Samoa claim historic win over Scotland

Samoa showed again that they can no longer be considered as minnows, after claiming a fine 27-17 win over Scotland in Durban on Saturday.

The win was an historic one for Samoa as it is the first time that they have beaten Scotland at Test level.

Samoa held the upper hand in the early exchanges and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions.

Scotland defended resiliently but the dam wall eventually burst in the eighth minute when James So'oialo got the game's first try after Alapati Leiua launched a counter-attack from inside his 22 in the build-up.

So'oialo dusted himself off to add the conversion before Greig Laidlaw claimed Scotland's first points with a penalty shortly afterwards.

Both sides played expansively but Samoa's superior physicality saw them dominating at the contact area.

Shortly after Laidlaw's first penalty, Alesana Tuilagi scored Samoa's second try after Logovii Mulipola and Taiasina Tuifua did well in the build-up to create space for the big wing down the left-hand touchline.

So'oialo added the extras, before Laidlaw added two further penalties, in the 19th and 33rd minutes, to narrow the gap to five points (14-9) at half-time.

Shortly after the restart, Laidlaw made it a two-point ball-game when he added another three-pointer and during the early stages of the second half it was Scotland who had the better of the exchanges.

And the Scots took the lead for the first time in the 50th minute when Sean Lamont scored his side's only try after Samoa's scrum-half Jeremy Sua spilled the ball at a scrum close to his own try-line.

Scotland's backs pounced on the loose ball and after sending the ball through several pairs of hands, Lamont got in for an easy five-pointer in the right-hand corner.

To their credit, the islanders did not panic and soon the scores were tied at 17-all through another penalty from So'oialo before Tuilagi scored his second

Tuilagi showed his power, and pace after running onto a pass from the back of a scrum before smashing through a tackle by Peter Horne to score his second try in the 64th minute.

So'oialo succeeded with the conversion, and gave his side a 10-point buffer when he landed another penalty in the 70th minute to give him a personal haul of 17 points.

Man of the match:  Despite an impressive all-round display from James So'oialo, one can't ignore the impact that Alesana Tuilagi made on this match.  Whenever he received the ball, he proved a menace to the Scottish defence and he was rewarded for his efforts with two well-taken tries.

Moment of the match:  With the match level at 17-17 and Scotland launching a comeback, Tulagi scored a memorable try which put the game out of his opponents' reach.  The burly flyer showed his physical prowess to get in for the five-pointer and from there on, there was no looking back for Samoa.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Try:  Lamont
Pens:  Laidlaw 4

For Samoa:
Tries:Tuilagi 2, So'oialo
Cons:  So'oialo 3
Pens:  So'oialo 2

Scotland:  15 Greig Tonks, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Stevie Lawrie, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Duncan Taylor.

Samoa:  15 James So'oialo, 14 Alapati Leiua, 13 Paul Williams (c), 12 Jonny Leota, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusiata Pisi, 9 Jeremy Sua, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Daniel Leo, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Wayne Ole Avei, 1 Logovii Mulipola.
Replacements:  16 Maatulimanu Leiataua, 17 Sakaria Taulafo, 18 James Johnston, 19 Faatiga Lemalu, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Brando Vaaulu, 22 Seilala Mapusua, 23 Alafoti Faosiliva.

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)