Samoa 49-12 Namibia
SAMOA FIRED A powerful warning shot to their Pool D rivals with a comprehensive win over minnows Namibia in Rotorua this morning.
Monstrous winger Alesana Tuilagi was at his unstoppable best, bulldozing over the Namibian defence for a memorable World Cup hat-trick.
With just a four-day turnaround before they meet Wales though, Samoa could struggle after both out-half Tusi Pisi and flanker Taiasina Tuifua hobbled off with injuries in the first half.
Tonga 20-25 Canada
Canada left it late in Whangarei before pulling off a shock victory over Tonga.
Trailing by seven points with 13 minutes to play, the Canucks drew level through Aaron Carpenter before Phil McKenzie crossed for the game-winning score.
The result means that Canada have now won all three of their World Cup outings against Tonga, but it’ll only get more difficult from here onwards. Next up for Kieran Crowley’s men? France on Sunday.
Scotland 15-6 Georgia
It wasn’t always pretty, but Scotland dominated territory and possession to notch a deserved win in a kick-fest against Georgia.
After fluffing a few early penalties, out-half Dan Parks came into his own in the second half, racking up all of the Scots’ points alongside some well-executed positional play.
Play of the day
Step forward, Alesana Tuilagi. After some speedy work in midfield, the Samoan giant was set loose out wide where he nonchalantly shrugged off the attention of three Namibian defenders before crashing down in the corner for his second try.
Wales, beware.
Tweet of the day
For rugby’s smaller nations, there is no better feeling than winning a game — any game — at the World Cup. If it involves some drama and a late comeback, all the better.
We enjoyed Canadian prop Jason Marshall’s post-match reaction:
