Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Connacht pick up famous win over Samoa in Galway

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Connacht pick up famous win over Samoa in Galway

Irish side Connacht pulled off a massive upset on Tuesday night as they beat the touring Samoa 26-22 at the Sports Ground in Galway. The game was a warmup for Samoa ahead of their meeting with Ireland in Dublin this weekend.

A late try from John Muldoon, who was released from Ireland duty earlier, proved the difference between the two sides as Samoa, who had two players yellow carded, failed to capitalise on their early lead.

Neither side had their full strength team, although the Samoans did have more than a few familiar faces from the IRB Sevens circuit. Experience wasn’t there though and while they were positioned to take control of the game at one stage, they failed as Connact recorded a famous midweek win.

"It was an opportunity for the younger lads to get game time and to give them credit they were up against a powerful team tonight. I thought the character they showed and the desire to play rugby was fantastic. It is a nice headache for us to have. We rotate our squad very little and these guys stood up to the plate and showed what they can do," said coach Eric Elwood.

Young Eoin Griffin was outstanding on the night, picking up the Man of the Match award and making a name for himself with a standout all round performance, as well as a cheeky through the legs pass.

"I honestly don’t know what I was thinking but it came off and thank God. Hopefully, I put my hand forward tonight so I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks," Griffin said.

Ireland host Samoa on Saturday and you can win premium tickets to the match thanks to our friends at Paddy Power. You'll also get a FREE BET when entering, and winners (outside of Ireland) will get £400 to cover flights and accommodation! ENTER NOW

NICE PASS... AND I DIDN'T SAY THE F WORD!

By Phil, at November 11, 2010 1:36 pm
Unlucky on the Yellow card for the high shot - the 9 slipped just as he timed the hit. Otherwise it would've been a crunching legal tackle.

Thems the breaks.

By WhoAreYa, at November 11, 2010 1:43 pm
nice to see the kids storm the field at the end

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 2:02 pm
We wuz robbed aye everyone knows it we deserved dat game end of story

By Niu Tipoopoo, at November 11, 2010 2:04 pm
Up the west!!

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 2:09 pm
This match had some of the most biased refereeing i've ever seen. Unlucky Samoa, they deserved better.

By Dozzy_X, at November 11, 2010 2:14 pm
Hard luck Samoa and WELL DONE Connacht! .... and there was more than a touch of a Carlos Spencer through the legs pass by young Eoin Griffin...Clip please RD?

By Conor, at November 11, 2010 2:44 pm
somebody tell the guys from both teams that it is allowed to tackle in rugby now!!!

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 2:48 pm
Unlucky on the Yellow card for the high shot - the 9 slipped just as he timed the hit. Otherwise it would've been a crunching legal tackle.

I disagree on this one. He got the card for the swinging left arm into the 9's jaw. You can see it clearly in the replay.

Good win for Connacht. There goes the Southern Hemisphere clean sweep :)

By Mike, at November 11, 2010 2:50 pm
Niu Tipoopoo said...
We wuz robbed aye everyone knows it we deserved dat game end of story

U LOST CAUSE YOU WEREN'T GOOD ENOUGH.

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 3:05 pm
WhoAreYa said...
Unlucky on the Yellow card for the high shot - the 9 slipped just as he timed the hit. Otherwise it would've been a crunching legal tackle.

Mike said...
I disagree on this one. He got the card for the swinging left arm into the 9's jaw. You can see it clearly in the replay.

I'm with WhoAreYa. Connacht scrum-half was practically kneeling by the time the tackle was made. I'd say it warranted a penalty - a high tackle's a high tackle - but no yellow. If the bloke hadn't dipped his body so much that left arm would've swung into his chest, I don't think it's fair to expect the Samoan hooker to adjust his body position that quickly.

By Von, at November 11, 2010 3:36 pm
Leicester vs Australia highlights will be posted soon for those wondering.

By GMC, at November 11, 2010 3:38 pm
Some enjoyable passing and tries here especially the 2nd try by Samoa methinks. Well done Connaught though!

2nd yellow card was unlucky. Not sure there was any intent and the no 9 slipped

By NiWiTa, at November 11, 2010 4:00 pm
Somebody please: How many of theses Samoan players play in Samoa domestically?

By tb, at November 11, 2010 4:04 pm
Why was the first yellow card given? Maybe Im wrong, but didnt the scrumhalf had the ball in his hands and therefore could be tackled?

As for the second card, it's debatable but to me seems biased. The tackle was high indeed but probably because the 9 went low right at the moment of the tackle. I remember Johnny Wilkinson knocking out a Welsh player for something similar in last years 6N and getting only a penalty, no yellow card.

