HAMILTON, 18 Sept. - Wales coach Warren Gatland turned 48 on Saturday, but had to wait 24 hours to get the birthday present he wanted.
That gift was his team's hard-fought 17-10 victory over a gallant Samoa at Waikato Stadium.
It was not a pretty game, but Wales followed the mantra that sometimes it is necessary to play ugly to win.
The Samoans threw everything at the Welsh defence in the first half and twice came desperately close to scoring.
On the first occasion, they lost possession on the Wales goal-line. The second time, the try was disallowed because of a double movement.
"I asked the ref to go to the TMO. That was harsh. It might have been the turning point of the game," said Samoan captain and hooker Mahonri Schwalger. "You lose some, you win some."
Simple message
Samoa finally broke through with a try on the stroke of half-time through Anthony Perenise. The prop dived over to give the islanders a 10-6 lead after putting together 19 phases.
"Our goal-line defence is really good and we don't normally let them through. So we're disappointed with that," said Wales captain Sam Warburton.
At half-time, with Samoa leading, New Zealander Gatland had a simple message for his Welsh troops: "We're in a Test match here."
Samoa came out full of running in the second half, but could not maintain the intensity.
Their discipline started to decay, allowing Wales fly half Rhys Preistland to kick two penalty goals to take Wales into a 12-10 lead.
The final nail for Samoa was when the smallest man on the field, replacement full back Leigh Halfpenny, dodged through three Samoan tacklers, sprinted down the left touchline and connected with Jonathan Davies. The centre offloaded the ball to veteran wing Shane Williams, who scored his team's only try for a 17-10 advantage.
"The ball fell into my hands. I was just there to finish off," Williams said.
In the end, Samoa's four-day turnaround between matches proved too much following their 49-12 win against Namibia.
Heavy legs
"The short turnaround from Wednesday caught up with us in the last 15 to 20 minutes. The legs started getting heavy," said Samoan lock Daniel Leo.
Wales skipper Warburton agreed, saying: "They seemed to struggle at the end and, when the whistle went, they had their hands on their knees."
Wales now prepare to play Namibia on 26 September in New Plymouth and will be closely watching the fitness of full back James Hook and flanker Danny Lydiate.
"He (Lydiate) has rolled his ankle. He's a big loss to us defensively. The number of tackles he makes, he's a player that doesn't get a lot of recognition," Gatland said.
"He cannot put any weight on it, so we'll see (how he recovers) in the next 24 to 48 hours."
Despite their loss, Samoa believe they can still progress into the quarter-finals.
"I've got belief in my team," said captain Schwalger. "We'll make the quarter-finals if we win the next two games (against Fiji and South Africa). So it's not over for us."
RNS nb/bw/pj/sg
