Wynne Gray's 50 greatest rugby moments: No.33

Stephen Bachop scores against Wales at the 1999 World Cup. Photo / Getty

It was a line trotted out by embarrassed Welsh rugby followers after World Cup newcomers Western Samoa beat Wales in the 1991 World Cup.

"Just as well we weren't playing all of Samoa," they chortled into their pints of Brains.

Eight years later that reality bounced into Cardiff and bit Wales once again although they had been much more aware of their rivals and confident they could repel them this time.

Wales had Graham Henry in the coaching seat and while a number of Samoan players were familiar with his style, and they had included dual internationals Pat Lam, Vaiga Tuigamala and Stephen Bachop, they were not expected to cope with the breadth of Wales' game.

They were on a 10-game winning streak, jubilation was coming from the valleys, hotel trade was moving at a strong pace and Bread of Heaven broke all sorts of decibel records at the new Millennium Stadium as Wales pounded into their early work.

Five eighths Neil Jenkins added more spice with his first penalty sending him past Michael Lynagh's international points scoring mark. There were a few glitches like a lineout overthrow which cost a try but the Welsh scrum had their rivals on the skids and claimed two penalty tries.

However, they could not match Samoa's flair when they got some ball and Bachop backed up for a try after an impressive double-round move in the backline while Silao Leaega landed every goal to keep his team in the hunt.

Wales tried a loop move but Lam intercepted and galloped about 65m for another try as the crowd support started to waver before Leaega sent them into despair. A midfield move involving veteran wing Brian Lima pulled in the defenders and he offloaded to Samoa's fullback Leaega who squeezed through several tackles in the corner and then converted.

There was still time for Wales and they had a glorious chance with a 5m scrum however sloppy control from No 8 Scott Quinnell saw the ball squirt out for a grateful Samoa to clear their line and win the match.

Both sides qualified for the playoffs on countback from Argentina who finished on the same number of points in their pool.