I know refs have a hard job already but I hate it when teams like Samoa receive this kind of biased refereeing, it does only damage to the game

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 4:09 pm
The hooker was unlucky in this incident to get a card but had been fortunate to get away with a wild shoulder charge (not in RD clip)in the first half so these things balance out

By drasticplastic, at November 11, 2010 4:11 pm
WRT second yellow I agree that the scrumhalf was ducking under a bit which made it look worse than it was. Penalty yes but not a card.The hooker was lucky in then first half not to be carded for a shoulder charge which may have swayed the refs decision in the second half so these things balance out.

By drasticplastic, at November 11, 2010 4:11 pm
@ Conor, it's included in this video

By GMC, at November 11, 2010 4:13 pm
I'd love to see Samoa with the same resources as the other top teams. They would be on the same level as the 6 Nations teams overnight. Same with Fiji. As much as I enjoy Ireland being in the top 8 or so more or less by default, I'd rather see those guys get a chance to compete at their real level, not be handicapped by finance.

Welcome to Ireland Samoa, hope ye have a great time here.

By Mike, at November 11, 2010 4:13 pm
RD !!!!! stop forgetting the TOP 14 best tries please ! I cherich them so much thx

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 4:26 pm
Regarding the high tackle: If it was just high, I would have given a penalty. No card. However, it was high with a swinging arm so I'd say that on this occasion, the yellow was deserved.

And to the person who says the the Connacht player was almost kneeling, so was the Samoan player.

"I'd love to see Samoa with the same resources as the other top teams. They would be on the same level as the 6 Nations teams overnight. Same with Fiji. As much as I enjoy Ireland being in the top 8 or so more or less by default, I'd rather see those guys get a chance to compete at their real level, not be handicapped by finance."

Would love to see this as well. So much natural talent in the PI teams, and physical strength. It would be great to see them move up a bit.

By KG, at November 11, 2010 4:32 pm
Can anyone tell me why saliosi tagicakibau isn't in the Samoan squad? Surely he is one of their most experienced and potent backs. Thanks

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 5:20 pm
first yellow was for diving over the ruck and knoking the ball out of the connacht 9's hands. It's spoiling and is considered a professional foul.
As for the high tackle, even the Samoan prop seemed to agree with his yellow, look at his face. No point arguing about that.

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 5:20 pm
"I'd love to see Samoa with the same resources as the other top teams. They would be on the same level as the 6 Nations teams overnight. Same with Fiji. As much as I enjoy Ireland being in the top 8 or so more or less by default, I'd rather see those guys get a chance to compete at their real level, not be handicapped by finance."

You could say the same about Kenya, Georgia, Romania etc. Samoa and Fiji devote themselves to 7s. They have just as much resources as Argentina, and look how the Pumas have done. Plus, Pacific Rim players are not classed as overseas players when playing in HC, to attract clubs to signing them. Most rugby teams in the world have had Maori/Samoan players at one stage or another. They travel all over to play rugby. Samoa has gone as far as Ireland in the world cup. Saying that Ireland are in the top 8 "or so" by "default" is bollox. We won the grand slam the season before last for the 1st time in 60 odd years, lest ye forget. Now compare our 7s teams to theirs. They'd embarrass us. Could it be argued that they have the healthier resources? How could that be, same spot, different code.

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 6:13 pm
I'm arguing that Samoa or Fiji would probably be at the same level as Ireland at 15s given the same funding/preparation time that we have. I take your point re. 7s, but that is something they can do much more cheaply, and possibly it's self-funding (I presume they get money for playing the HK Sevens etc?).

As it stands, I'd expect Ireland to trounce Samoa in a few days - but I really don't think that is a fair reflection of where the nations could be on a level playing pitch. I'm not attacking Ireland (or any other nations - I'm Irish), I'm saying that Samoa and Fiji are not able to achieve at the level they could.

By Mike, at November 11, 2010 6:23 pm
Im not a Samoan fan and i know the pacific islanders have a generally trend of some rather illegal tackles...

but for me i thought the yellow for the second tackle was a bit much....

I didnt see the game so i dont know if they had been told to watch their tackles etc...but it seemed a bit 'naughty' (possible minimal swinging arm.?!?) but i've seen worse have less or no punishment...

First yellow was fine with me...pretty standard yellow card situation...

Samoa played some great rugby there...looks like connacht played a good bit too..

By (u-p)rick, at November 11, 2010 7:34 pm
I'm sure it was aglorious win for Connacht and all that but let's be blunt; Samoa were robbed. Irish ref gave out 2 lousy yellows and other than that Samoa had the game easily in hand. Refs need to take in to account context when penalising high tackles, just like they do at school level. I've never seen a 15 year old sent off for that tackle when a short man falls into it so why would you punish hardened adult professionals for the same offence?

By Max, at November 11, 2010 7:59 pm
Max, the first yellow was totally black and white, the guy dived over the ruck and killed the ball. The second one, you could argue between penalty or card, but it's not like it was a massive miscarriage of justice - it was a 50/50 call and I think the ref got it right.

I'm not going to say that Connacht definitely were the better side or that Samoa were robbed, because I didn't see the whole game. I guess you must have. Was it on TV?

By Mike, at November 11, 2010 8:04 pm
That REF basically handicapped the Samoans with the cards...lol..is that the only way you NH teams can win is if the ref helps you?

This is rugby FFS! (_!_)hole ref...

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 8:56 pm
^ Yeah, those stupid referees. Punishing people for cheating. How dare they.

By Kearney for tests, at November 11, 2010 9:13 pm
Lots of comments from morons who didn't see the game.

By Gavin, at November 11, 2010 9:16 pm
I don't agree with any of the bitching about the ref, after the first yellow Connacht let a try in, so they didn't get any advantage from the extra man, even if it shouldn't have been a yellow. And the second yellow was deserved, that was the second high tackle by the hooker on the scrum half, the first one was missed by the ref... Thats just my opinion

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 9:19 pm
"That REF basically handicapped the Samoans with the cards...lol..is that the only way you NH teams can win is if the ref helps you?

This is rugby FFS! (_!_)hole ref..."

Please shut up mate, you're embarrassing the SH.

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2010 9:29 pm
"I'm arguing that Samoa or Fiji would probably be at the same level as Ireland at 15s given the same funding/preparation time that we have. I take your point re. 7s, but that is something they can do much more cheaply, and possibly it's self-funding (I presume they get money for playing the HK Sevens etc?).

As it stands, I'd expect Ireland to trounce Samoa in a few days - but I really don't think that is a fair reflection of where the nations could be on a level playing pitch. I'm not attacking Ireland (or any other nations - I'm Irish), I'm saying that Samoa and Fiji are not able to achieve at the level they could."

What could / should be doesn't really matter. You could say the same thing about any team of any sport. I'm sure if rugby was America's main sport they'd be the best by a mile. But it's not, so it really doesn't matter.

By Anonymous, at November 12, 2010 1:18 am
What an amazing game from Young T'Cash Griffin.... Fuck the SH doubters... Shoo in for the irish 13 shirt in the next 2 years.... Up the WEST!!!!!

By HGRIFF, at November 12, 2010 5:02 am
It must be said that connacht (already a development squad without half the funding of the other irish club sides) were playing a second-string side themselves. I'm not sure but I don't think that any player but John Muldoon had an international cap from the team. With the likes of troy nathan (a kiwi but available for the Irish squad), Muldoon and Fionn Carr, as well as the young lads we saw at various stages thoughout this video, Irish rugby has a bright future ahead.

By Anonymous, at November 12, 2010 5:22 am
^It was said. Did you read RD's description? A lot of younger Connacht players got to have a go that they normally may not have. It's right there in the text, my friend.

"I'm sure if rugby was America's main sport they'd be the best by a mile. But it's not, so it really doesn't matter."

I actually sort of like us having a sport that we don't go balls-to-the-wall over in order to "prove" we're "the best". On the other hand...I just wish we weren't so bad off (though more and more players are playing for top clubs overseas)...I mean, even Canada's better than we are!!! ;)

By i want connacht in the HC, at November 12, 2010 6:59 am
great win for connacht, they are gettibg some good results,
but as for the two cards, for the first he was onside the conacht scrum half had played the ball so he dived over and took his arm off the ball, no foul play.
for the second watch the slow-mo, the con. no 9 's legs went before the tackle.

By mat, at November 12, 2010 11:14 am
Always good to see Connacht on Rugbydump.

"Young T'Cash Griffin"

- love it Hughie, ya rogue!!

By Westerner, at November 12, 2010 2:28 pm
mat you cannot come through the ruck and knock the ball out the scrum halves hands...

(trust me i've found out the hard way!)

By (u-p)rick, at November 12, 2010 3:57 pm
Second Yellow card was bollocks and went on to rob a good Samoan outfit

Well played, ref

By Anonymous, at November 12, 2010 9:36 pm
Im Samoan, but a big Ireland rugby fan. My man BOD. The best 13 in the modern game.
but this coming Saturday game... gosh! This is pressure all over man.

Well just hope for a good clean game.

as we say in the South Pacific... "Samoans are the Irish of the Pacific."

By Anonymous, at November 13, 2010 4:10 am