Rugby World Cup: “We have to work on our fundamentals and improve,” says Samoa coach Mapusua

Seilala Mapusua (Samoa coach after the 43-10 victory against Chile): “I've been waiting for this kind of moment for a long time. It wasn't the nicest way but it's a victory and I'm okay with that. Against Argentina we will have to control the ball, respect our fundamentals, and circulate the ball better. Chile put us in difficulty today. We have to be more daring when it comes to mauls. There will be a major physical challenge to overcome at this level, and we have to do a lot of work over the next few days to prepare for the match against Argentina. They will be cooler than us. I was delighted with the pace set today, but we have to work on our fundamentals and improve on 5 to 10% of our game. I am confident for next week.

Michael Alaalatoa (pillar and captain of Samoa who won against Chile): “The Chileans put a lot of energy. We have been slow to respond to these efforts. We expected this physical challenge, it had to be taken up. Chile spoke clearly, with a lot of support from the public, it was something we had talked about. Once we were performing well in the lineup, we moved forward. We know that we have a difficult match next Friday against Argentina. We've been waiting for this match for a long time, we talked about it a lot during the preparation but the reality is on the pitch. Since 2016, we have played 20 test matches, perhaps that is an indicator. The more time we spend together, the more we improve, it's important to create chemistry between us.