Match Centre: Rugby World Cup Pool D: Argentina 19-10 Samoa

Argentina 19-10 Samoa, Pool D, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

Emiliano Boffelli contributed with 16 points as Argentina secured their first win in the ongoing Rugby World Cup campaign with a 19-10 victory over Samoa at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Friday.

Argentina remain at fourth place despite the win but they trail Samoa and Japan by just one point with the Pacific Islanders continuing to remain at second place with five points.

Boffelli was the sole try scorer for the Pumas and also kicked a conversion and three penalties while former Australia fly-half Christian Leali'ifano missed two of his three penalties but managed to kick the extras when Sama Malolo went over in the 75th minute.

Argentina made three changes to the starting line up with Eduardo Bello coming into the front-row and Guido Petti Pagadizabal coming into the second row while Matías Moroni made a return to the midfield.

The game started with a setback for Samoa as Duncan Paia'aua was sin-binned for taking out Santiago Carreras in the air but was not upgraded to a red card after a bunker review system.

Argentina made use of the numerical advantage with Emiliano Boffelli diving in the corner which he improved to make it 7-0.

Despite the rainy conditions, Boffelli kicked a penalty goal from a 45m distance to take Argentina's tally to double figures before Christian Lealiifano got Samoa off the mark with a three-pointer of his own in the 28th minute.

The 10-point lead was restored for the Pumas heading into the break after Samoa were penalised for offside and Boffelli kicked a three-pointer straight in front of the posts as the teams completed the opening half with a 13-3 scoreline.

Samoa showed better defence but could not put pressure on the Pumas with Boffelli kicking his third penalty goal to make it 16-3.

Argentina conceded their first try of the World Cup when Sama Malolo forced his way over in the 75th minute and lai D'Angelo Leuila's conversion to bring the gap down to six points.

Nevertheless, Nicolas Sanchez ensured there was no slip up with a long-range penalty kick in the closing stage to seal a nine-point victory as they keep their chances of quarter-final alive.

Points Table: Pool D

Position	Team	Played	Won	Lost	Points
1	England	2	2	0	9
2	Samoa	2	1	1	5
3	Japan	2	1	1	5
4	Argentina	2	1	1	4
5	Chile	2	0	2	0

What's Next:

Argentina will be facing Chile in their next game at Stade de la Beaujoire on 30th September while Samoa will be locking horns with Japan on Thursday.

Team line up:

Argentina: Mallia; Boffelli, Moroni, Chocobares, M Carreras; Bertranou, S Carreras; Gallao, Montoya (cap), Bello, Petti, Alemanno, Matera, Kremer, Gonzalez.

Reserves: Creevy, Vivas, Gomez Kodela, Rubiolo, Bruni, Cubelli, Sanchez, Cinti

Samoa: Paia’aua; B Lam, Seuteni, Manu, Ah Wong; Leali’ifano, Taumateine; Lay, S Lam, Alo-Emile, Vui (cap), Alainu’u’se, McFarland, Lee, Luatua.

Reserves: Malolo, Faumuina, Aalaalatoa, Seu, Taufua, Matavao, D’Angelo Leuila, Toala.