Wales battles for victory over Samoa in Rugby World Cup

Wales got their own back at the Rugby World Cup Sunday when they beat Samoa for a hard-fought 17-10 victory, after losing to the Pacific islanders in their previous two World Cup encounters. Samoa rattled the Welsh, who lost to South Africa a week earlier, but both sides were keen to run the ball during the match in Hamilton. Wales suffered an early setback when Andy Powell had to replace flanker Danny Lydiate, who injured his right ankle in the 10th minute, but they rallied and took the lead when James Hook put in a penalty from in front of the posts after a high tackle on fly half Rhys Priestland. Samoa responded with a Paul Williams penalty midway through the half. When the Samoans were penalized for collapsing the scrum after 26 minutes, Hook took the score to 6-3. Samoa was denied a try after half an hour when Maurie Faasavalu was penalized on the Wales line, but their pressure paid off when Anthony Perenise charged through a try, putting the score at 10-6 Samoa were aiming for a third World Cup win over the Welsh after 1991 and 1999 triumphs, but Priestland narrowed the gap to 10-9 straight after the break with a long-range penalty that bounced on the cross bar before going over. Priestland then put Wales back in the lead with a penalty before Williams put the ball over the line, bringing the score to 17-10. Despite strong pressure by the Samoans in the last 10 minutes, the Welsh defense held strong, leaving the team in third place in their pool and raising their hopes of progressing through to the quarter finals.