Manu Samoa beat a spirited Spain 34-30 in rainy and muddy conditions at Apia Park on Saturday.
Spain made Manu Samoa work for the win and while the wet conditions made things difficult, the home side held on to win the physical encounter.
Winger Owen Niue Fetu was the first on the scoreboard, scoring a try on his debut. Spain answered with a penalty through Gonzalo Vinuesa.
Fullback Feagaimafaleupolu Duncan Paia’aua was the second man to touch dow. Samoa led 14-3 with many thinking that this would be a one-sided affair.
Spain answered back with a try to halfback Estanislao Bay next to the post to take the score to 14-10.
Halfback Melani Matavao proved his selection to start as he darted under the post for Samoa’s third try. Spain snuck in a penalty just before the breather. The teams went to break with Manu Samoa leading 21 – 13.
It was Spain who started the second spell strongly. Wing Gauthier Minguillon touched down to close the gap and make it a one-piny ball game.
Spain then clinched the lead for the first time with a successful penalty making it 23-21.
Manu Samoa fired back with two penalties and leading 27-23.
Wing Nigel Ah Wong finished off a slick move to take Manu Samoa further ahead. A successful conversion took the score to 34 – 23.
Spain was relentless and they were rewarded with a try in the last seconds of the game through replacement hooker Alvaro Garcia to take the score to 34 – 30.
Manu Samoa captain Theodore McFarland said he was proud of the team’s performance despite the weather condition.
“In terms of performances, it wasn’t like last week but given the conditions, our discipline and our executions sort of went out of style today but the effort from the boys was there,” he said.
“Easy fix but given the conditions today, our execution is down below. We’re very very happy we won it, and we have two wins now. I think this is good for us going into PNC (Pacific Nations Cup), it sort of gives us some sort of confidence going into our next campaign.”
Spain’s captain Mario Pichardie congratulated Manu Samoa on their win and the country as a whole for their hospitality while they were here in Samoa.
“We came very close, we know we came here with nothing to lose, Samoa had a good performance with their win against Italy. So, for us as a team, we knew we had nothing to lose here. But we gave it our all, but we just came very short at the end of the game. I’m very proud of how the boys fought for eighty minutes,” he said.
