Player ratings: Island style
Samoa made a major statement to the International Rugby Board (IRB) when they thumped Italy 39-10 in Nelspruit on Saturday.
The Pacific Islanders put the Azzurri to the sword, dominating the physical stakes and scoring five tries to set up a meeting with the Springboks next weekend.
Samoa, ranked seventh on the IRB World Rankings, are the only top 10 side who do not compete in an annual international tournament such as the Rugby Championship and Six Nations and they made a strong case to be included in such a tournament with their annihilation of the Azzurri.
Quintin van Jaarsveld rates the Samoan players.
15 Brando Va’aulu
A late replacement for James Sooialo, Va’aulu asked plenty of questions of the Italian defence and did well to dot down Samoa’s fifth try.
6/10
14 Alapati Leiua
Made a big hit on Gonzalo Garcia and won a turnover inside his 22, offloaded brilliantly to put captain Paul Williams in for the opening try and burned Tommaso Iannone to collect a grubber, step Andrea Masi and score. A late yellow card hurt his chances to be named man of the match.
7/10
13 Paul Williams
The captain was very influential, scoring the opening try and kicking 12 points after taking on the added responsibility of goal-kicking.
6.5/10
12 Johnny Leota
Rock solid on defence and showed real pace to run in Samoa’s third try.
6/10
11 Alesana Tuilagi
Made just the one run and spent the rest of the match as a spectator out on the wing.
5/10
10 Tusi Pisi
Showed good tactical awareness to kick in behind Italy early on, created the opening try with a scintillating break and the second with a well-weighted grubber and put his strike runners into space with some deft touches.
7/10
9 Jeremy Sua
Varied his play well to keep the Azzurri guessing.
6/10
8 Taiasina Tu’ifua
Maintained a great workrate, crashed into the rucks with vicious velocity and scored a deserved try.
7/10
7 Jack Lam
A real force with ball in hand and won an early turnover.
6.5/10
6 Ofisa Treviranus
Came into his own in the second half after a very quiet first 40 minutes.
6/10
5 Daniel Leo
Good work in the line-out but did little across the park and conceded two penalties.
5/10
4 Teofilo Paulo
Struggled to get over the advantage line but threw his body around on defence.
5.5/10
3 Census Johnston
Conceded two scrum penalties and another at the breakdown.
3/10
2 Wayne Ole Avei
His workrate was second to none – making a whopping 15 tackles and 50 metres in 12 runs – and he threw a great basketball-like pass for Tu’ifua to score.
7.5/10
1 Sakaria Taulafo
His brilliant 20-odd metre run was one of the highlights of the game.
6/10
Replacements:
16 Ti'i Paulo (on for Avei, 71st minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
17 Logovi’i Mulipola (on for Taulafo, 60th minute)
Made little impact in general play and conceded a penalty.
4/10
18 James Johnston (on for Johnston, 40th minute)
Managed a turnover but was part of the front row who conceded a penalty try.
5/10
19 Kane Thompson (on for Leo, 55th minute)
Forced a turnover but lost a line-out.
4/10
20 Junior Poluleuligaga (on for Sua, 67th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
21 Ki Anufe (on for Pisi, 57th minute)
Made a great break to put Va’aulu away and injected pace into the backline.
6.5/10
22 Seilala Mapusua (on for Leota, 72nd minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
23 Piula Faasalele (on for Lam, 57th minute)
Made a real impact on attack with a clean line break
6/10
