Kumagaya (Japan) (AFP)
Six tries but especially three yellow cards: the arbitration was invited Tuesday during the victory of Samoa on Russia (34-9) in Kumagaya during the Rugby World Cup.
What could be better than a match between two teams of the second international level reputed cogneuses to test the "standards" of the officials after a mea culpa of World Rugby on the subject? In the wake of several controversial decisions over the weekend, the Frenchman Romain Poite was in charge of the work north of Tokyo.
He was not disappointed: two Samoan highs in two minutes (28th and 30th) - on the same victim, the Russian back Vasily Artemyev, who has a solid head -, a Russian tie in the second half on the third Afa Amosa line, seriously injured right knee on an action concluded by a Samoan test (46th).
For each time the same sanction; a yellow card. Rey Lee-Lo, Motu Matu'u - sounded on his own tackle and did not return from his commotion protocol - and Kirill Gotovtsev did well. Unlike Amosa, whose World Cup is certainly over and who could even miss her club, Bordeaux-Bègles.
For Russia, the score is once again misleading: as against Japan in opening (defeat 30-10), the Tom Thumb of Pool A played eyes in the eyes with the Samoan favorites, and despite the slim delay - four days - to recover from his first match. The Russians led the break (6-5) and were still in the match after a well-brought drop from opener Yuri Kushnarev (48th, 9-10).
Apathetic during the first act, the Manu Samoa ended up making the difference by scoring five tries in the second. They join Ireland and Japan at the top of the group, before facing Scotland on September 30 in Kobe.
© 2019 AFP