Germany has just been eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, and their chances of qualifying for rugby's version are in danger after a crushing defeat against Manu Samoa. Ed Fidow scored three of Samoa's 10 tries in a 66-15 first-leg play-off victory in Apia on Saturday. It didn't take long for the hosts to show their dominance, as they led 35-3 at the break. Alapati Leiua, Melani Matavao (2), Jack Lam, Iosefa Tekori, Dwayne Polataivaia and a penalty try were added to Fidow's treble in the one-sided match. It wasn't all bad for Germany as they did show moments of brilliance, including a double to Jaco Otto. The second leg will be played in Heidelberg in two weeks' time with the overall winner qualifying for the 2019 tournament in pool A, joining Ireland, Scotland, hosts Japan and Russia in Pool A. The loser will be forced to play in the repechage tournament against three other nations for one last chance to qualify. Newshub.<doc-sep>Former Brisbane City star Ed Fidow bagged a hat-trick of tries as Samoa moved a step closer to qualifying for the 2019 World Cup with a 66-15 thrashing of Germany in Apia on Saturday. It was the first match in a two-leg play-off to find the final qualifier to complete Pool A, which already includes Ireland, Russia, Scotland and hosts Japan. Samoa responded in style to strident pre-match criticism from Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi as they outscored Germany 10 tries to two. After a string of nine defeats since beating Canada in 2016, Malielegaoi told the players they "have no guts" and if they lost they "all have to resign from the team". His outburst paid dividends as centre Alapati Leiua had the Pacific islanders on the board within eight minutes. Melani Matavao (2), Jack Lam, Ed Fidow (3), Joe Tekori and Dwayne Polataivao all scored along with a penalty try while Ah See Tuala landed seven conversions. Germany, who Malielegaoi said have "no knowledge whatsoever" about rugby, relied on a penalty by Raynor Parkinson in the first half with two tries to Jaco Otto and a Parkinson conversion in the second. The return leg is in Heidelberg, Germany on July 14. RESULT Samoa 66 Tries: Fidow 3, Matavao 2, Penalty, Polataivaia, Leiua, Lam, Tekori Cons: Tuala 5, Faapale 2 Germany 15 Tries: Otto 2 Cons: Parkinson Pens: Parkinson Cook Islands vs Hong Kong @HongKongRugby managed to keep the Cook Islanders tryless in their first of two tests - Full-Time score HKG 26 CI 3. Show your support for Hong Kong next Saturday at the @HKFCrugby for the return match. KO 4:30pm HKT #letsgohongkong — HKRU (@HongKongRugby) July 1, 2018 Hong Kong won the first leg of their home and away series against the Cook Islands 26-3 in Rarotonga Saturday to move a step closer to a berth in next year's World Cup in Japan. The newly crowned Asia Rugby Championship winners outscored the Cook Islands four tries to nil and led 18-3 at half-time. Thomas Lamboley, Liam Slatem, Conor Hartley and Max Woodward all touched down for the visitors while Matthew Rosslee landed two penalties. Matthew Mullany scored the Cook Islands' only points with a penalty early in the game. hile the Asia tournament had sharpened Hong Kong, the Cook Islands were playing their first international in 10 months since they lost to Tahiti in the 2017 Oceania Rugby Cup. That result was later overturned after Tahiti were found to have fielded ineligible players. The return leg is in Hong Kong next Saturday with the winner on aggregate joining Canada, a yet-to-be-determined Africa side and the loser of the Samoa-Germany play-off in a repechage tournament to fill the 20th and final spot at the World Cup. RESULT Hong Kong 26 Tries: Lamboley, Slatem, Hartley, Woodward Pens: Rosslee 2 Cook Islands 3 Pens: Mullany Kenya vs Zimbabwe Debutant Dalmus Chituyi scored two crucial tries at the death to help Kenya beat Zimbabwe 45-36 in a dramatic Rugby World Cup qualifier in Nairobi on Saturday. Kenya were staring at defeat after Zimbabwe, who were trailing 33-17 at half-time staged a dramatic comeback to score 19 points in the second half of the game. Kenyan captain Davis Chenge had put the home side in the driving seat with a hat-trick of tries in the opening 18 minutes before Zimbabwe's Denford Mutamangira, playing his 50th international reduced the deficit with the first try for the Sables. Zimbabwe had Fortune Chipendu sin-binned in the 34th minute, but the visitors rallied with a commanding performance in the second half, scoring four tries, a penalty and a conversion as the home-side