Samoa coach Stephen Betham has said that his side made today's Rugby World Cup Pool B match against USA harder than it needed to be.

Le Manu moved joint-top of the group with a 25-16 win over the Eagles and although Betham was pleased with his side's discipline, he felt that there was room for improvement.

In recent meetings against the States, Samoa have managed victory but lost the second halves and held on for the win. Betham was pleased that his side won both halves today, but felt more points could have been scored.

"We talked at half time about not forcing 50-50 errors like we did in the first half," Betham told Sports Mole.

"We made a lot of breaks and didn't finish them off and at the end of the day that made the game really hard for us. We've certainly got a lot to tidy up before next weekend (against South Africa)."

Samoa have never lost to the USA in five meetings and today's win was their largest-ever over the Eagles.