Ireland thrash Samoa to ease into last eight despite Bundee Aki red card – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

Fourteen-man Ireland booked a place in the quarter-finals against either South Africa or New Zealand with a bonus-point victory over an erratic and ill-disciplined Samoa. But whether or not they top Pool A remains in the hands of Typhoon Hagibis.

If Sunday’s game between Scotland and Japan is cancelled, then the match will be declared a draw and both teams will receive two points – with Japan then going through as top seed from Pool A and playing South Africa. That would leave Joe Schmidt’s side facing champions New Zealand.

Ireland won here despite playing for over 50 minutes with 14 men after Bundee Aki was sent off against the country of his ancestry for a dangerous tackle to the head of fly-half Ulupano Seuteni. It seemed a tough call on Aki by referee Nic Berry given that Samoan hooker Seilala Lam had seen only yellow in the sixth minute for a similar-looking challenge on Jacob Stockdale.

It is just over 1, 000 km between the south west city of Fukuoka and Yokohama, but this match was played in the shadow of what was unfolding in the latter. The permutations that Typhoon Hagibis could inflict on Pool A are serious, but Ireland and Samoa had their own immediate conditions to worry about.

Firm gusts swirled around the ground, an almost eerie reminder of what was happening around Yokohama. Ireland sought to use the wind to unsettle the Samoan back three with a persistent aerial attack, which worked early on but their kicking became wayward as the first half wore on.

There is still plenty to work on for Ireland. Their scrum was penalized when put to its first test, and after Samoa got on the board Irish passing became temporarily sloppy. It was a big night for Rory Best, who captained Ireland for the 37 th time, thereby overtaking fellow hooker Keith Wood and moving into second place behind Brian O’Driscoll in the list of players who have captained Ireland the most. Best has had his critics of late, not least due to some dysfunctional lineouts, but he delivered a firm rebuttal in just the fourth minute when he rumbled over from a lineout drive on Samoa’s 5m line.

A bad start for Samoa then got worse when Lam was sent to the sin-bin. Only a suggestion of a dip into the tackle by Stockdale saved him from red. Seconds later, Tadhg Furlong left a handful of flailing bodies in his wake as he burrowed over. Sexton then converted his own score after limp Samoa defending enabled Jordan Larmour to wriggle through and sweetly pop the ball inside.

Samoa were conceding a point a minute and facing a humiliating World Cup finale. Step forward captain Jack Lam, who finally brought Samoa to their senses with a try from short range. Aki was then red-carded for his dangerous challenge on Seuteni. Samoa have been no strangers to tough card calls this World Cup, and the sympathy from the back-tapping Pacific Islanders as Aki walked off was genuine.

Still, it briefly galvanized the Samoans. Lam continued to carry hard, and their backs had fresh urgency. But for all that, Samoa remained weak when defending in their own 22. Ireland went down the blindside from a scrum, and it was all too easy for Sexton to score his second. Jordan Larmour scored Ireland’s fifth as Samoa’s penalty count began to climb. Sexton kicked the conversion and with half an hour to go he was replaced, to be kept safe for sterner battles ahead.

Samoa had flanker TJ Ione yellow-carded for repeated infringements and CJ Stander then made Ireland’s forward pressure tell with a try. Andrew Conway added his name to the scoresheet too. It was a straightforward enough, stress-free win for Joe Schmidt’s side. But a far, far tougher challenge awaits.