collapsed under the pressure. Zimbabwe took advantage of a Kenyan yellow card in the 55th minute as England-based winger Matthew McNab took the opportunity to put his resurgent side into the lead for the first time in the match when he broke through the slack Kenyan defence down the left before making his dive to score their fifth try. But Chituyi ensured Kenya's victory with the two late tries to keep the Simbas in contention for a place in next year's Rugby World Cup in Japan. Kenya bagged four more points to remain in second position with eight points behind leaders Namibia, who play Morocco away later on Saturday. Kenya will host Uganda in their match of the competition on July 7, while third-placed Zimbabwe, which last qualified for the World Cup in 1991 will entertain Tunisia away. RESULT Kenya 45 Zimbabwe 36<doc-sep>German sports fans may be at an all-time low ebb, after their beloved football team - defending World Cup champions - got dumped out of the tournament in Russia this week. Never fear, meine fruende, your rugby team is still alive and kicking in their world tournament, and face Manu Samoa in Apia tomorrow in a crucial qualifying encounter. In fact, they're only a couple of games away from potentially facing the All Blacks at next year's Rugby World Cup. Who knew? In case, like us, you weren't even aware they played rugby in Germany, here's all you need to know ahead of the home-and-away series. Germany won a rugby silver medal at the 1900 Paris Olympics. Three teams contested the tournament - the French national team, FC 1880 Frankfurt represented Germany and Moseley Wanderers represented Great Britain. Only two games were played, with France beating Frankfurt 27-17 and Moseley 27-8. France took the gold medal, with Germany and Great Britain each awarded silver, although some claims Germany deserved their medal outright, due to points differential. Many of Germany's top football clubs actually started out as rugby clubs, including Bundesliga outfit Hannover 96. The German national team first played in 1927, losing 30-5 to France. Before the outbreak of World War II, they established themselves as the second-best national side in mainland Europe, twice beating the top-ranked French. During WWII, German rugby lost a virtual First XV of players and was never able to recover its previous international footing. Germany have flitted between the first and second divisions of European Nations Cup. This year they failed to win a game, with a points differential of minus-325 across five games, but they were unable to field players from their strongest club team, Heidelberg. Despite the disastrous campaign, Germany were thrown a World Cup lifeline, when Romania, Belgium and Spain were all deducted points for playing ineligible players. That elevated Germany into a home playoff against Portugal, which they won 16-13 to advance to the next stage - the series against Manu Samoa. The Germans could end up facing the All Blacks at next year's Rugby World Cup. If they lose to Samoa, they have another chance to qualify through a repechage, with the winners landing in the same pool as NZ, South Africa and Italy. They are currently ranked 29th in the world. Their biggest-ever win was 108-0 over Serbia-Montenegro in 2005. Their biggest-ever loss was 89-6 against Russia in 2000. The team are currently coached by former Uruguay player and coach Pablo Lemoine. He played at two Rugby World Cup tournaments and scored Uruguay's first World Cup try at Australia 2003. He later coached the national side at the 2015 World Cup. Lemoine replaced South African Kobus Potgieter as German coach this year. Germany's first-five Hagen Schulte was born in Christchurch and played provincial rugby for Buller, before moving to the Glasgow Hawks and then Heidelberger RK. Captain Sean Armstrong is Australian-born. Newshub.<doc-sep>Manu Samoa players have been put on notice by their Prime Minister, as they prepare for Saturday's Rugby World Cup playoff game against Germany. The Germans stagger into the home-and-away elimination series, after finishing bottom of their European qualifying pool, but were promoted over Belgium, Romania and Spain, when those teams were penalised for fielding ineligible players. That put them into a European playoff against Portugal, which they duly won 16-13 to set up the clash with Samoa. No wonder Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has warned his team they should resign en masse if they can't beat the minnows of world rugby. "You have no guts," Malielegaoi