SCOT
No.Name
15Stuart Hogg, FB
14Darcy Graham, W
13Chris Harris, C
12Sam Johnson, C
11Sean Maitland, W
T
10Finn Russell, FH
9Greig Laidlaw, SH
T
2
1Allan Dell, P
2Stuart McInally, H
3WP Nel, P
4Grant Gilchrist, L
5Jonny Gray, L
6Magnus Bradbury, FL
7Jamie Ritchie, FL
8Blade Thomson, N8
Replacements
16Fraser Brown, R
17Gordon Reid, R
18Zander Fagerson, R
19Scott Cummings, R
20Ryan Wilson, R
21George Horne, R
22Adam Hastings, R
23Duncan Taylor, R

*Players currently on the pitch are shown in bold

Game Info

Venue: Kobe Misaki Stadium
11:15 AM, September 30, 2019
All CommentaryKey Events

Match Commentary

81'+134-0 End of second half
80'And that's it! Scotland do just enough to get the bonus point, helped by Ed Fidow conceding two penalty tries in the second half, earning himself a spell in the sin bin and an eventual red card to boot. Not a day to remember for Fidow or Samoa, but the Scots have resurrected their challenge in Pool A at the Rugby World Cup.
80'Into added time, Samoa trying to get a rolling maul going. They're 10 metres from the Scotland line. Good dive forward by Josh Tyrell. Samoa recycling the ball well. Penalty! To Scotland! That seals it.
79'Scotland again disrupt things just enough and will clear the ball into touch in their own half. One minute left for the clean sheet.
79'Substitute on - Filo Paulo , Samoa
79'Player substituted - Piula Fa'asalele , Samoa
77'Nenai-Williams with a brilliant cameo late in this game, ending the threat of a fifth Scotland try with a perfectly timed intercept, and then sparking a breakaway with some terrific running rugby. And Samoa charge down the field and look like they might finally break their duck today, but one loose pass goes to ground and Scotland scramble back. Samoa will have a penalty and they'll kick to touch in search of their first points of the match.
75'So Fidow, with those two yellow cards, is sent off. He's also arguably Scotland's man of the match, as his two penalty tries conceded have edged them over the line for their bonus point.
75'Scotland are inches, literally inches from a try by Maitland after some great play in the midfield allows him to sprint down the left. But as Maitland dives for the line, he drops the ball! He had to slide early to try and avoid Fidow's challenge, but it came out of his hand. Now, the TMO is going to have a look as Fidow's challenge looks illegal -- he's dived in with his knees and clobbered Maitland. This is going to be the second time today that Fidow is yellow carded and Scotland are given a penalty try! What a way to get your fourth try and a bonus point!
75'Substitute on - Adam Hastings , Scotland
75'Player substituted - Finn Russell , Scotland
75'Red card - Ed Fidow , Samoa
75'34-0 Penalty try
73'Astonishingly, Samoa miss touch! All they have to do is boot it into the stands and take the lineout, but the kick goes through Scotland's in-goal area and that is going to be a 22 drop out for Scotland. Amazing mistake. Could prove vital.
73'Substitute on - Ryan Wilson , Scotland
73'Player substituted - Magnus Bradbury , Scotland
71'Samoa are into Scotland territory for what seems like the first time this half. Leiua makes good ground and they're into the 22. Good phase play from the forwards and Samoa have a penalty advantage as well for Gordon Reid being offside. There's no advantage and they'll go back for the penalty. Samoa will kick to touch, and Scotland are seeing time evaporate before their very eyes. This is not what they want when a bonus point is there for the taking.
71'Substitute on - Pele Cowley , Samoa
71'Player substituted - Melani Matavao , Samoa
70'Minutes tick by as we wait, yet again, for a scrum to get going. Then Scotland lose their way as they try to make ground with ball in hand, eventually gifting Samoa a peanlty for being off feet in the ruck.
66'Scotland penalised for holding on in the ruck. This mini-game that is playing out, of them pursuing the bonus point, is applying some mental pressure and the Scots aren't covering themselves in glory in how they're handling it.
66'Player substituted - TJ Ioane , Samoa
66'Substitute on - Josh Tyrell , Samoa
65'Scotland not making much progress with this attack, the Samoan tackling is absolutely frenetic. They're still down to 14 men, of course, but you wouldn't know it from looking at this.
64'Great run from the base of the scrum by Nanai-Williams, who is an electric presence for the Samoans. But he's brought down just outside his own 22 and after a knock on by the Samoans, Scotland will have another chance to attack from a scrum in Samoan territory.
