Albany, New Zealand: World champions South Africa withstood a ferocious Samoan onslaught to join New Zealand in the quarter-finals of the World Cup yesterday and kick off the decisive round of matches in the group phase.
The Springboks just edged the first of eight matches over the weekend which will decide the line-up for the knock-out stage, prevailing 13-5 in a physical and sometimes fractious affair which featured the first red card of the tournament.
A Bryan Habana try helped the South Africans put 13 points on the board in a dominant first half an hour but they were then forced to tackle for their lives as the Pacific islanders threw everything at them.
"We will never find a more physical game in the rest of tournament so we're happy to get through it," said South Africa coach Peter de Villiers.
The South African line was breached for only the second time in the tournament when number eight George Stowers inched over soon after the break but the Samoan assault was blunted when full-back Paul Williams was sent off ten minutes from time for striking Heinrich Brussow in the face.
"I'm pretty disappointed. I'm proud of the boys, they gave it all they had," said Samoa skipper Mahonri Schwalger. "The ref was pretty hard on us, if a few calls had gone the other way, we could have scored more points against the South Africans."
He believed that the Springboks had been allowed too much freedom by Welsh referee Nigel Owens.
‘It was all one way'
"They were slowing our ball down and you have to be fair on us as well and he [Owens] has to make sure he gives us a chance as well to compete. I felt it was all one way," said Schwalger.
Owens irked the Samoans further with his decision to red card Williams.
In a physical match with bone-crunching collisions, Schwalger was unhappy with the way the flanker appeared to make the most of the incident.
"There was a little bit of acting there, there was nothing in that, the red card was a little bit harsh," the hooker said.
South Africa, seeking to become the first country to retain the Webb Ellis Trophy, finished top of Pool D and move on to a quarter-final in Wellington, most likely against Tri-Nations champions Australia.
"We never came here to defend anything," De Villiers added. "We came here to compete. The team that won the cup four years ago may have a lot of the same names but it's not the same team."
Samoa go home having failed to secure the bonus point that would have given them a chance of overhauling Wales, who now just need a single point against Fiji in Hamilton tomorrow to progress.
