Rugby union in Samoa
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Rugby union in Samoa is the country's most popular sport. The national teams in both the standard 15-man game and rugby sevens are consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations.


Governing body

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
is governed by
Lakapi Samoa Rugby Samoa ( sm, Lakapi Samoa) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. Founded as the ''Apia Rugby Union'' in 1924, it was affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year.Jones, p10 It joined the Internationa ...
who are also members of the
Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was set up in 2002 as a basis of co-operation between the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Rugby Unions. Niue and the Cook Islands also became members of the Alliance and supplied players to the Pacific Islanders ...
. Samoa were awarded 'second tier' status by the
International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international ru ...
which entitles them to funding from the IRB. Lakapi Samoa was founded in 1924, as the "Apia Rugby Union", and affiliated to the NZRFU in the same year.Jones, p10 As the Western Samoa Rugby Football Union, it joined the IRB in 1988.Bath p78 When Western Samoa amended its constitution to change the country's name from ''Western Samoa'' to ''Samoa'', the union also changed its name, and dropped the word football to become the ''Samoa Rugby Union''. The union is also a member of the
Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions Oceania Rugby, previously known as the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU), is the regional governing body for rugby union in Oceania. It was founded in 2000 to represent the interests of Oceania rugby within World Rugby, the international go ...
(FORU).


History

The
Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...
brought the game to Samoa in 1920 and The Apia Rugby Union was formed in 1924. On August 18, 1924
Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
played its first international against Fiji in the capital
Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...
, the visitors winning 6-0. The
Pacific Tri-Nations The Pacific Tri-Nations was the traditional rugby union series between Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. It was established in 1982 with the Samoan team, then known as Western Samoa, winning the tournament. In 2006 it was replaced by the IRB Pacific 5 Nation ...
series between Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa was established in 1982. The Western Samoa Rugby Football Union joined the
International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international ru ...
in 1988. Western Samoa played in the World Cup for the first time in 1991. The
Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was set up in 2002 as a basis of co-operation between the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Rugby Unions. Niue and the Cook Islands also became members of the Alliance and supplied players to the Pacific Islanders ...
(PIRA) was set up in 2002 as a basis of co-operation between the
Fiji Rugby Union Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are a ...
,
Samoa Rugby Union Rugby Samoa ( sm, Lakapi Samoa) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. Founded as the ''Apia Rugby Union'' in 1924, it was affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year.Jones, p10 It joined the Internationa ...
and
Tonga Rugby Football Union The Tonga Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Tonga. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. There is a rugby union playing population of fewer than 800 out of a total p ...
. In 2006, the Pacific Tri-Nations was replaced by the IRB Pacific 5 Nations which was then renamed the
Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First hel ...
. The IRB
Pacific Rugby Cup The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams (formed from the best locally based players, with most not alr ...
started in 2006 with Upolu Samoa and
Savaii Samoa Savaii Samoa is a former Samoa rugby union representative team that played in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Samoan team in the Cup was Upolu Samoa. Savaii Samoa and Upolu Samoa were selected from tournaments that took place in ...
representing Samoa. Rugby was first introduced into Samoa around the turn of the 20th century, when it was still a German colony. It is believed that the first people to introduce it there were missionaries from New Zealand. For many years, Western Samoa's international contact was confined to the other South Sea islands of
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
and
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
. This is partly because of the isolation of the islands. Their first international was against
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, in 1924, and featured a palm tree in the middle of the pitch. There was also a large amount of contact with New Zealand, where many Samoans would migrate to in the 20th century. Samoa first came to major international attention in 1986, when they toured
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. Their test against the Welsh national side produced a result of 32-14. This was also seen as a major turning point as previously there had been a debate as to whether to have an international team at all, as many players had traditionally defected to New Zealand. Samoa rugby's relationship with New Zealand rugby has been a mixed blessing. On the one hand it has allowed Samoa to recruit amongst the massive pool of first and second generation Samoan migrants in New Zealand, but conversely it also meant that for many Samoans, their highest ambition was to win a cap in the
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...
. Notable Samoan-New Zealander players include Michael Jones and
Peter Schuster Peter K. Schuster (born 7 March 1941) is a theoretical chemist known for his work with the German Nobel Laureate Manfred Eigen in developing the quasispecies model. His work has made great strides in the understanding of viruses and their replica ...
. Controversially Samoa was ''not'' invited to the first
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
- although Tonga and Fiji were. This led to a massive campaign to build up a side good enough to qualify for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. They selected Bryan Williams, who had been a winger for the
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...
to be their coach, and using a mixture of home grown backs such as
Brian Lima Brian Pala Lima '' OM'' (born 25 January 1972) is a Samoan former rugby union player who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. He earned the nickname of "The Chiropractor" for his shuddering hits both on and off the pitch that supposedl ...
and
Mathew Vaea Tuala Mathew M. Vaea (born 12 September 1966 in Motootua) is a Samoan rugby union retired player who played as a scrum-half. He was the manager of the Manu Samoa at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Playing career His international debut was during a te ...
, and no nonsense New Zealand based forwards such as
Mark Birtwistle Mark Leslie Birtwistle (born 17 October 1962, in Auckland) is a New Zealand-born Samoan former rugby union footballer. He played as lock. Career He debuted in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, in the match against Wales at Cardiff, on 6 October 1991. His ...
,
Pat Lam Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby. Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 ...
Mat Keenan Mata'afa George Keenan (born Rarotonga, 26 October 1960) is a Cook Islands-born Samoan former rugby union player. He played as a lock. Career Keenan debuted in the 1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the R ...
, and
Peter Fatialofa Papali'itele Peter Momoe Fatialofa ( Samoan: ''Pita Fatialofa'') (26 April 1959 – 6 November 2013) was a Samoan rugby player who captained Samoa in their first Rugby World Cup appearance in 1991. He was among the first of the New Zealand-based ...
, he wielded a disparate group of talented individuals into a side which quickly came to dominate Fiji and Tonga and gain access to the world cup. Samoa's performance at the 1991 Rugby World Cup was superb, and proved that they were an international force to be reckoned with. After beating Wales in the first game in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, they beat
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. In a nail bitingly close finish, they were beaten 9-3 by
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, who would later win the tournament. However, they were beaten 28-6 by
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.