64'Substitute on - George Horne , Scotland
64'Player substituted - Greig Laidlaw , Scotland
64'Player substituted - Sam Johnson , Scotland
64'Substitute on - Duncan Taylor , Scotland
62'Samoa, for reasons that escape me, go long at the lineout ... too long, and now Scotland have the ball deep inside the Samoan 22! What were they thinking?! Can Scotland burrow forward for the bonus point? They're certainly giving it a go, but it's a knock on and the Samoans celebrate.
61'Finally, after what seems like an age to get the play going again, Hogg kicks ahead, loosely intended for Darcy Graham, but it bobbles into touch and that's still a good result for the Scots.
58'Knock on by Samoa, scrum Scotland just inside the Samoan half. The Scots must look to take advantage of their numerical superiority over these next few minutes -- it could prove absolutey critical to their progress to the latter stages of the tournament, once the full picture becomes clear in a couple of weeks' time.
58'Substitute on - Zander Fagerson , Scotland
58'Player substituted - WP Nel , Scotland
57'Well, we got there in the end. It's a penalty try for Ed Fidow coming in at the side, and he was also the man who prevented the try. So that's a pretty easy decision, and Fidow will sit the next 10 minutes in the bin. Samoan heads have gone here, and Scotland's remaining task is to claim that bonus point. One more try to secure that.
57'Another rolling maul from Scotland, and they're over the line, but can they get the ball down? Timeout, as the referee and his assistant discuss what happened there. The onfield decision is try, and they'll refer to the TMO. There's a chance that if Scotland don't get the try, they might get a penalty try instead.
57'Yellow card - Ed Fidow , Samoa
57'27-0 Penalty try
55'Good rolling maul by Scotland and they have a penalty advantage for entering from the side by Samoa. Russell kicks ahead knowing Scotland will retain the ball, and Samoa touch down in their own in-goal area. Scotland building the pressure, and Samoa tiptoeing closer and closer to a penalty try and/or yellow card.
54'And then a clearance kick by Samoa is almost charged down! Blimey, Samoa are living dangerously here and look totally out of sorts.
54'Player substituted - Tusi Pisi , Samoa
54'Substitute on - Ulupano Seuteni , Samoa
54'Player substituted - Ray Niuia , Samoa
54'Substitute on - Seilala Lam , Samoa
52'Scotland trying to lay the foundations for a set-piece score. Blade Thomson feeds Laidlaw who passes to Russell but his pass wide is too high for Graham and straight into touch. Scotland know they needed that to help them towards the bonus point.
52'Attacking scrum for Scotland, right in front of the posts, about 10 metres out from the Samoa line. Penalty for Samoa letting the scrum turn.
52'Substitute on - Scott Cummings , Scotland
52'Player substituted - Grant Gilchrist , Scotland
52'Substitute on - Fraser Brown , Scotland
52'Player substituted - Stuart McInally , Scotland
51'Substitute on - Piula Fa'asalele , Samoa
51'Player substituted - Filo Paulo , Samoa
50'Finally, some attacking intent in this second half. But Scotland's progress is halted and they will come back for an earlier penalty. Hogg will kick for touch, and Scotland will resume their tactic of keeping everything tight. They do need to pursue the bonus point for four tries at some point, mind you. They're half the way there.
47'Player substituted - Michael Alaalatoa , Samoa
47'Substitute on - Paul Alo-Emile , Samoa
46'Not a lot happening at the moment. Scrums and lineouts taking the pace out of the game, which suits Scotland perfectly but not the Samoans, who need points, fast.
45'Player substituted - Belgium Tuatagaloa , Samoa
45'Substitute on - Kieron Fonotia , Samoa
44'Substitute on - Jordan Lay , Samoa
44'Player substituted - Logovi'i Mulipola , Samoa
42'Ed Fidow of Samoa almost makes a break for Samoa, his kick ahead bouncing cruelly away from him and to Stuart Hogg when a kind bounce would have allowed Fidow -- with his incredible burst of pace -- to dart over the line.
41'Finn Russell immediately shows why he's so highly rated by those who know rugby -- he dances through a couple of would-be tacklers and then lifts a ridiculous pass out of the back of his hand and over the Samoan defence, perfectly into Darcy Graham's path. It doesn't open up any opportunity in the end, but the skill was off the charts.
41'The teams are back out, and Scotland will kick the second half off.
