This archive report was first published on 1 October 2019.
On Monday, Samoa's World Cup hopes took a hit as they suffered a 34-0 defeat at the hands of Scotland. Despite the crushing loss, coach Steve Jackson remains optimistic about his team's chances of advancing from Pool A.
Scotland's victory was marked by two penalty tries, awarded to them after referee Pascal Gauzere deemed Samoa had illegally impeded their progress to the line. The sending off of winger Ed Fidow added to Samoa's woes, leaving them with fresh selection problems.
Coach Jackson acknowledged that his team's pride was dented by the defeat, but emphasized that they were not down and out. 'One changing room is singing and the other one is pretty sombre,' he said. 'They are hurting and so they should. No one likes losing and no one likes scoring zero.'
Samoa will look to bounce back from the defeat in their next game against tournament hosts Japan, who top the group on nine points. A win against Japan would put Samoa right back in the running for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Coach Jackson praised Scotland's performance, saying they had 'wanted it more and executed everything that they did.' He added that his team would learn from the defeat and come back stronger.
Get the latest sports news updates by subscribing to our SMS sports service by texting 'SPORTS' to 22840.
