Argentina vs Samoa LIVE: Rugby World Cup result, final score and reaction
Argentina look for their first win in Pool D as they clash with Samoa in Saint-Etienne
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Fullback Emiliano Boffelli scored 16 points in a man-of-the-match performance as Argentina got their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track with a hardfought 19-10 victory over a committed Samoa on Friday.
Boffelli scored an early try and converted four of five kicks from the tee to get the Pumas back to winning ways after the disappointment of their 27-10 loss to 14-man England in their Pool D opener.
“It’s a massive victory for us, very important for this tournament,” Argentina captain Julian Montoya said after first thanking his noisy compatriots in the stands.
“The last game against England, we didn’t do what we were supposed to do, today we did it pretty well. Still plenty to improve but that’s exciting too.”
Samoa managed just one penalty kick from former Wallabies flyhalf Christian Leali’ifano until replacement hooker Sama Malolo barged his way over the line for his third try of the tournament five minutes from time.
That set up a frenetic finale but Nicolas Sanchez, coming off the bench to win his 99th cap for Argentina, lashed over a final penalty from just inside the Samoa half to make the game safe.
Follow all the traction from the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard below.
First half stats - individual
Here are some individual stats from the first half:
Most tackles: Seilala Lam (Samoa, 12)
Most metres: Mateo Carreras (Argentina, 59)
Most gainline-crossing carries: Mateo Carreras (Argentina, 5)
HALF TIME Argentina 13 - 3 Samoa
A hugely physical first half and Argentina have a ten-point lead going into the break. Two out of three missed penalties from Leali’ifano have seen them only score three points in the first half. The rain has certainly played a factor in the first half, lots of errors for both sides.
Argentina 13 - 3 Samoa - Samoa missed penalty
37 mins, Samoa win a penalty at the scrum as they overpower Argentina but Leali’ifano’s kick goes wide. He’ll be disappointed with that one as it was from much shorter range than the previous and he misses the opportunity to put his side within a score of Argentina with three minutes until half time.
ARGENTINA PENALTY Argentina 13 - Samoa 3 33 mins
Boffelli slots an easy penalty in front of the posts as Samoa are penalised for being offside.
SAMOA PENALTY Argentina 10 - 3 Samoa
Leali’ifano gets Samoa on the scoreboard as his kick from 49 metres out bounces off of the crossbar and goes over!
ARGENTINA PENALTY. Argentina 10 - 0 Samoa 24 mins
Tumua Manu and Fritz Lee offside and give away the penalty and Boffelli converts from 45 metres.
Argentina 7 - 0 Samoa
21 mins, Argentina scrum. Lots of handling errors out there as the weather plays its part in the match making the ball slippery. It’s a Samoan knock on and Argentina have a scrum.
Samoa have also missed eight tackles so far this half.
Penalty missed. Argentina 7 - 0 Samoa 15 mins
Christian Leali’ifano misses his penalty kick attempt as it goes wide.
Samoa go for the posts. Argentina 7 - 0 Samoa 14 mins
It’s a huge tackle from Boffellion Leali’ifano but he comes off of his feet for the ruck and gives away the penalty.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments