“..many fans were also left scratching their heads why Lilomaiava didn’t play in the semi-final against South Africa. He certainly showed the power and speed we desperately needed in that game.”
By Tupuola Terry Tavita
Samoa’s hopes of defending its Las Vegas title were dashed in a sudden death overtime semifinal heartbreaker against the South African Blitzbokke.
With scores locked at seven apiece and time running out, Lolo Lui had the chance to knock over a penalty 35 meters out to win the game but scraped the outside of the left hand upright by just inches.
In overtime, Samoa had several chances but was thwarted by a combination of lack of power in the forwards and an absence of speed out wide.
At one point, substitute forward Falemiga Selesele had a clear run to the line out wide but was quickly brought down by the South African cover defense.
Three-and-a-half minutes into overtime, Samoa was pinned in their half and playmaker Thinus Delport took the quick tap feeding the Branco Du Preez out wide to score in the corner.
But it wasn’t complete disappointment in Vegas as Samoa bounced back in the 3rd place playoff decider to beat Fiji 38-31.
Most punters agree that it was the match of the tournament as the two teams swapped the lead several times. Samoa got off to a great start with Lio Lolo collecting the ball at kick off to score a converted try in the corner. Fiji replied with a try to Joji Raqamate to make it 7-5.
But Afa Aiono responded with a quick try from a half-break and flick pass from Lolo. Alatasi Tupou grabbed another from the restart from a sneaky pass from Sani Niue to score under the posts. With the score at 21-5, Fiji launched a comeback in the second half through the sheer pace of Samisoni Viriviri who simply went around the sweeper defense of Patrick Faapale to score under the sticks. Reupena Levasa responded, powering over the line only for Viriviri to again score outflanking the Samoan defense. A minute-and-a-half from fulltime, Fiji took the lead 31-26 through Benito Masileva after brilliant footwork and offload from Nemani Nagusa.
With regulation time up, replacement back Robert Lilomaiava flew down the wing and dotted down the equalizer near the corner. Patrick Fa’apale was unable to convert forcing the game into overtime.
At the restart, the game had an unscheduled pause as the skydiver who was supposed to bring the ball for the following final game made an early landing.
When play resumed, Samoa camped at the Fiji line in a series of unsuccessful forages. The ball was sped out wide to Lilomaiva who stepped inside two Fijian defenders to finally score the winner underneath the posts. The thousands of Samoans who have been cheering the team on all weekend at the Sam Boyd stadium in Vegas erupted.
Many fans were also left scratching their heads why Lilomaiava didn’t play in the semi-final against South Africa. He certainly showed the power and speed we desperately needed in that game.
In the final though, South Africa was far too good for the much-fancied New Zealand All Blacks Sevens taking the title 40-21. Samoa and South Africa are now the only two teams to have won in Las Vegas since the IRB nine-tournament series moved there in 2009.