Rugby World Cup: Samoa out of World Cup but hope for more big matches

Samoa have been left with only bruises to show for their efforts at the World Cup but hope their spirited displays in New Zealand will prevent them returning to the international rugby wilderness for the next four years.

Their two wins over Namibia and Fiji should claim a third-place finish in Pool D, and an automatic berth in the 2015 World Cup in England, but it was their displays in losses to Wales and South Africa that were perhaps more significant.

The Samoans came into the World Cup tipped as the lower-tier nation most likely to reach the last eight having surprisingly beaten Australia in Sydney in July.

They, however, conceded a late try to lose 17-10 to Wales in their second match before dominating possession in an enthralling clash with the Springboks on Friday only to fall to a 13-5 defeat that saw them eliminated from the tournament.

They were hampered by having to play the key match against Wales just four days after beating Namibia, and while captain Mahonri Schwalger was not looking for excuses for the losses he hoped their efforts would lead to more matches against the sport's elite.

"This is the end of the road for us, but the thing is, I know this team are going to do well in the next couple of years, if we get another chance to play against the bigger teams we will give them a good go," Schwalger told reporters after the loss to South Africa.

But Schwalger's plea for prestigious fixtures is likely to fall on deaf ears with just the lightly regarded Pacific Nations Cup against Japan, Fiji and Tonga to look forward to.

While the Springboks and Wales regularly face top-class opposition in the Four and Six Nations tournaments, Samoa are left with the odd November international against the tier one teams in between World Cups.

Despite the lack of quality opponents, the small pool of players to pick from in the tiny Pacific Island, and the struggles to arrange regular training time for their squad, the Samoans have made great strides since they were thrashed 60-10 by the Springboks in the 2003 World Cup.

The majority of the Samoan squad now play with professional clubs in Europe, the union receives improved funding from the International Rugby Board (IRB), which has also helped to ensure that their players are released for training camps like the one they had before the World Cup in New Zealand.

However, until they are entered into a tournament of stature they will continue to enter World Cups every four years as a second tier nation.

"I don't think we are a smaller team. We might be a small country but I think we play like a big team," Samoa assistant coach Brian McLean said after the loss to South Africa.

"We are ranked about 10th in the world and we probably did enough in both our games against Wales and South Africa to probably have beaten both of them."

McLean and head coach Titimaea Tafua should also take some of the credit for the improvement. The Samoans have always been renowned for running, attacking rugby played by hulking athletes who bulldoze their way through opposition defences, but during this World Cup campaign they showed some promising signs of developing their game.

Against Fiji they surprised many with a canny kicking game to pin their Pacific Ocean rivals back in their own half for long periods and kicked penalties to claim a comfortable 27-7 win.

Happy as McLean was with the developed style, he said after Friday's loss to the world champions that there was still room for improvement.

"I thought we played very well against Wales as we played very well today," he said. "I think tactically we were poor against Wales and I thought we should have won that game if we had been tactically better."