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Last Updated: Sunday, 26 October, 2003, 12:28 GMT
Sititi praises heroic Samoa
Semo Sititi leads the Samoans' traditional challenge before the match
Sititi scored Samoa's try as they stunned England by taking the lead
Samoa captain Semo Sititi said he was proud of his side after they gave England a massive fright in Melbourne on Sunday.

England only made the game safe in the last 10 minutes, scoring two late tries to clinch a 35-22 victory.

"We're not here to make up the numbers. We're here to compete," said Sititi, who plays for Borders in Scotland.

"I'm very proud of my boys. We had belief in ourselves to do the job for our country."

Samoa had looked the stronger of the two sides for much of the contest, but only once managed to touch down once - through Sititi himself.

England, in contrast, ran in tries through Neil Back, Iain Balshaw and Phil Vickery as well as a penalty try.

Despite missing out on a famous win, Samoan coach Joe Boe echoed Sititi's praise for the players.

Boe said: "I've got tremendous pride in our players. We lost but we didn't lose through lack of commitment or lack of heart did we?

"I think Jason Little (former Australia centre) said we'd lose by 60 to nil. We proved quite a few people wrong.

"I told you we believed in ourselves and, if we didn't believe in ourselves and the ability to win, we should never have come."





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