41'+520-0 End of first half
40'The forwards keep burrowing away, but Samoa are holding firm in defence. Laidlaw wider, to Russell and his delayed pass to Harris almost sets him free, but then the next pass to Harris leaves the wing stranded and Samoa will have a penalty of their own. They've avoided conceding more points. But they also lose concentration and kick the ball straight out, meaning they'll have to face another lineout. They deal with that though, and kick it into touch. Solid stuff from Scotland and this would be the biggest comeback in Rugby World Cup history if Samoa are to fight back from this deficit in the second half.
40'Scotland have a maul rolling towards the line again, then it comes out and Russell tries to dance towards the try line. Phase ball now for Scotland, with Laidlaw lining up his forwards. The ball hits the deck but goes backward. Still Scotland search for a third try.
40'Shorter lineout, straight to Gray, can they push the maul over? No, it's a penalty for collapsing the maul again. How many more times before there's a card or a penalty try? One last warning to the Samoans by the referee.
40'Great take from Gilchrist at the top of the lineout, and Scotland have a penalty for Lam collapsing the maul. Scotland to go for the lineout again?
40'Scotland kick deep from a penalty, Hogg finding the corner and they'll have an attacking lineout post-halftime gong.
40'20-0 Start of second half
38'Oh my goodness! That's absolutely outrageous from Stuart Hogg, launching an audacious drop goal from nearly halfway! And it flies higher and higher and over the posts! Three points from out of nowhere, almost literally. Brilliant from Hogg, and Scotland have hit the accelerator in these past five minutes.
38'20-0 Drop goal - Stuart Hogg , Scotland
37'Scotland relaxing into this at last -- Hogg with a beautiful kick forward that skips into touch six metres from the Samoa line. Great play by the fullback.
36'17-0 Conversion - Greig Laidlaw , Scotland
34'And another TRY FOR SCOTLAND! That's the best move of the match by far, with Scotland winning the ball in midfield, Russell skipping past a challenge then feeding Ritchie, Ritchie slipping the pass inside to Laidlaw, and Laidlaw bouncing through two tacklers and over the line. Scotland are in firm, firm control of this match now.
34'15-0 Try - Greig Laidlaw , Scotland
32'However, from the restart (another high ball, of course) Scotland fail to deal with the danger and it falls to Samoa. Yet almost immediately they lose the ball with a knock on, and Scotland will get off the hook with a scrum on their own 22.
31'Laidlaw converts, and Scotland have what feels like a sizeable lead in these conditions.
31'10-0 Conversion - Greig Laidlaw , Scotland
30'Scotland become the 20th -- and final -- team to register a try in this Rugby World Cup...
30'Great take under a high ball by Maitland - that's extremely good work. And then another high ball across the other side of the field lands nicely for Hogg. Russell now will try the same tactic again -- and it's going to be a TRY FOR SCOTLAND!! Sean Maitland in acres of space on the left flank and he takes the ball perfectly out of the air and dots down. Great try!
30'8-0 Try - Sean Maitland , Scotland
28'Scotland try to break away with Maitland making good ground on the right, but again the pass goes to ground and then Matavao knocks on into touch. 3-0 might be enough, you know...
26'This match is descending towards farce. Yet another ball squirts out from under a ruck, then a Samoan knocks on, then a Scotland player knocks on. The ball may as well be a bar of soap. Ridiculous scenes.
24'Everyone looks exhausted. Scotland have racked up seven handling errors already. This is why teams have been using all kinds of techniques in training to get used to the slippery ball. Baby oil, buckets of water, you name it, they've tried it.
22'First bit of backs play in quite some time as Samoa work right from the base of a scrum. But even their attacking instinct is curtailed pretty quickly, with a kick ahead bobbling into touch for a Scotland lineout. It seems both sides are struggling to adapt to the searingly sapping conditions.
20'It's very difficult conditions out there, you can see how slippery the ball is because of the humidity as even Finn Russell is having to double-clutch each catch.
19'Samoa do enough in defence to clear the ball further downfield, and it will be a Scotland lineout midway inside the Samoan half.
