Argentina 19-10 Samoa: Emiliano Boffelli brings Pumas back to life with vital victory over Samoans as they bounce back from England defeat

• Boffelli was Argentina’s star man as they edged past Samoa on Friday evening
• Pumas bounced back from an opening game loss to England at the World Cup
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• Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

Edinburgh winger Emiliano Boffelli was Argentina’s star man as they survived a late charge to beat Samoa and reignite their World Cup campaign.

With the Pumas losing to England in their opening Pool D fixture, they needed to beat the Samoans to keep alive their realistic hopes of progressing into the knockout stage.

And they did so with an attritional victory in Saint-Etienne that owed much to 28-year-old Boffelli’s prowess with the boot.

Any pre-match pressures were eased when Samoa’s Duncan Paia’aua was sent to the sin-bin in the opening minute of the match.

His absence was keenly felt as Argentina hit the front, Boffelli going over in the corner before converting the try.

Edinburgh winger Emiliano Boffelli inspired his side to a first victory at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France

The Pumas survived a late flurry from Samoa to secure a 19-10 win and bounce back from their loss to England

Three successful penalties from the Edinburgh star followed, with a Christian Leali’ifano penalty getting Samoa on the board in the first half.

Samoa’s defence held firm in the latter stages as they pushed to get back into the game.

Sama Malolo’s try — converted by Alai D’Angelo Leuila — put the cat among the pigeons as the Argentinians realised this was going to be no stroll in the park.

Argentina had to win the game on Friday to keep any hopes of reaching the next stage at the tournament alive

The Pumas held on, however, and they wrapped up the win through Nicolas Sanchez’s penalty.

The loss to England had presented the possibility of another early exit but securing the points here gives them hope and they now face South American rivals Chile in Nantes next Saturday.

Argentina finished fourth at the 2015 World Cup but they failed to get out of the pool stage in Japan four years ago and will be determined to avoid that fate again.

Samoa, meanwhile, will now need results against potentially both Japan and England if they are to build on their winning start against Chile.

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