw the future of Manu Samoa in these youngsters, that’s that whole point of this particular campaign, to see some new players, and to see the opportunities and how they would have it handled, and I'm happy with the way they performed today," said Namulauulu.
For the Tongan side, despite the loss, it’s a good start to the teams freshly selected team including its eight newly capped players.
"We didn’t deserve to win, that’s all, we just made too many mistakes, unforced errors, and turned the ball over too many times, you can’t do that if you’re going to win, " said former Wallaby and Tongan coach Toutai Kefu.
"All I’m proud of is that we’ve had our new guys get out there and get used to the competition especially with our eight or nine guys that weren’t capped before," he added.
The Pacific nations has been decided for this year and the Flying Fijians are at the top spot with Samoa and Tonga trailing at second and third. The Manu's home games are completed however, coach Alama Ieremia says the team will meet again at the end of October as they prepare for their Northern Hemisphere tour in November this year.
Pic: Renee McKay