While distance lends perspective, it can also lead to the growth of myths - and the 25 years since Western Samoa beat Wales in the 1991 World Cup in Cardiff seem to have done more of the latter.It was much invoked last year when Japan beat South Africa in the World Cup. There are clear parallels, since both involve an emerging rugby nation defeating an established one. And theres no doubt Samoas achievement was momentous.?They were the 1991 tournaments only rookies, playing in their first World Cup finals match, and on their opponents home ground. But was it, as Japans feat undoubtedly was, a shock ?Hardly so when one considers Wales at the time. Defeat by a previously unconsidered group of islanders was not even a low point.That had come earlier in the year when 134 points were conceded over two weekends - 71 to New South Wales and 63 to Australia - and Welsh players had brawled among themselves at the dinner following the international.Those punch-ups were the culmination of the ill-feeling which had built over coach Ron Waldrons en masse importation of both the methods and personnel which had made his Neath team hugely successful at club level.Hugely effective in driving club players into the errors which come when they have been run to exhaustion, they were predictably much less successful against the fitter, more skillful adversaries encountered at international level.Waldron had resigned, citing ill-health, so Wales went into the 1991 World Cup (as it would again in 1995) with a new coach - Alan Davies, who came from Ynysybwl via a highly successful stint in England with the upwardly mobile Nottingham club.There was also a new captain. Full-back Paul Thorburn had quit at the end of the Australian tour and was replaced by wing Ieuan Evans. They had had only one match to prepare, played against France on 4th September at the National Stadium to mark the installation of floodlights.Wales lost 22-9 in a match probably now most remembered by Luc Evans, who enjoyed one of the shortest of all Welsh international careers as a replacement for captain Ieuan. But Wales still were not too concerned about the Samoans.As scrum-half Robert Jones recalled We had played them a couple of times before, beating them without too much trouble.In an age where rugby news travelled infinitely less quickly than it does now, and even the most famed visitors arrived with a certain air of mystery, they had little idea what was about to hit them. Peter Fatialofa did.The Samoan captain had told his team The Welsh have never seen tackling like Samoan tackling. Well smash the crap out of them.A prop who would have played for the All Blacks if the selectors had been more convinced by his scrummaging, Fatialofa ran a piano-moving business in Auckland and certainly gave the impression that he was capable of lifting a baby grand one-handed.A stalwart of the Auckland team which was putting together an unprecedented seven-year run in the Ranfurly Shield, he had persuaded colleagues with island heritage to join him in playing for Samoa.This made the 1991 team a very different proposition to those beaten in 1986 and 1988, which had conformed to the islander stereotype of being terrific with the ball in hand but less convincing in tighter and more technical aspects.Frank Bunce, one of those recruits, recalled:?We never had much as a team. We didnt have any money or any gear. We just had a lot of belief, support, faith and talent.They also launched the debate, which lasts to this day, about New Zealands relationship with the islands.In this the refusal of kiwi critics to acknowledge that New Zealand rugby has played fast and loose with islander talent has its mirror image in a British inability to recognise that, like the large number of Jamaican-descended men who have played football for England, the phenomenon also reflects population flows which have nothing to do with rugby.The number of male Samoans living in Auckland is greater than the entire population of Samoa. Bunce, who would shortly afterwards begin a highly distinguished All Black career, is a case in point.His qualification to play for New Zealand, where he was born, raised and educated, was impeccable. But his island heritage was from Niue, where his great uncle, Sir Robert Rex, was Prime Minister. As a descendant of George III - hence the Rex surname - Bunce arguably also qualified to play for, or even rule, England.On a grey autumnal Sunday afternoon it was clear from the start that this tough, battle hardened and highly motivated group - also including back rower Pat Lam and wing Brian Lima - were more than capable of coping with a Wales team still recuperating from the traumas of Australia and fielding the brilliant but half-fit Mark Ring at outside-half.That was some of the hardest tackling I have ever seen, reflected coach Davies afterwards. The 20 year old Scott Gibbs, not yet the formidably powerful figure he became, came in