Samoa campaign hangs in balance, says coach

BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - Samoa’s Rugby World Cup campaign is hanging in the balance after defeat by South Africa and with two more tough challenges to come in the form of Japan and Scotland, coach Stephen Betham said after Saturday's 46-6 defeat against South Africa. With the top two in Pool B advancing to the quarter-finals, Samoa face crunch games against Japan and Scotland as they chase a place in the last eight of the tournament for only the third time. “All the games are hard but the Japan game will be a do-or-die affair for us. We are really still under pressure in this pool,” Betham said. “Japan, I’m sure, will be ready for us.” Japan have emerged as a factor after starting their tournament with a shock 34-32 win over South Africa, though they subsequently lost to Scotland on Wednesday. Samoa, who opened up with an unconvincing 25-16 win over the United States, play Japan at Milton Keynes on Saturday and finish against Scotland in Newcastle a week later. Little went Samoa’s way against South Africa on Saturday.

(Reuters)

“We knew it would be hard and so it proved," Betham said. "We gave it all, but credit to South Africa, they were too strong for us.”

(Editing by David Goodman)