Impressive Manu Samoa

Re: Germany ready for Manu Samoa 

I was really impressed with the Samoan scrum. 

That was where I knew the Germans would target the Manu [because it is where Samoa usually loses matches (in the set piece - scrums, lineouts, kick-offs)], but the Samoa forward pack really stood up and dominated at scrum time. It demoralized the Germans because they thought they would really gain penalties from forcing the Samoan scrum on the backfoot. 

Logovi’i Mulipola was the general here. 

The old experienced warhorse really brought his power and led the front row contact well in the scrums putting the Germans on the backfoot time and time again.

The lineouts and kick-offs still need work though. 

They improved as the game wore on, but early on, Samoa was giving away far too much possession and territory from unforced errors at lineout and kick-off reception time.

Maul defence is also another area Samoa needs to improve on. 

The Germans will kick the corners, win the lineout and try and rumble over the line via rolling maul. I was impressed with the locks here - Captain Chris Vui and Josh Tyrell. These guys are engine room of the tight five and need to have the same work rate in Heidelberg.

 

Petelo Suaniu 

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