for a ferocious battering by Bunce. Full-back Tony Clement had a bruise extending from the top of his leg to his ribcage.We never got into our stride, recalled Robert Jones. Yet the decisive moment of the match would not have been allowed under modern TMO rules. It came directly after half-time, with the score at 3-3.In Joness words :I touched the ball down behind the line, getting my body right over the ball. A Samoan came in straight afterwards and touched down and the French referee, who was a fair way behind play, gave the try.I know for a fact that I touched down first, and the television pictures backed me up. Wales battled on, scoring tries through their wings, Arthur Emyr and Ieuan Evans. But they never really recovered from that early second-half score, awarded by referee Patrick Robin to centre Toa Vaega.A second try from back rower Sila Vaifale and eight points from the boot of scrum-half Matthew Vaea sealed a 16-13 win for the Samoans. At one level Wales had been, as the Telegraphs John Mason wrote hellishly unlucky.But there was little of the anger which has accompanied some other contentious Wales defeats.As well as recognition of what it meant to Samoa, there was also acceptance, as the following seasons Welsh Brewers Rugby Annual for Wales would put it, that the better team won. It is hard to summon up much sense of injustice when that happens.Yet the implications for Wales, with Australia to come in their group, were stark. Argentina were beaten 16-7 to keep hope alive, but the Wallabies, en route to the trophy, ejected Wales from the tournament - and into the qualifying competition for 1995 - with crushing efficiency.That a 36-3 defeat in which Wales lost the lines-out by 28-2 could be correctly described as an improvement shows how low they had fallen a few months earlier. Samoa went on to show their defeat of Wales was no fluke.On a Pontypool afternoon so wet that it was possible to believe a tide might start coming down the slope they held the Australians to 9-3 in one of the lowest scoring World Cup matches of all time, then sealed their quarter-final place by beating Argentina 35-12 at Pontypridd.The end came in the quarter-final at Murrayfield when they ran into a tough, accomplished Scottish team on the trail of what remains to this day their best shot at reaching the final.The Scots won 28-6 and their scrum-half Gary Armstrong recalled a superb game to play in which our pack played some of the best rugby I have ever seen. Samoa were given a standing ovation by the Murrayfield crowd.Bunce did not play for them again, but Lima would still be there in 2007, four World Cups on. Fatialofa died early, suddenly and much mourned in 2013. They have qualified for every World Cup since, making the quarter-finals again in 1995 and the preliminary playoff stage in 1999, but have not made it out of their pool this century.A tipping point appears to have been in 1999 - not their second victory over Wales, but defeat, in a little-remembered World Cup classic played at Stradey Park, Llanelli, by Argentina, who had been beaten in 1991 and 1995 and trailed by 14 points at Stradey.You can blame New Zealand depredations, and in particular the betrayal of the islanders as a whole when Super Rugby was launched in 1995, or point to the ruthlessness of numbers as it affects a nation which, even if you include every Samoan living in New Zealand, is still much smaller than Fiji.And no sensible opponent ever takes Samoa lightly, which may be part of the problem - they are unlikely ever again to catch somebody unawares.But perhaps the saddest fact about that memorable victory at the National Stadium in 1991 is that, a quarter of a century on, it remains a high point rather than the prelude to greater things to come. 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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Some of Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis most enduring lessons didnt come on a football field, but rather on a tractor while growing up in Dillon, South Carolina.His parents, Robert Jr. and Becky Jane Chavis, were Cherokee sharecroppers, and Chavis -- one of 10 children in the family -- learned at an early age the importance of earning his keep and doing things the right way. The family squeezed into a small house on the landowners property before Chavis father saved enough money to buy his own home. They mostly grew tobacco, but there were also other crops to be planted out of season.I can still remember my dad saying when wed be planting whatever we were planting at that time that if one little spot was crooked, that he was going to wear my rear end out, Chavis recalled fondly. To him, it wasnt just planting the rows. They had to be straight, or it wasnt good enough.Just as important in the elder Chavis eyes was the premise that the only job that mattered was the one you were doing right then.He was a farmer and not the most