17'Another loose breakdown from Samoa and Scotland have turned them over again. A kick ahead from Harris nearly sets Maitland away, but good coverage from Tuatagaloa closes out the danger. Still, Scotland will have a lineout in the Samoan 22.
15'One early struggle for Samoa is retaining the ball at the breakdown. Two or three times now they've let it slide out the side with Scotland able to pounce on the turnover. They have to tighten that up if they're to build pressure on the Scots.
13'Penalty for Samoa at the scrum, with Scotland guilty of collapsing it, WP Nel the culprit.
13'Good news for Samoa, Jack Lam passed his HIA. He's back on the field.
13'Player substituted - Allan Dell , Scotland
13'Substitute on - Gordon Reid , Scotland
13'Player substituted - Josh Tyrell , Samoa
13'Substitute on - Jack Lam , Samoa
12'Samoa were building relatively well in the Scotland half but a loose ruck gifts the ball to Hogg, who lashes a deep, deep punt downfield. Good follow-up from the Scots as well, and it will be a scrum on the edge of the Samoa 22. Quite the about-turn in terms of territory.
11'Loose pass by Tusi Pisi, the experienced Samoan flyhalf, and Chris Harris jumps on it and tries to launch a counter. However, there's a penalty against Scotland and Samoa will get to kick deep into Scottish territory.
9'Laidlaw kicks the penalty, and Scotland have an early lead.
9'3-0 Penalty goal - Greig Laidlaw , Scotland
8'Russell with his first back-of-the-hand pass while being tackled, and that doesn't work, the ball falling to the ground after a knock on. But it's a penalty to Scotland in any case, with Jonny Gray having been tackled without even having the ball.
6'Very nearly a sharp breakaway for Samoa, as a loose pass falls fortuitously for Alapati Leiua and he boots forward with only Graham back in defence for Scotland. However, Graham does the smart thing and lets the ball bobble out of touch. Lineout for Scotland and a half-chance dribbles away for Samoa.
5'Scotland now on the attack in the Samoan 22. Russell and Hogg combining but the ball goes to ground in the tackle. Scotland lose some ground but not possession. Kick forward by Laidlaw but it's to no avail and Samoa will drop out from their own 22.
3'Jack Lam, the Samoa No.8 and captain, has to go off for a Head Injury Assessment after bringing down Graham. That's a big loss for the Samoans if Lam fails the HIA.
3'The ball works wide right and Darcy Graham -- with his blonde hair making him instantly recognisable -- dashes through tackle after tackle. Great run from the Scotland winger. But once he's brought down, and the ball goes left, Scotland lose their way and it will be a Samoa scrum.
3'Player substituted - Jack Lam , Samoa
3'Substitute on - Josh Tyrell , Samoa
2'Samoa worked through six phases but they were going backwards the whole time, so a punt downfield allows Stuart Hogg to take his first high ball, and Scotland launch straight into a counterattack.
1'Quick gather from Scotland in their own 22, a ruck, and Laidlaw boots the ball into touch around halfway. Lineout for Samoa.
1'It will be Samoa to kick off, referee Pascal Gauzere of France blows his whistle - and we are GO!
1'Anthem time, with Samoa going first, then Flower of Scotland, and then Samoa will perform the Siva Tau war dance, a pre-match ritual that is sure to get the neutrals in the crowd firmly on their side.
1'The teams are lining up in the tunnel and marching their way towards the pitch, coming out in a hot and humid atmosphere under the roof in Kobe. The drums (a tradition at this World Cup) start pounding and here come the teams, to a thunderous reception. It has the feeling of a knockout match, and to all intents and purposes, it is!
1'Japan's dramatic victory over Ireland has put the cat amongst the pigeons in Pool A. In a nutshell, it means Scotland simply have to win their remaining games (against Samoa today, Russia on October 9 and Japan on October 13) and hope things fall their way to get through to the knockout phase.

Samoa, meanwhile, might just about be entertaining thoughts of getting in the mix themselves. They were perhaps a little fortunate not to have at least one player sent off in their opening victory over Russia, but they now have both Rey Lee-Lo and Motu Matu'u serving suspensions for those high tackles that should have brought red cards. All the same, a win here and suddenly their match against Ireland on October 12 could be huge.
1'Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of a crucial Pool A encounter between Scotland and Samoa.
1'0-0 Start of first half

Rugby World Cup 2019 News