Canada's rugby comeback falls just short against Samoa
Third consecutive loss on European tour
Samoa withstood a furious second-half comeback by Canada to win 25-23 Friday, handing the Canadian men the third straight loss of their European rugby tour.
Canada trailed 19-6 early in the second half, fighting back on two tries by captain DTH van der Merwe and one by Evan Olmstead. A late penalty and drop goal by D'Angelo Leuila, who had 20 points on the night, proved to be the margin of victory.
Van der Merwe's second try, in the 79th minute, made for a tense ending.
With his two tries tonight, <a href="https://twitter.com/DTHVDM">@DTHVDM</a> is now just one behind Winston Stanley's all-time Canadian record of 24 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RISEAsOne?src=hash">#RISEAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/REDNATION?src=hash">#REDNATION</a> <a href="https://t.co/b9iKfZOxR0">pic.twitter.com/b9iKfZOxR0</a>
—@RugbyCanadaPaul Perez scored a try for the Samoans, who led 13-0 after just 14 minutes and 16-6 at the half. Leuila finished with a conversion, two drop goals and four penalties.
Connor Braid kicked two penalties and added a conversion for Canada.
Canada is ranked 18th in the world compared to No. 14 for Samoa, which was coming off losses to No. 8 France and No. 12 Georgia.
Canada has never beaten Samoa in six attempts.
Canada lost 52-21 to No. 5 Ireland and 21-14 to No. 16 Romania in the first two games of its European tour.
Canada was bolstered by the return of veteran lock Jamie Cudmore, who missed the first two games of the tour by injury. Cudmore was sent to the sin-bin midway through the second half after a scuffle with a Samoan.