Elated Samoa fans snap up World Cup tickets after upset

Ben McCalman of the Wallabies is tackled during the match against Samoa. Photo / Getty Images

A Samoa match in the Rugby World Cup has sold out in the excitement surrounding the team's stunning upset of Australia.

The Samoans achieved a historic win over Australia on Sunday night, beating them 32-23 in Sydney.

The small Pacific Island nation - population 180,000 - is a 100-1 outsider for the World Cup trophy and had never beaten Australia before.

But their performance on Sunday night electrified fans in Samoa and Auckland, causing a spike in sales for their Cup games.

A Rugby World Cup spokeswoman said tickets to Samoa-South Africa at North Harbour Stadium had been exhausted following the win.

"There's been an increase in demand to Samoa matches since the result," she said.

"Samoa-Fiji and Samoa-Wales are also both selling really well."

Samoa's victory made a splash around the world and particularly across the Tasman.

Australian media lambasted their national side for a "shambolic", "complacent", "embarrassing" and "nightmare" performance.

"But the real news is not merely that the Wallabies played badly. The wonderful part is that Samoa, after threatening for many years to become a force in world rugby, have arrived," said the Sydney Morning Herald's Peter Fitzsimons.

Former Wallaby Tim Horan, writing for the Daily Telegraph, said Australia coach Robbie Deans would be shattered by the result.

"The Wallabies can't pass this result off. They were outplayed by a team that outplanned them, out-muscled them in defence and out-enthused them at the breakdown."

Samoa's win reversed a 74-7 trouncing by Australia in their last meeting, at the same venue, six years ago.

It is a setback for the Wallabies six days before they start their Tri-Nations campaign against world champions South Africa.

The Samoa-South Africa match is the fourth cup game to have its "allocation exhausted" after the grand final, the New Zealand-France match and the France-Canada match.

Cup organisers avoid the term "sold out" because more tickets could be made available.

The tournament has sold 1 million of 1.6 million tickets so far, reaching almost three-quarters of its target.