Manu Samoa and Argentina: improving on their weaknesses

Well plenty of threads on Wales' performances in their last two games. At home against these two sides, you expect a victory for Wales. But to me it's pleasing to know that in world rugby, if you don't perform, you will end up on the losing sides.

The Manu Samoa victory last night inspired me to look at some of their historic wins in recent times. The 1999 World Cup victory is well worth a look as a thoroughly captivating game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=yyFrGN_QWYw To me though it illustrates how much Manu Samoa has progressed in world rugby.

I would argue that Argentina and Manu Samoa come from opposite sides in terms of rugby skills. What unites them is their defensive abilities and spoiling game at the breakdown. The Pumas traditionally have had an extremely solid set piece whereas the Samoans have usually been deficient in this area. What they conceded in the pack they made up for in the backs with their power, electric running and support play.

Somewhere along the line Manu Samoa realised that to win consistently in world rugby, their traditional game was not enough. They needed to bring in technical advisers and sort out their set piece. Contrast a side like Fiji now, that has individual brilliance but little in the way of technical ability and pack cohesion, with Manu Samoa. No longer is the latter able to be bullied in the scrum like they were against Wales in 1999. Their victory against Australia when, with 30 minutes to go, the Aussie bench emptied and the Aussies tried to bully their way to a win showed that they no longer can be dominated up front in the set piece. Add their defensive abilities across the park and an improved discipline among the players and Manu Samoa are an all-round side now that can provide a stern test of their opposition.

Somewhere along the line, you could argue the same happened to Argentina. They found a way to build upon their set piece and add an offload game and a game played at pace that was previously missing from their game. Scotland won a series away in Argentina and perhaps this was a catalyst in forcing them to reassess their game. Scotland and Argentina had more or less a similar reputation. Defensively sound, with a pack that could control and secure enough possession and the players to convert scoring opportunities into points. Both sides are looking though for a more expansive game and both sides are still an unfinished product in this area. But what Argentina showed in the RC and against Wales is a willingness to not only be aggressive in defence and do the basics in set piece but also keep the ball alive and to work the ball into space.

Contrast that with Wales who did very well with a simple but effective gameplan in last year's 6N and take the ball into contact and shift the ball away from the ruck area as quickly and as far away as possible and their gameplan this year which is much the same but without the accuracy and the venom in attack. But where is another way of playing? Where is the focus on improving and adapting the way they play the game? That to me is one of the key reasons for why Argentina and Manu Samoa got their success. When a team is successful, the opposition tries to find ways to combat your strengths. When an opposition tries to exploit a team's weaknesses and finds that they have improved in that area, it is psychologically damaging.

I think world rugby can learn a lot from both these sides who do not have a domestic professional league and have limited time to prepare combinations. Yet when they play, defensively they seem very sound and cohesive. Areas where they used to be weak in, they have improved out of sight and still frighteningly have potential for further improvement. All I can say is that they are a credit to the game of rugby and an inspiration to all the top sides. SA is another team who has swallowed their pride and recognised they need to go on a different path if they are going to be more competitive. It is not just Wales who could benefit from seeing where they are going wrong and ways the can go about to rectify that. Going to be a great game against France and at the moment you have to bow your hat to both these teams and recognise the journey they have taken.

Nothing to add. But yes.

Another area which I think Manu Samoa has improved on is their patience, which comes from belief in what they're doing.

In their first try after a great initial bust from the Samoan 8, I could hear the Welsh commentators implore him to pass the ball to the man outside him. But he was right not to because that man was marked and the ball could've been knocked down or taken by the Welsh player. In the past, the Samoans would've made that pass. Instead he took the right option, went to ground, the support came through and the ball was moved to the right flank where Samoa had numbers.

That is belief and trust in your systems and where Samoa are a much more dangerous side because they balance their attacking threat with patience and so cut down on unforced errors. Even NZ could do well to look at that.