educated man, but he taught me a lot, how to fish and how to hunt. The most important thing he taught me, though, was how to work, Chavis said. The best job is the one youve got, and youve got to take the right kind of pride in that job to make it that way.If youre always looking around, then youre not doing what you need to do to do your job right.In a world where coaches chase jobs the way most neighborhood dogs chase the ice cream truck, Chavis is the refreshing exception. He has been the quintessential grinder, coaching at just three schools since he returned to his alma mater, Tennessee, in 1989 as a defensive line coach.Its not like he hasnt had chances to move around, either. He has turned down job interviews for head coaching gigs as well as NFL opportunities in the past. And, had it not been for his distrust of the LSU administration and his suspicion that Les Miles would eventually be forced out, Chavis probably never would have left LSU.Coach Miles is a good man and good coach. He was never the reason I left there, Chavis said.So here he is at Texas A&M, a year and a half into one of his greatest challenges yet -- resurrecting an Aggie defense that was beaten down, beaten up and floundering near the bottom of the SEC in most defensive categories when Chavis arrived prior to the 2015 season.We always felt like we had the talent, but that something was missing, Texas A&M junior safety Armani Watts said. Coach Chavis was that missing piece, the way he came in here and made us believe. We took on his personality on defense, that were going to be the ones to set the tone.Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin had already decided a few things needed to change in Aggieland if they were going to survive in the SECs rugged Western Division. He knew bringing in Chavis, known as Chief to most around the college football world, would go a long way toward making Texas A&M a tougher, more physical football team -- and not just on defense. Plus, Sumlin had grown weary of competing against Chavis, especially seeing the way he shut down Johnny Manziel and the Aggies for two straight seasons in 2012 and 2013. During Manziels Heisman-winning 2012 season, the Tigers picked him off three times and held him to 27 rushing yards in a 24-19 LSU win.Weve always had confidence offensively, the way weve done things, Sumlin said. Our defense was something that needed to not only change schematically, but to get some confidence and some pride. What (Chavis) has brought is an attitude that really started with our defensive players, giving them a reference point, or a standard rather, of what the defense should look like, and what the expectations are defensively, and hes held them to that standard.The No. 6 Aggies face their biggest test of the season Saturday at No. 1 Alabama, which has won three straight in the series (averaging 49.6 points in those three games) since losing in the Aggies debut SEC season in 2012.There are telltale signs Chavis has Texas A&Ms defense on the right track despite the Aggies giving up 684 yards, the most in school history, two weeks ago to Tennessee in a 45-38 double-overtime win. They are tied for second nationally in forced turnovers (17), third in tackles for loss (58), fourth in red zone defense (11 touchdowns in 26 red zone attempts), 13th in sacks (20), 22nd in scoring defense (19.2 points per game) and 28th in third-down defense (.340).With its back to the goal line, Texas A&M has been excellent. The Aggies played 18 snaps of defense inside their own 10 against Arkansas and gave up just 17 points in those 18 plays. Theyve allowed just 13 touchdowns in six games, and five came against Tennessee. But even against the Vols, the Aggies came up with seven turnovers, including Watts interception in the second overtime to seal the win.Even with defenses playing more plays than ever now because of all the teams utilizing tempo on offense, Chavis admittedly is still old school. One of his more legendary qualities is his stubbornness, and hes simply not ready to change his standards.If an offense scores more than 17 points or gains more than 300 yards against one of his defenses, Chavis is still going to be ornery, even in a win.Maybe Im not living in reality, but Im not going to change, Chavis said. Offenses have changed so much and are scoring so much. Its definitely a different feel, but then you look at the film, see things you can correct and feel a little bit better abbout it.dddddddddddd I dont know if what constitutes good defense has changed or not. I just know that youre not going to win a championship unless you can stop people. Name me a team that wasnt good on defense that has won a championship. You cant.Indeed, only once since the start of the BCS era in 1998 has a team won a national championship and finished outside the top 30 nationally in scoring defense. The lone exception was Auburn in 2010. The Tigers finished 53rd