Samoa 25-16 USA
Samoa have won their first match of the Rugby World Cup after defeating USA 25-16.
The teams had met four previous times, with Samoa triumphing in all four, but USA had never lost by more than seven points against their opponents. A series of penalties conceded by the USA was the difference with the teams both scoring two tries.
Samoa got three points on the board in the ninth minute when Jack Lam was brought down illegally and Tusu Pisi's kick was on target.
It was a tight opening 20 minutes of the match, and Pisi missed his second attempt at the posts in the 16th minute.
They scored the game's first try four minutes later though when Tim Nanai-Williams picked up a Pisi grubber kick to touch down
The conversion was missed but that did not stop Samoa extending their lead to 11 points seven minutes later. With USA penalised for not releasing, Pisi put the ball through the posts.
Just as it looked like Samoa might dominate the match, USA found their rhythm. AJ MacGinty pulled three points back after Samoa were caught offside.
USA captain Chris Wyles scored a well-worked try just two minutes later, crossing the line after a series of passes amongst the American backs.
Pisi put another penalty through the posts just before half time to give Samoa a six-point lead.
Samoa asserted their dominance in the second half, and scored their second try of the match when Ofisa Treviranus claimed a loose ball to give Samoa a 19-8 lead.
Penalties proved costly for USA and they gave another one away in the 50th minute when Andrew Duratalo committed a high tackle. Pisi extended the lead from in front of the posts.
AJ MacGinty took USA into double figures when he was on target after a Samoa foul, but that was cancelled out when substitute Michael Stanley kicked through the posts from the sideline.
Replacement Chris Baumann crossed the line in the 74th minute as USA sensed a comeback and MacGinty had the chance to come within a score of Samoa. He missed the conversion though and Samoa ran out 25-16 winners.
Wales 54-9 Uruguay
Wales have kicked off their Rugby World Cup campaign with a 54-9 victory over Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium.
A slow start from the Red Dragons was capitalised on by their 19th-in-the-world opponents, but a hat-trick of tries from Cory Allen helped his side well on their way to a bonus-point win.
The Southern Hemisphere minnows, competing in this showpiece competition for the first time since 2003, made a dream start to the contest by successfully kicking over two pens inside the opening 10 minutes.
Felipe Berchesi held his nerve to punish a Wales side lacking any discipline and showing some early tournament jitters, leaving the weakened home outfit with some work to do.
Buoyed by a now-boisterous backing in South Wales, the Red Dragons rallied and were finally rewarded when the returning Samson Lee dived over at the end of a strong maul, before Rhys Priestland - on kicking duties this afternoon - added the extras.
Allen touched down for a second soon after, giving Wales just a little breathing space in the first-ever Test meeting between the teams, and once more Priestland made no mistake from the follow-up.
Uruguay showed yet again that they should not be completely written off in Pool A, however, adding three more points via the boot of Berchesi - who at the same time equalled the best individual points record by a Teros player at the World Cup - to close the gap once more.
Wales still had time to make things slightly more comfortable heading into the break, though, thanks to a second try of the clash from Allen.
The Cardiff Blues centre, without an international score to his name prior to today, was picked out by Priestland at the end of a sweeping move to push his side closer to that previous bonus-point triumph with 30 minutes on the clock.
There was more joy to come for Allen, as with two minutes of overtime played he successfully charged through the Uruguay backline to edge Warren Gatland's men further ahead and complete an impressive personal hat-trick of tries.
It was the 2011 semi-finalists who had the better of the early exchanges following the restart, too, though they were made to wait until 10 minutes in before bagging a fourth score.
Wales, breaking from an opposition lineout, made big strides and were able to keep the momentum alive through Hallam Amos, before Priestland split the sticks for a fourth time.
With attention switching ahead to next weekend's potentially pivotal showdown with England at Twickenham, Gatland would have been concerned to see a number of players hobble off, including hat-trick hero Allen on the 54-minute mark.
Yet the Red Dragons were not finished there, adding two more tries before the contest was out, the first of which came on the back of another rolling maul which Gareth Davies - the first scrum-half to produce a try in this year's tournament - profited from.
Priestland was unsuccessful with his conversion on this occasion, but it did not appear to matter when Scott Williams looked for all the world to have himself crossed the whitewash, only for the TMO to adjudge that Amos' initial pass had been thrown forward.
Justin Tipuric then joined the party in the final 10 minutes when, yet again, a rolling Welsh maul ended with the hosts adding another five points to their growing score.
Davies rounded off the try-scoring in the dying stages to put the icing on the cake for Wales, setting up a likely make-or-break meeting with England in six days' time.
New Zealand 26-16 Argentina
New Zealand got off to a winning start in their Rugby World Cup campaign as they came from behind to beat Argentina 26-16 at Wembley.
After a disappointing end to the first half, the defending champions recovered after the break with tries from Aaron Smith and Sam Cane to secure the win over their South American rivals.
The All Blacks got off to a good start as Dan Carter's penalty inside five minutes gave them a 3-0 lead. Pablo Matera then picked up a sin bin for a late tackle on Julian Savea and Carver followed this up with another penalty in the 10th minute.
New Zealand continued to pule men forward during their one-man advantage and extended their lead in the 20th minute when the experienced Carter scored his third penalty of the night to make it 9-0.
Argentina suddenly hit back just two minutes later when Guido Petti surged towards the line and forced his way over to grab the first try of the game. Nicolas Sanchez then stepped up to make the conversion to reduce the deficit.
Richie McCaw received a sin bin 10 minutes from the break after for a trip on Juan Imhoff and Sanchez followed this up with another conversion to give Argentina a 10-9 lead. The All Blacks continued to lose their discipline as Conrad Smith also received a yellow card in the 38th minute.
Sanchez stepped up yet again to maintain his 100% record but Carter managed to reduce their opponent's lead when a converted a penalty of his own to make it 12-13 going into the break.
Argentina started the second half brightly as Sanchez's penalty gave his side a four-point advantage as they continued to hold New Zealand back with their numerical advantage.
However, the defending champions refused to lay down and they clawed their way back when Aaron Smith managed to dodge a tackle from Imhoff and score the first try of the game. Carter then stepped up to put the ball in between the posts.
Argentina tried to respond straight away as Sanchez chipped the ball forward for Imhoff to chase but Beauden Barrett got under it and took it into touch for the All Blacks.
Both sides continued to look for the next try and it was New Zealand who got it as they put together a string of passes before Sam Cane dived over the line in the left corner. Carter then converted to make it 26-16 with 13 minutes to go.
The Pumas tried to claw their way back late on but it wasn't enough as New Zealand held on to secure their first win of the tournament.
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