apparently told the team recently. "You played 10 games and you lost in all of those 10 games, what does that tell me - you have no guts. That is what I said to them," he recounted to the Samoan parliament. "I said, if you don't win this game then you all have to resign from the team." Just five years ago, Manu Samoa reached their highest-ever world ranking of seventh, but they've since tumbled 10 spots to 17. They haven't won an international game since defeating Canada 25-23 in November 2016. Samoa lost both their Pacific Nations Cup this month, falling 24-22 to eventual winners Fiji and 28-18 to acrhrivals Tonga. Germany currently sit 29th on world rankings, ahead of just Chile and just behind Kenya. The first leg of the playoff is scheduled for Saturday afternoon (NZ time) in Apia, with the return game set for July 14 at an unspecified German venue. The winners land in a World Cup pool that already features Ireland, Scotland, Japan and Russia. The losers have yet another chance to advance through a repechage that would include Canada, African qualifiers and either Cook Islands or Hong Kong. The winners of that repechage will face the All Blacks, South Africa, Italy and the top African qualifiers. Newshub.<doc-sep>
Samoa take a big lead into the second leg of their RWC 2019 qualifier against Germany Samoa close in on 2019 World Cup spot Samoa are in the box seat to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup after beating Germany 66-15 in the first leg of their play-off in Apia. Samoa wing Ed Fidow scored a hat-trick and scrum-half Melani Matavao got a brace as the hosts notched ten tries in all. As well as a penalty try, Alapati Leiua, Jack Lam, Joe Tekori and Dwayne Polataivao all crossed. It was a convincing win for the Samoans, with Germany struggling to cope with their physicality. A missed tackle count of nearly 40 is evidence of how often Samoa were able to punch holes in Germany’s defence. Matavao was crucial to his side’s win, ensuring his side played at tempo and causing Germany no end of problems with his snipes around the contact area as well as his footwork in open field. The Samoa scrum also provided a huge platform for the team to attack from, while slick hands in the back-line allowed them to be clinical out wide. They will be looking to improve at the lineout in Heidelberg in the second leg on 14 July as it did not function well in Apia, and they need to focus for the full 80 minutes. The occasional lapse here, particularly from restarts, resulted in German pressure on the Samoan line. However, a 51-point winning margin puts them in a very strong position to secure a place in Pool A at Japan 2019, alongside Ireland, Japan, Russia and Scotland. Samoa had used their Pacific Nations Cup games against Fiji and Tonga earlier in the month to try out different combinations in the squad, and with their best team on the field here everything seemed to click. “It was a team effort and I think from the Pacific Nations Cup games we added execution,” said Samoa captain Chris Vui. “In the PNC games we made simple handling errors and I think we adjusted out game plan well. We started really well in the first 20 minutes too. “They’re a really good team and a good endurance team, so we’ll do our homework and change a few things up (ahead of the second leg).” Germany’s two tries came from flanker Jaco Otto but overall coach Pablo Lemoine was hugely disappointed by his side’s performance, criticising players’ attitudes in such an important game. He knows what it takes to qualify for a World Cup, too, having successfully guided Uruguay through the process ahead of the 2015 tournament. “If we’re being 100% realistic, if we want to play at that level we have to change many things, especially players’ mindsets,” said Lemoine. “Some guys are better players than they showed today and they need to show humility. “We’re looking to qualify for the Rugby World Cup and you have to respect that. Some players didn’t show the respect they should have. Their attitudes weren’t right. We expect more. This was a World Cup qualification game and they didn’t show the respect a game of this level needed. We have to change here (pointing at his head).” Expect Germany to make a few personnel changes ahead of their home leg, but if Samoa can replicate the physicality and accuracy they demonstrated here – and cut out the lapses in concentration – they are clear favourites to qualify for Japan 2019. Follow Rugby World on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.