16 Jul 2018

Sport: Manu Samoa seal World Cup qualification

12:25 pm on 16 July 2018

Samoa can finally start planning for next year's Rugby World Cup after completing 108-43 aggregate win over Germany in the Oceania/Europe play-off.

Samoa celebrate qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2019.

Samoa celebrate qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2019. Photo: World Rugby

The Manu needed three tries in the last 11 minutes to avoid an embarrassing defeat in the second leg in Heidelberg, recovering from a one point deficit at half-time to win 42-28, with Ah See Tuala, Melani Matavao and Ed Fidow scoring two tries apiece as Tuala finished with 22 points.

"Obviously, we've been together for a long six weeks and we have enjoyed ourselves together and it has brought us closer together," Samoa captain Chris Vui said.

"The game was a bit patchy, there were definitely a lot of errors that we thought we could have executed better, definitely in the lineout and dropped balls in general.

"It always goes back to those little errors with our team. It's not a skill thing, is just execution. We can definitely work on it, it's not a problem."

Melani Matavao scored twice for Samoa in their comeback victory.

Melani Matavao scored twice for Samoa in their comeback victory. Photo: AFP

The playoff win confirms Samoa's place in Pool A alongside Ireland, Scotland, Russia and World Cup hosts Japan.

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