The Ireland coach Steve O'Neill was thinking positively after a bruising victory in the Belfast rain at Windsor Park got his side's campaign off to a winning start on Saturday afternoon.

O'Neill vowed better was still to come despite his side's impressive second-half performance that saw them comfortably extend their slender 12-10 half-time lead.

"There was a great improvement from the first half," said the coach who, like most of his team, was not born in Ireland. "I feel they are starting to gel.

"It just took the first 40 minutes to blow the cobwebs away and the match was over quite quickly in the second-half." Just over 3,200 people braved the wet and windy weather to sample rugby league, a sport still at a `developmental' stage in Ireland.

But even though the small crowd looked a little lost in the 14,500 capacity stadium, the Ireland players appreciated the support.

"You could tell that they knew the sport and weren't just here to watch but to take part," said prop forward Barrie McDermott.

O'Neill and his fellow coach Andy Kelly are now confident Ireland will secure the victory against Scotland in Dublin on Wednesday that would guarantee them a quarter-final place. Should they win the group outright, there is the prospect of an encounter with England to look forward to.

Having scored one of three second-half tries for the hosts, Cork-born Wigan Warriors winger Brian Carney, the only Irish born player to make the team for the opening game, said: "We will go into the Scotland match with a lot of confidence after this win, it will be a lot more like a Super League game because both teams are mostly made up of Super League players."

Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Joynt, Ricketson, Eager, Carney, Prescott. Goals: Prescott 5. Samoa: Tries: Leauma, Milford, Bethman. Goals: Geros 2.

IRELAND: Prescott (Hull), Carney (Wigan), Martyn (St Helens), Eager (Castleford), Forster (Warrington), Withers (Bradford), Sheridan (Leeds); O'Connor (Wigan), Williams (Melbourne S), McDermott (Leeds), Joynt (St Helens), Campion (Brisbane B), Ricketson (Sydney C). Subs: Brethertton (Leigh Cent.), Lawless (Hud/Shef), Barnhill (Leeds), Southern (Salford C).

SAMOA: Milford (Balmain), Leauma (Penrith), A Swann (Canberra), Galuvao (Auckland), Meli, Geros (Burleigh), W Swann (Hunslet); Puletua (Penrith), Btham (Auckland), Seu Seu (Auckland), Solomona (Sydney), Pettersen (Penrith) Poching (Wakefield). Subs: Tatupu (Wakefield Trin), Kalolo (Auckland), Leafa (Bulldogs), Faafili (Auckland).

Referee: T Mander (Australia).