South Africa vs. Samoa: Preview, Live Stream, TV for Rugby World Cup 2015 Game
South Africa will demand a major response against Samoa following their humiliating defeat against Japan in their Pool B opener. If the Springboks do not improve quickly, they could become the most lauded and decorated side to fail to reach the knockout stages of a Rugby World Cup. To bring about the required result, coach Heyneke Meyer has made eight changes.
The most significant are the return of Duane Vermeulen and Willie le Roux, and the half-back pairing of Fourie du Preez and Handre Pollard. Elsewhere, Eben Etzebeth partners Victor Matfield in the second row.
Speaking in the buildup to the match, Meyer admitted, as per Sky Sports: “It's been a very tough week after the massive disappointment of last weekend and we owe our supporters a winning performance on Saturday.”
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Samoa will also need to improve on their performance against the USA. What pleased coach Stephen Betham most about his side’s victory was managing to keep 15 players on the field throughout.
South Africa were unusually ill-disciplined against Japan, so Samoa will hope those respective patterns repeat themselves at Villa Park, England.
Match Details
Date: Saturday, September 26
Time: 4:45 p.m. BST/11:45 a.m. ET
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham, England
TV Info: UK, ITV1; Australia, Fox Sports; NZ, SkySport; South Africa, SuperSports
Live Stream: ITV Player (UK only)
Last five games
South Africa’s form is, by their standards, woeful, with only one win in their last five. However, the scores do hide the fact that they were pretty good against New Zealand and only lost away to Australia in the dying moments.
| September 19 | Japan 34-32 South Africa |
| August 16 | Argentina 12-26 South Africa |
| August 8 | South Africa 25-37 Argentina |
| July 25 | South Africa 20-27 New Zealand |
| July 18 | Australia 24-20 South Africa |
Samoa’s form is hard to read going into this match, as it has been a while since they last faced full-strength Rugby Championship or Six Nations opposition. A good gauge might be Samoa’s excellent display in the 16-25 loss to the All Blacks in July, in which they faced a Kiwi team half made up of more-than-able change players.
After the game, New Zealand captain Richie McCaw praised the Samoans, as per Sky Sports: “I will say to the Manu Samoa team, the way you played that's what true Test match rugby is all about and we said before we came that was what we'd get.”
| September 20 | Samoa 25-16 USA |
| August 3 | Fiji 39-29 Samoa |
| July 29 | Canada 20-21 Samoa |
| July 24 | Fiji 30-30 Samoa |
| July 18 | USA 16-21 Samoa |
Team lineups
South Africa: Willie le Roux, JP Pietersen, Jean de Villiers (capt), Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana, Handre Pollard, Fourie du Preez; Tendai Mtawarira, Adriaan Strauss, Jannie du Plessis Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield, Francois Louw, Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen
Samoa: Tim Nanai-Williams, Ken Pisi, Paul Perez, Rey Lee-Lo, Alesana Tuilagi, Mike Stanley, Kahn Fotuali'i; Sakaria Taulafo,Motu Matu'u, Anthony Perenise, Teofilo Paulo, Iosefa Tekori, TJ Ioane, Jack Lam, Ofisa Treviranu
Players to watch
South Africa: Duane Vermeulen
Duane Vermeulen nearly missed the World Cup after sustaining a neck injury in July, and the Springboks will need his ball-carrying skills to give the whole team the momentum it lacked against Japan.
The inclusion of the 2014 World Rugby Player of the Year nominee should also free up flankers Francois Louw and Schalk Burger to focus on the breakdown and defence respectively, two areas that need much improvement.
Samoa: Ken Pisi
Ken Pisi will need no introduction to viewers of the English Premiership, especially Northampton Saints fans. Pisi will be particularly important for his country as his exciting running could prove the best way for Samoa to attack South Africa given that the Springboks are unlikely to lose an over-physical contest.
Japan’s back division had too much guile for the Boks: Samoa will look to Pisi to provide their spark.
Prediction
South Africa should get back to winning ways against Samoa and are looking to draw inspiration from football: Spain’s 2010 World Cup-winning team lost its opener against Switzerland before going all the way.
Expect it to be edgy, but for the Springboks to prevail by about 10 points.
Odds
South Africa: 1-11
Samoa: 11-1
Draw: 74-1
Via oddschecker.com
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