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The Thrashing Forecast: USA v Samoa

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Chicken Dinner explore the 'emotional rollercoaster' that could be Samoa's clash with the USA

Writing in Saturday's Guardian newspaper before Samoa's game against England, Martin Corry said "Samoan players are among the nicest, calmest people you could ever meet. Away from the rugby pitch that is. Throw them a ball in a competitive situation and it's as if some kind of explosion occurs inside their heads." Before the tournament Samoa fancied themselves for a place in the last eight, especially with England all over the place, yet their disappointing performances so far would stretch the patience of even the calmest islander, and the Americans could find themselves on the wrong end of a powerful frustration-busting Samoan head-explosion. Were Samoa to seek some professional help regarding their turbulent feelings, they may find themselves subjected to Robert Plutchik's classification of eight primary emotions. By miraculous coincidence, Samoa have won eight games in their World Cup history - so which emotion can the USA expect Samoa to display in their final game?

Emotion: Anger
Game: 60-13 vs Uruguay (2003). No more Mister Nice Guy. Samoa's biggest ever World Cup win, but came in the second game of the tournament when Samoa still had hopes of qualifying. Not only are the USA better than Uruguay, Samoa's anger may be of the blunt and unproductive variety.

Emotion: Fear
Game: 38-31 vs Wales (1991). Samoa needed to win to try to sneak into the quarter final playoffs, yet Wales were the far better side, were playing at home, and Samoa had had the nerve to upset them before in the World Cup. Could lightning strike twice? Fear, it has to be said, does not seem to feature large in the Samoan psychology.

Emotion: Sadness
Game: 46-9 vs Georgia (2003) A big convincing, try-packed win, yet Samoa ultimately needed to be passed the hankies as they were in the same group as South Africa and England, and failed to qualify. Lots of sadness expected for the US game, for the same reason.

Emotion: Joy
Game: 32-19 vs Wales (1991). A monumental shock. The World Cup doesn't get to see many upsets, but this was one of them. Playing in front of their home fans in their opening game, this was supposed to be Wales' first step towards glory. No one told the Samoans.

Emotion: Disgust
Game: 43-9 vs Japan (1999) Less than 12 moths later they would be beating Japan much more vigorously (68-9, 2000), a much more dignified result. The Samoans have let themselves down in this tournament by losing to inferior neighbours Tonga.

Emotion: Curiosity/ Interest
Game: 42-18 vs Italy (1995) The Pacific Islands have a historical reputation for generosity when meeting Europeans for the first time. Sadly for Italy it wasn't extended as far as them for this first ever encounter.

Emotion: Surprise
Game: 32-26 vs Argentina (1995). This was Samoa's narrowest ever World Cup win. But weren't all the pool games supposed to be gigantic mismatches? Who were these upstarts daring to give the Samoans a run for their money! Hadn't anybody told them?

Emotion: Acceptance
Game: 35-12 vs Argentina (1991). This was much more in the natural order of things - last game in the pool part of the tournament, a gentle stroll past forgiving opposition and into the quarter finals. At the expense of Wales. Just as it should be. Who knew how quickly things would change?