Toulouse, France ¨C One win, one loss. It¡¯s not a ratio any team relishes with two Rugby World Cup pool games to play. But that¡¯s where Japan and Samoa find themselves coming into their head-to-head clash in Toulouse, France, on Thursday.
Neither side needs to stress over the calculus; the equation is pretty simple. Win this game and keep your World Cup dreams alive. Lose, and it¡¯s back to the drawing board for the next four years. After the 80 minutes elapse, one proud rugby nation will be staring down the barrel of a gun. The other will have its finger on the trigger.
Were the stakes not as high, this would still be billed as a potential thriller. When the two teams met in the Pacific Nations Cup in July, Samoa edged out a 24-22 victory. Japan won the previous three encounters, including a 38-19 triumph in the city of Toyota at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Samoa won the three before that.
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