Wales had to produced a steely defence on their own tryline to keep a tirade of Samoan attacks at bay, but that's exactly what they did to claim a 17-10 victory.

The result could effectively decide who finishes second in Pool D, although that is not yet a foregone conclusion by any means.

The Welsh dragons picked up from where they left off against the Springboks and ended up to the winning side of their second tight match against physical opposition in a row.

Wales will have few battered and bruised bodies, but they also take an important win away with them.

Timmy Hancox rates the Wales players:

15 James Hook
The versatile back made a few good runs from deep and added two penalties before a shoulder injury brought his game to a premature end.
6/10

14 George North
Very limited opportunities with ball in hand, but the big man on the wing made some important tackles out wide and kept Alesana Tuilagi honest.
6/10

13 Jonathan Davies
Read the game well to find some open space to run into on a couple of occasions and was tidy throughout the match without standing out.
6/10

12 Jamie Roberts
The battering ram in midfield in a crash-ball pro and was a difficult man for Samoa to bring down often breaking a couple of tackles. Conceded a few penalties by diving over in the rucks, but he was shining star in the backline.
8/10

11 Shane Williams
The little wizard wriggled and wove his way through a few would-be tacklers and didn't shy away from contact against the much larger Samoans. In a vast contrast to Roberts he used his illusive running to get over the advantage line, and crucially swooped on a loose ball to score Wales' only try.
7/10

10 Rhys Priestland
Still hot and cold and missed a drop-goal from straight in front the posts once again. However, he carries the ball to the gain line well and releases his centre to play with the ball and showed some good vision to create a gap.
7/10

9 Mike Phillips
Much faster service than he has in recent times, and a try saving tackle and turnover in the first half stood out as a big contribution to the cause.
7/10

8 Toby Faletau
A much quieter game from the No.8 who caused havoc against the Springboks, but he made his tackles and wasn't a weak link.
6/10

7 Sam Warburton
Not as devastating as he was against the Boks, but the skipper did create a few important turnovers, and is growing into the captaincy more and more with every game.
7/10

6 Dan Lydiate
Went off with an injury after 9 minutes and wasn't on long enough to be rated.

5 Alun Wyn Jones
Star of the show, with neat handling skills for a tall man and some top class work in the line-outs. Defensively astute and he linked well with the backs as an added bonus.
9/10

4 Luke Charteris
Was a tackling machine and chopped down Samoan runners all over the park by reading the game very well on defence.
8/10

3 Adam Jones
A combination of a few brilliant scrums where he hammered the opposition, and some poor work slipping the bind and giving away penalties. He was a powerhouse on the fringes on defence.
7/10

2 Huw Bennett
Strong and very mobile display from the hooker, who has big shoes to fill in Matthew Rees' absence. Readily available as a ball carrier and a good outing.
8/10

1 Paul James
Did well at scrum time, but faded whenever the game opened up. Solid rather than spectacular.
6/10

Replacements:

16 Lloyd Burns (on for Huw Bennett, 61st min)
Not enough time to be rated.

17 Gethin Jenkins (on for Paul James, 61st min):
Not enough time to be rated.

18 Bradley Davies (on for Wyn Jones, 69th min):
Not used.

19 Andy Powell (on for Dan Lydiate, 9th min)
Was in the thick of the rough stuff. Brash, brave but ultimately ineffective far too often. More guts than brains describes his play, with several handling errors.
5/10

20 Tavis Knoyle
Not used

21 Scott Williams
Not used

22 Leigh Halfpenny (on for James Hook 40th min)
Cleaned up a few loose balls at the back and it was his break - ducking under tackles - that set up the Williams try to seal the win.
7/10