The Scots on the war path in the dying minutes PHOTO by Lagi Keresoma

By Lance Polu

APIA: 23 June 2012: Scotland scored a very late try after relentlessly punching a solid Samoan defence five meters from its tryline to take the game 17-16 infront of a capacity crowd at Apia Park today.

Scotland had camped within the Manu Samoa 22 for twenty minutes of the second half after Manu Samoa’s first five Tusiata Pisi scored and converted in the 59th  minute to bring the score to 16-10. Scotland used its huge forwards to punch holes in the Samoan defence and finally found a much needed one one minute to fulltime.

Samoa opened the scoring with a Tusiata Pisi dropped goal in the 14th minute and Scotland responded smartly with a try following a series of attacks on the far side and centre Nick de Luca crossed for the first try which was converted by fullback Stuart Hogg.

Tusiata Pisi converted a penalty seven minutes later to bring the score to 7-6 to Scotland at half time.

Pisi kicked a penalty to give Manu Samoa the lead 9-7 at the start of the second half. The score change minutes later when Graig Laidlaw kicked a penalty for Scotland 10-9. Twenty minutes into the second half, Manu Samoa’s Tusiata Pisi finished off an attack led by second five Paul Williams and converted his own try to bring the score to 16-10.

Scotland, having announced its desire not to lose its last game on this tour, pinned the game within five meters of the Manu Samoa tryline for twenty minutes. Using its big forwards and scrum with the South African referee blowing for the Scots more than to the vocal crowd’s liking, finally crossed over and converted to pull through by one point.

A relieved captain Ross Ford said they knew Samoa would be hard to beat especially infront of its home crowd but they were happy with the win.

Smiling and talking of the beaches tomorrow and enjoying more of Samoa and its happy and smiling people, Ford and the Scotsmen have much more to cheer about even having some inkling of why one of their most famous kinsmen chose to live and die and buried on Mount Vaea that overlooked the Apia Park, where the physical confrontation had seen its best just now.