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| ** Wales still alive at World Cup 2011 |
Shane Williams of Wales is tackled by George Stowers and Sakaria Taulafo of Samoa during the IRB 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool D match between Wales and Samoa at Waikato Stadium on September 18, 2011 in Hamilton, New Zealand.
( September 17, 2011 - Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images AsiaPac)
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Wales kept their World Cup quarter-final hopes alive after seeing off Samoa 17-10 at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Sunday.
Trailing by four points (6-10) at half-time, Wales dug deep to deny the Samoans victory thanks to a try by wing Shane Williams thirteen minutes from full-time which proved to be the match-winner.
After major upsets in 1991 and 1999 against Samoa, it was Wales' first victory over their bogey team at a World Cup tournament.
The win, following their 16-17 opening loss to South Africa, puts Wales in the box seat to qualify second from Pool D with a likely quarter-final against Six Nations rivals Ireland.
Man of the match: Sam Warburton did some great work for Wales at key moments, and he was at the forefront of his team's effort, however it's hard to look past Welsh Wizard Shane Williams whose try allowed his team to breathe a little easier.
Man of the match: Sam Warburton did some great work for Wales at key moments, and he was at the forefront of his team's effort, however it's hard to look past Welsh Wizard Shane Williams whose try allowed his team to breathe a little easier.
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next test:
9-25
Samoa v Fiji
Auckland
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9-26
Wales v Namibia
New Plymouth
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