Samoa aim to build on Wallabies victory

Samoa’s recent upset victory over Australia has set a high benchmark the Pacific Islanders do not want to lower.

Hooker Ti'i Paulo said the 32-23 win over the Wallabies in Sydney on 17 July had boosted the Samoans' confidence going into their Rugby World Cup 2011 opener against Namibia on Wednesday in Rotorua.

But Paulo said it was critical for Samoa to prove the win over the world No.2-ranked team was no fluke.

“I think our supporters are still dining out on that,” said Paulo, the back-up hooker to captain Mahonri Schwalger.

“It’s given our boys a lot of confidence being on the world stage again. But there’s also added pressure with that.

“That’s the standard we’ve set and anything below that won’t be acceptable.”

Number 8 George Stowers said although Samoa had drawn plenty of self-belief from the victory, they had moved on and were focused on Namibia in arguably the toughest pool of RWC 2011.

“The people back home are riding high; we came down a long time ago,” the 32-year-old Ospreys forward said of the win over the Wallabies.

“It’s good for our confidence. We do it for the people back home and our families. It’s kind of a payback for them.”