It just wasn't meant to be for Samoa

REACTION: Samoa’s coach Seilala Mapusua was understandably devastated by the loss to England, saying that is the cruel nature of sport.

Samoa came close to beating England, leading for most of the game, but in the 72nd minute a penalty goal by the Roses’ Owen Farrell helped them take the lead 18-17 which was the final score.

"That was a tough one. If I’m being honest, my heart breaks for these boys. I thought they deserved a lot more. We did enough to earn victory. Such is the cruel nature of sport, it wasn’t to be," Mapusua told the media after the game.

"There is a lot to have a look at in terms of getting here – once we were here, it’s not a coincidence that we’re playing our best by the fourth game.

“We seriously need to look at our programme, the exposure we can get to these tough matches against tier-one teams. There’s a lot of work to do, but we’ll look at tomorrow."

Mapusua took solace from the performance, remarking that his side were dominant in most facets of the game.

"Pride is an understatement. I thought we were most dominant in most facets. We were able to expose some space in open field, especially in the wider channels, and we were able to stop England for 70 minutes."

"If we nailed one of those two disallowed tries, I think that would have been massive in terms of momentum… and losing a player to the bin didn’t help our cause. When you’re defending for that long in your own 22, something’s got to give."

He said he has a long list of what Samoa needs to do to improve.

"I’ve got a long list. The main thing is time together on the field, which means more games. It’s one of the biggest resources we don’t have. We have players across the globe, it’s always going to be hard."