Vui praises gritty Samoa

Samoa second row Chris Vui saluted his side's spirited showing as the troubled Pacific Islanders lost 44-38 in an 11-try thriller against Scotland on Saturday.

The country's prime minister this week declared the Samoan Rugby Union bankrupt, giving them the worst possible preparation for the November Tests.

Despite their financial difficulties, Fuimaono Titimaea Tafua's side showed Samoan rugby is still strong on the field by delivering an enterprising performance at Murrayfield.

Tim Nanai-Williams starred with 18 points including an excellent try and despite being unable to snatch a come-from-behind victory, Vui took plenty of positives from the display.

"I felt like even though the result didn't go our way, it almost put us back on the map," he said.

"We're a really proud country and we're here to play rugby. I thought we showed that."

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend was able to celebrate a win in his first home match in charge, but he admitted there was still plenty of room for improvement.

At one stage Scotland led 32-10 before a late wobble that gave Townsend food for thought before Tests against New Zealand and Australia.

"The opposition are going to force you into errors because they are excellent players, and we know on all aspects of the game we have to be better and we know that going into next week," he said.

"There are a couple of areas that we will definitely have to be better to take on what is currently the best team in the world.

"I think we knew from both attack and defence that it wasn't going to be perfect today.

"We didn't handle a couple of restarts and that just gave them a footing in our 22 and they came away with tries on every occasion in the second half.

"We've won the game, we'll move on. I think our players' focus will be even more increased going into next week.

"We realise there are a few things we have to get better."

Source: AFP