The Pacific Island nation were hammered 78-0 by the All Blacks in Auckland after watching Wales kick-start their two-Test tour with a 24-6 victory over Tonga. Defeat to New Zealand was Samoa’s first game in five weeks and they are sure to be much better on home soil than they were at Eden Park.
“Samoa are a wounded animal after their scoreline against the All Blacks. They were very competitive for the first 20 to 30 minutes of that match before falling away so I’m sure in front of a home crowd they’ll want to set the record straight,” said a wary McBryde. “We know they’ll be a different opposition on Friday night buoyed by their home supporters.”
Wales arrived in Apia on Sunday evening and will name their team to face Samoa on Wednesday. Temperatures for Friday’s game are expected to nudge 30 degrees, and McBryde has challenged his young team to adapt quickly and return home with two victories.
“There has been a bit of an edge in training and boys don’t want to miss out on an opportunity. That makes for a very competitive environment. Training has been excellent. The Samoan people are very welcoming off the pitch, but as previous experience has shown once they cross that white line they’re a different animal,” he added.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us. We have to make sure too that we know we’re here to play rugby on Friday and get the win. That’s the aim, not to just enjoy the sun.”
McBryde and his coaching team faced a selection headache with the loss of Gareth Davies, Kristian Dacey, Tomas Francis and Cory Hill to British & Irish Lions duty – plus the injury withdrawal of wing Alex Cuthbert.
“Yes we’ve lost four to the Lions, and unfortunately Alex Cuthbert to injury, but it’s brought us a bit tighter together and everybody realises there’s more of an opportunity for them,” said McBryde.
“They will be difficult conditions in a hostile environment on Friday and not many people are giving us a chance. We want to show what we can do and make the most of the opportunity.”
