Declan Kidney admitted he is glad that Samoa are not in the same World Cup pool as his Ireland side.
Ireland boss concedes his side are struggling for form
Declan Kidney admitted he is glad that Samoa are not in the same World Cup pool as his Ireland side.
Ireland struggled to despatch a side 11th in the world rankings and endured a torrid third quarter before holding on to win 20-10 in Dublin.
"I'm glad Samoa are not in our World Cup group. They're a tough, physical side," said the Ireland head coach.
"It was bit of an arm wrestle for long periods of the game, especially in the second half when they had us tied down to our goalline.
"We became nervous when they built up some momentum and scored their try.
"It was 13-10 for 10 or 15 minutes with them pressing so I'm sure there were opportunities for them to win.
"We've been in situations like that before but managed to get the win this time.
"I never expected to be able to see them off because in World Cup year Pacific nations teams are tough opposition.
"Samoa adapted better than I thought they would to the conditions. They were strong up front."
Kidney admitted Ireland, who host New Zealand next Saturday, are struggling.
"We're not exactly firing on all cylinders to the extent that we're probably turning over a bit more ball than we want to," said Kidney.
"But we're having a go at it and if you don't try things you won't learn. We're trying to play with the ball in hand.
"I'd prefer us to be trying things and making a few mistakes than not trying stuff."
Samoa captain Mahonri Schwalger spoke of his pride at the Pacific Nations Cup holders' performance, but he felt they should have won.
Compete
"We came on this tour with the attitude that we can compete with the top teams in the world," said the Taranaki hooker.
"We went out there and gave it everything we had. We should have won that game.
"I'm proud of what my boys did out there today. Now we have to build on that performance.
"What we find is that top teams make less mistakes. If we cut down on our mistakes we'll be one of the top teams as well.
"Ireland got away with a few things. Even in the last 10 minutes we thought we could have won the game.
"Ireland were relying on their set piece to dominate the game but were quite surprised by the way we fronted up."