that season in scoring defense, allowing an average of 24.1 points per game, but also had a guy named Cam Newton at quarterback.Perhaps the statistic that best puts into perspective what Chavis has meant to Texas A&M is how seldom it has given up 30 or more points on his watch. That was once a given in Aggieland, where winning a shootout was about the only way to win against a quality team. The Aggies yielded 30-plus points in half of their games (13 of 26) in the 2013 and 2014 seasons before Chavis arrived.But in Chavis first 19 games, it has happened only twice, and one doesnt really count because quarterback Kyle Allen threw three pick-sixes last season in a 41-23 loss to Alabama. The only other time came two weeks ago against Tennessee.We havent arrived, but were further along, Chavis said. The numbers may not be as good as last year. Im not sure, but I can tell you our players are more confident in what were doing, and they really, really want to be good. They care about each other, and theyre all buying into what were doing and the philosophy of this team.One of the assurances Chavis got from Sumlin before taking the job was that the Aggies would practice in such a way that would allow the defense to develop and keep an edge. Privately, just about all defensive coordinators curse the spread/tempo offense because of the lack of physicality in practices.?That has really bled over into what we want to do, Sumlin said. Weve changed a little bit philosophically offensively, obviously, to practice into that style and try to create a more physical football team. It started on defense. What weve tried to do across the board is continue that aggressive style and physical style, and I think its permeated throughout the football team.Whether he likes it or not, Chavis $1.6 million annual salary makes him a rock star among defensive coordinators. Of course, that doesnt mean Chavis has to act the part. Hes not big on publicity and has never been one of those coordinators constantly angling for a head coaching job.I guess I always cared more about winning than I did about being a head coach, Chavis said.When he was at Tennessee, he interviewed for the Middle Tennessee State head coaching job and turned down an opportunity to interview for the Army head job. He also briefly took a job on Dom Capers staff with the NFLs Houston Texans but changed his mind the next day. During his time at Tennessee and LSU, he had inquiries from everybody from Georgia to South Carolina to Texas about their open defensive coordinator positions. And when Miles hired Chavis prior to the 2009 season at LSU, the Mad Hatter had to beat Dabo Swinney and Clemson to the punch.When you start talking about the two best defensive coordinators in college football over the last 20 years, there are only two names -- Bud Foster and John Chavis, said Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who grew up with Chavis and also played football with him at Tennessee. Sometimes guys are hot for a while and then sort of fizzle out, but not Chief. His consistency is remarkable, and its why so many of the top programs have come after him.The scars from being ousted at his alma mater when Phillip?Fulmer and his staff were fired following the 2008 season are still there, but it doesnt define his tenure in Knoxville.It took a little while to get over that. It really did, said Chavis, whose defense that final season at Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 3 nationally. But if you dont heal, then youre going to die. The memories I have at Tennessee arent defined by what happened that last season by any stretch of the imagination. We accomplished a lot of things, and a lot of young men who came through that program are young men I still love and care about.But with eight years to look back on it, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was never going to leave Tennessee and had gotten too comfortable there.Chavis, who turned 60 earlier this month, is bearing down on his 40th year in coaching. Hes plenty comfortable in College Station, and any time the subject of how much longer he wants to coach is brought up, Chavis references something one of his favorite players once shared with him.Al Wilson, the heart and soul of the Vols 1998 national championship team, said, Chief, youll never know what you did for me. I never thought I could be that good. You made me believe that I could be that good, Chavis recalled.Wilson went on to become a Pro Bowl linebacker with the Denver Broncos, and his words have stuck with Chavis.Its the best compliment Ive ever had, Chavis said. It was humbling to hear him say that and to know that you had that kind of influence on a young man. As long as I can keep having that same kind of influence on the young men here at Texas A&M, Ill keep doing what Im doing.And rest assured that hell do it his way, the right way, and that all of the rows will be straight. ' ' '