Samoa 46 Georgia 9

Samoa beat Georgia by 46-9 at the Subiaco Oval in Perth to move to the top of Pool C, the Islanders scoring a total of six tries in the victory, including one from inspirational skipper Semo Sititi.

As you would expect from two teams renowned for their overtly physical style of play, it was a bruising encounter that kept the team physios on their toes all night, but the game also had plenty to recommend it from a quality rugby point of view.

Admittedly, most of that quality was supplied by the free-running Samoans, their dynamism and pace proving too potent a mix for the more staid Georgians, but both sides contributed in their own inimitable ways to the spectacle.

Samoa, a team well known for their previous World Cup heroics, predictably strove to keep the ball alive and escape the clutches of a raw-boned Georgian forward pack and were rewarded with a clutch of tries for their industry.

The victors saw out some rocky opening moments in the match, Georgia actually taking the lead through a fourth minute penalty goal by Paliko Jimsheladze.

But, as against Uruguay, Samoa proved that their wide-out attack is their most effective way of scoring points, soon making their running prowess count with a try.

From a midfield attack, the ball was crisply moved left down the line, winger Sailosi Tagicakibau breaking two tackles to finish off the move, fly-half Earl Va'a adding the extras.

Jimsheladze put his side within a point in the 20th minute as the Georgians threatened the Samoan line with a succession of close-quarter drives.

Then, after Samoa had attempted to take on their opponents in a driving maul just yards from the tryline, they made a more typical wide attack down the right, Va'a with enough pace to go all the way.

He converted his own try and Samoa were firmly in the driving seat at 14-6.

That lead was stretched when Samoa capitalised on an elementary error on the part of their opponents -- Georgia stacking too many men in a lineout -- scrum-half Steven So'oialo taking the quick tap and haring off downfield.

As he set up the ruck on the Georgian 22, Vano Nadiradze was penalised for coming in from the side, allowing Va'a to kick his first penalty of the evening.

Georgian worked their way back into Samoan territory from the restart, their forwards setting up a field position to enable Jimsheladze to slot a neat drop-goal.

In the 33rd minute, Samoa made another breakthrough, So'oialo breaking from the base of a ruck to score a simple try.

With Va'a's conversion, that made it it 24-9, but Georgia were far from ready to roll over.

For the third quarter, Samoa found themselves frustrated again and again at the breakdown -- despite some promising long-range moves -- as Georgia stuck to their task.

Indeed, Samoa only scored their fourth try, through skipper Sititi -- thus securing a bonus point -- in the final quarter following a period of stalemate.

While, they also created late scores from Dominic Feaunati and Brian Lima, on this evidence Samoa are unlikely to give Pool rivals South Africa and England too much resistance in their forthcoming matches -- the Islanders lacking the kind of forward stability to impose their gameplan on oppositions.

Man of the Match:  The Georgian forwards battled for the full 80 minutes -- prop Goderdze Shvelidze the pick of the crop -- but it was Samoa who provided the best individual performances of the night, none better than the one from livewire scrum-half Steven So'oialo who kept Georgia guessing throughout.

Moment of the match:  Samoa's fourth try was down to the individual brilliance of skipper Semo Sititi, the No.8 taking the ball in the Georgian 22, weaving around several opponents before straightening his stride to romp over for the try that brought his team a well-deserved bonus point.

Villain of the match:  The Georgians indulged in a fair amount of ball-killing in the face of a pacy Samoan attack, replacement Bessik Khamashuridze committing the most obvious transgression early in the second half to earn a 10-minute spell in the bin.

The Teams:

Samoa:  1 Jeremy Tomuli, 2 Jonathan Meredith, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Leo Lafaiali'i, 5 Opeta Palepoi, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 7 Peter Poulos, 8 Semo Sititi (c), 9 Steven So'oialo, 10 Earl Va'a, 11 Ron Fanuatanu, 12 Terry Fanolua, 13 Brian Lima, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 15 Tanner Vili
Reserves:  Dominic Feaunati, Simon Lemalu, Mahonri Schwalger, Denning Tyrell, Siaosi Vaili, Kitiona Viliamu, Dale Rasmussen

Georgia:  1 Sosso Nikolaenko, 2 Akvsenti Guiorgadze, 3 Goderdzi Shvelidze, 4 Vano Nadiradze, 5 Zurab Mtchedlishvili, 6 Guia Labadze, 7 Gregoire Yachvili, 8 Ilia Zedguinidze (c), 9 Irakli Abusseridze, 10 Paliko Jimsheladze, 11 Makho Urjukashvili, 12 Irakli Guiorgadze, 13 Tedo Zibzibadze, 14 Vassil Katsadze, 15 Badri Khekhelashvili
Reserves:  David Bolghashvili, Victor Didebulidze, Bessik Khamashuridze, Merab Kvirikashvili, Irakli Machkhaneli, Aleko Margvelashvili
Unused:  David Dadunashvili

Attendance:  21507
Referee:  Rolland a.

Points Scorers:

Samoa
Tries:  Lima B.P. 1, Tagicakibau S. 1, Va'a E.V. 1, So'oialo S. 1, Sititi S. 1, Feaunati D. 1
Conv:  Va'a E.V. 5
Pen K.:  Va'a E.V. 2

Georgia
Pen K.:  Jimsheladze P. 2
Drop G.:  Jimsheladze P. 1