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<blockquote data-quote="Darwin" data-source="post: 452864" data-attributes="member: 24910">Overall a pretty good game.&nbsp; It was a pity that Samoa didn&#039;t really turn up until after half-time!&nbsp; South Africa certainly dominated the set pieces, and their rolling maul was very impressive.&nbsp; I still think they have weaknesses with their first-up defense, with Samoa making a number of linebreaks throughout the game, though as always South Africa&#039;s scrambling defense was superb.&nbsp; I&#039;m sure Australia will have taken note of how Samoa found holes in the South African backline defense when Tusi Pisi doubled round - I expect to see Quade Cooper use this tactic a lot.I thought B du Plessis was good for South Africa, and it is huge relief to the rest of the world that he will be sitting watching from the side-line while John Smit plods around for most of the game.&nbsp; Matfield was superb in the lineout, and Brussow and Burger worked well in tandem.&nbsp; No-one in the South African backline really stood out to me - apart from the first 10-15 mins they really didn&#039;t see a lot of ball.&nbsp; I did think Pat Lambie looked pretty good at the back though: solid under the high ball, reliable in defense, and he made a great break too.For Samoa I thought the loose-trio all had strong games with the ball in hand, but they really do lack a true &#039;fetcher&#039; to compete at the breakdown.&nbsp;&nbsp; Fotuali&#039;i and Pisi played well, while Fuimaono-Sapolu was superb.&nbsp; He threatened to break the line whenever he got the ball, and his slick passing added another dimension to Samoa&#039;s attack.&nbsp; David Lemi was equally impressive, as he is just so elusive.&nbsp; The highlight of the game for me was when the 75kg David Lemi fended on Bismark du Plessis (at least I think it was Bismark).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Darwin, post: 452864, member: 24910"] Overall a pretty good game. It was a pity that Samoa didn't really turn up until after half-time! South Africa certainly dominated the set pieces, and their rolling maul was very impressive. I still think they have weaknesses with their first-up defense, with Samoa making a number of linebreaks throughout the game, though as always South Africa's scrambling defense was superb. I'm sure Australia will have taken note of how Samoa found holes in the South African backline defense when Tusi Pisi doubled round - I expect to see Quade Cooper use this tactic a lot. I thought B du Plessis was good for South Africa, and it is huge relief to the rest of the world that he will be sitting watching from the side-line while John Smit plods around for most of the game. Matfield was superb in the lineout, and Brussow and Burger worked well in tandem. No-one in the South African backline really stood out to me - apart from the first 10-15 mins they really didn't see a lot of ball. I did think Pat Lambie looked pretty good at the back though: solid under the high ball, reliable in defense, and he made a great break too. For Samoa I thought the loose-trio all had strong games with the ball in hand, but they really do lack a true 'fetcher' to compete at the breakdown. Fotuali'i and Pisi played well, while Fuimaono-Sapolu was superb. He threatened to break the line whenever he got the ball, and his slick passing added another dimension to Samoa's attack. David Lemi was equally impressive, as he is just so elusive. The highlight of the game for me was when the 75kg David Lemi fended on Bismark du Plessis (at least I think it was Bismark). [/QUOTE]

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