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| Results against 2007 World Cup opponents |
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Samoa v South Africa:
Samoa has played South Africa five times to date, including four matches on the high veldt in South Africa. The sides have previously met in two World Cups – 1995, when they clashed in the quarter-final, and 2003, when they met in pool play. Samoa has not yet beaten South Africa and one of the curiosities of these matches is that South Africa has posted a score of exactly 60 three times. 1995 Lost 8-60 Johannesburg 1995 Lost 14-42 Johannesburg (WC) 2002 Lost 18-60 Pretoria 2003 Lost 10-60 Brisbane (WC) 2007 Lost 8-35 Johannesburg Played 5, South Africa 5 wins, Samoa 0 wins. WC = World Cup match Samoa v Tonga: Tonga is Samoa’s most frequent test opponent, with the sides having met 45 times to date. Initially Tonga dominated these matches but since 1982 it has been one-way traffic in Samoa’s favour as the Manu have won 24, drawn one and lost only four times. Samoa has won the last nine matches between the countries and often reserves its best performance of the year for Tonga; the 2006 win at Gosford was achieved by an outstanding forward effort and the 2007 match was a fitting send-off for Brian Lima, who played his last home test. Another odd feature of these games is that they have been staged in five different countries already – Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Japan and Australia – so France (the match is to be played at Montpellier) will be the sixth different country to host this traditional Pacific rivalry. 1926 Lost 5-14 Apia 1932 Lost 9-15 Apia 1947 Won 5-3 Apia 1956 Lost 0-20 Nuku’alofa 1957 Lost 9-22 Apia Drew 3-3 Apia Lost 8-13 Apia 1963 Lost 5-16 Suva (SPG) Lost 6-29 Suva (SPG) 1972 Lost 0-14 Apia Lost 19-28 Apia 1975 Lost 14-29 Apia Won 9-3 Apia 1978 Lost 9-18 Nuku’alofa 1979 Lost 10-18 Suva (SPG) 1980 Lost 12-15 Apia 1982 Won 11-3 Suva 1983 Lost 6-15 Apia 1984 Won 10-4 Nuku’alofa 1985 Won 11-3 Apia Won 7-6 Nuku’alofa 1986 Lost 15-35 Nuku’alofa 1987 Won 7-4 Apia 1988 Won 20-13 Nuku’alofa 1990 Won 12-3 Tokyo Won 13-9 Apia 1991 Won 41-13 Nuku’alofa 1992 Won 22-17 Apia 1993 Won 30-6 Nuku’alofa 1994 Won 32-19 Apia 1995 Lost 12-13 Nuku’alofa 1996 Won 30-15 Apia 1997 Won 62-13 Nuku’alofa 1998 Won 28-20 Parramatta 1999 Drew 6-6 Apia 2000 Lost 13-16 Nuku’alofa 2001 Won 20-18 Apia Won 23-14 Nuku’alofa 2002 Won 27-16 Nuku’alofa Won 31-13 Apia 2004 Won 24-14 Apia 2005 Won 50-28 Apia Won 30-19 Nuku’alofa 2006 Won 36-0 Gosford 2007 Won 50-3 Apia Played 45, Samoa 26 wins, Tonga 17 wins, 2 drawn matches. SPG = South Pacific Games match. The 1990 match at Tokyo and the 1998 match at Parramatta were both part of World Cup qualifying tournaments. Samoa v England: Samoa and England only play occasionally and England, like South Africa, has never played at Apia. Samoa has twice been drawn in the same World Cup pool as England, in 1995 and 2003. Despite the fact Samoa lost to champions-in-waiting England at the 2003 World Cup, Samoa’s fine performance focused attention on the plight of nations who could not command big professional competitions and, indirectly, led to the IRB funding of schemes such as the High Performance Unit and Licensed Training Centre. 1995 Lost 22-44 Durban (WC) 1995 Lost 9-27 Twickenham 2003 Lost 22-35 Melbourne (WC) 2005 Lost 3-40 Twickenham Played 4, England 4 wins, Samoa 0 wins. WC = World Cup match Samoa v USA: Samoa and USA have only played two previous tests, in the old Pacific Rim series. While Samoa was expected to win both matches and did so, neither was easy and the 2000 win was necessary for Samoa to take out the title. After a hard match, which saw USA right in the game throughout, Samoa scored three tries to two to claim a significant victory. 1999 Won 27-20 Apia 2000 Won 19-12 San Francisco Played 2, Samoa 2 wins, USA 0 wins. |
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