Samoa national rugby union team
| Samoa | |
|---|---|
| Union | Samoa Rugby Football Union |
| First International Samoa 0 - 6 Fiji (18 August, 1924) | |
| Largest win South Korea 3 - 74 Samoa (1993) | |
| Worst defeat Australia 73 -3 Samoa (1994) | |
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 4 (First in 1991) |
| Best result | Quarter Finals, 1991, 1995, 1999 |
The national rugby union team of Samoa is called Manu Samoa (the name of a famous Samoan chief some 10 generations ago). They perform a traditional Samoan dance called the siva tau before each game.
They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga.
Rugby union, as in the other Pacific Islands, is a way of life for Samoans with 12 provincial unions made up of around 120 clubs and boasting nearly 5,000 senior and twice as many junior players in a country with a population of just under 175,000 people.
For such a small nation, Samoa has produced an amazing number of top-class players who have gone on to find fame in both rugby union and rugby league including Brian Lima, Freddie Tuilagi, Apollo Perelini, Pat Lam and Stephen Bachop.
In fact, the huge numbers of players playing professionally abroad can work to Samoa's disadvantage when it comes to team training as it is difficult to get them all together as a squad. But Samoa still manage to remain competitive on the world-stage and are regarded as tough opponents.
They have recently been bankrolled by millionaire Sir Michael Fay, one of New Zealand's wealthiest men.
History
The Marist Brothers brought the game to Western Samoa in 1920 and The Western Samoa Rugby Football Union was formed in 1924.
On August 18, 1924 Western Samoa played its first international against Fiji in the capital Apia, the visitors winning 6-0. The match was played at 7am to allow the Samoans time to get to work afterwards and was played on a pitch with a large tree on the halfway line. The return match was won 9-3 by Samoa to draw the series.
In 1954 Western Samoan visited both Pacific Island neighbours Fiji and Tonga but waited a further 20 years before a tour of New Zealand took place. The Samoans won one of eight matches on that tour.
The traditional tri-series between Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa was established in 1982 with Western Samoa wining the first tournament. Wales visited Western Samoa and won the test 32-16 at Apia. The tour led to a return visit to Wales which brought Western Samoa out of International limbo, although Western Samoa were not invited to the first Rugby World Cup in 1987.
The following year a 14-match tour of Europe took place before a World Cup elimination series in Tokyo, which gave Western Samoa a place in the 1991 Rugby World Cup in Britain. They made a huge impact. After sweeping aside Wales 16-13 in Cardiff and Argentina and narrowly losing 3-9 to eventual champions Australia in their pool match, Western Samoa, a country with a population of 160,000, found itself in the quarterfinals against Scotland at Murrayfield. The Scots, however won comfortably, 28-6, but the Samoans were clearly the personality team of the tournament.
Over the next two years the side had a number of notable wins. The most outstanding achievement were in Sevens where it won the 1993 Hong Kong and 1992 Middlesex Sevens.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa proved that the team belonged in top company. They again reached the quarterfinals after wins over Argentina and Italy, but were beaten 42-14 by the eventual winners South Africa. After the Cup, Manu Samoa made a 13-match tour of England and Scotland, drawing 15-15 with the Scots and going down 9-27 to England.
With the advent of professional rugby in 1995 it was vital for Manu Samoa to developed a new administrative structure. This was made possible with Fay Richwhite and the Western Samoan Rugby Union joining forces to form Manu Samoa Rugby Limited, which now manages business for the team.
Samoa emerged from the 1999 Rugby World Cup with honour intact after another shock 38-31 victory over host nation Wales in the pool stages. They again lost out to Scotland in the quarter final play-off.
Manu Samoa qualified for the 2003 Rugby World Cup with a 17-16 defeat by Fiji, Earl Va’a missing an injury-time penalty. They recovered to beat Tonga both home and away and avenged that Fijian defeat with a 22-12 win in Nadi. They ultimately had to settle for second place in the round robin, behind Fiji on points difference, and a place in the tougher of the two Rugby World Cup 2003 pools alongside automatic qualifiers England and South Africa. In one of the games of the tournament they led eventual champions England for most of the game before losing 22-35.
The New Zealand Connection
Western Samoa's triumph in the 1991 Rugby World Cup was inspired by their coach Bryan Williams who had been the first Samoan-born player to transfer his allegiance to the All Blacks. Since Williams many Samoans have pursued their Rugby careers in New Zealand provincial rugby and the best of these have been snapped up by the All Blacks. In recent times New Zealanders of Samoan descent have been key members of the All Blacks squad, including the New Zealand captain Tana Umaga. In some Test matches on their 2005 Grand Slam tour of the Home nations New Zealand fielded a side packed with Samoan players (9 in the international versus Scotland). This haemorrhaging of talent has restricted the development of the Manu Samoa side, but under their new coach, the All Blacks legend Michael Niko Jones (himself of Samoan descent and a Samoan international) they are working hard to create a side that will compete effectively in the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup.
Famous players
- Pat Lam
- Trevor Leota
- Brian Lima
- Apollo Perelini
- Semo Sititi
- Va'aiga Tuigamala
- Freddie Tuilagi
- Earl Va'a