Samoa have qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup despite drawing with Belgium 13-13 in a hard fought and nail biting match for Samoan rugby fans back home and across the globe.
Belgium fought valiantly and at times it felt like they would win to qualify for their first Rugby World Cup.
The first half was a stalemate as both teams struggled to get any real momentum. The half was riddled with errors and both teams had players sent to the bin for ill discipline.
Belgium showed some heart on defence denying Samoa two tries in the first 40 minutes. The “Black Devils” were rewarded for their efforts with a 6-3 halftime lead.
The start of the second half was more of the same with Samoa throwing everything they had at Belgium, and the Belgians standing their ground.
Samoa needed an injection of energy to score their first try and it came when Lemalu Tusi Pisi turned to his bench.
Abraham Papali’i, Scott Sio and Tuna Tuitama were substituted on and the impact was immediate.
A carry from Tuitama helped the men in blue cross into the Belgian 22-metre line and allowed the Samoan forward pack to go to work.
After patience and grit, Abraham Papali’i took it upon himself to power over a defender to score the first try of the match.
Samoa’s 10-6 lead became 13-6 after Jacob Umaga slotted a penalty from right in front. It seemed as if Samoa were ready to run away with it, but like they had been doing all match, Belgium just refused to go away.
Samoa leaked a number of penalties that allowed the Belgians to make their way deep into the Samoan half. After a few attempts at the try line, Belgium finally caught Samoa napping beside the ruck as they dived over to tie the match.
Samoa knew that a 13-13 result still meant they would qualify for the 2027 RWC so the last 5 minutes saw Samoa play smart and hold possession and burn the clock until they finally kicked it out to end the match.
Samoa are the 24th and final team to qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup. The Manu finished on 12 points, Belgium 11, Namibia 6 and Brazil 2.
Currently ranked 17th, the Manu Samoa have played in every World Cup, except the first in 1987, and have twice made the quarter-finals.
The final draw for the 2027 World Cup will be made on 3 December.
The 12 teams that finished in the top three of their pools at Rugby World Cup 2023 automatically qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027. They were France, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Australia, England, Argentina and Japan.
The 12 remaining places were reserved for teams that qualified through various tournaments … they were: Georgia, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Tonga, Canada, United States, Uruguay, Chile, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong China and now Samoa.
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