Popularity

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
is the most popular sport in Samoa, with 12 provincial unions made up of around 120 clubs and nearly 5,000 senior and twice as many junior players in a country with a population of just under 175,000 people. Prominent Samoan players include
Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu (born 31 October 1980 in Apia, Samoa) is a Samoan former rugby union footballer. He played at centre. During his career, he received considerably media attention for his constant criticism of the rugby establishment at wha ...
Alesana Tuilagi
Freddie Tuilagi Fereti Tuilagi (born 9 June 1971) is a Samoan former professional rugby footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. After playing rugby union at international level, he turned professional and played rugby league for English clubs Halifax Blue Sox and ...
,
Apollo Perelini Apollo Perelini (born 16 July 1969) is a former dual-code international rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and has coached in the 2000s and 2010s. He played representative rugby union (RU) for New Zeal ...
,
Lome Fa'atau Lome Fa'atau (born 23 October 1975 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a rugby union player. The speedy winger is recognisable by his traditional Samoan tattoo (pe'a). Before his rugby career took off, he attended St. Patrick's College in Wellington, ...
, Lolani Koko,
Pat Lam Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby. Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 ...
,
Brian Lima Brian Pala Lima '' OM'' (born 25 January 1972) is a Samoan former rugby union player who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. He earned the nickname of "The Chiropractor" for his shuddering hits both on and off the pitch that supposedl ...
, current sevens captain
Lolo Lui Lolo Lui (born 4 January 1982) is a Samoan rugby union player. He captained the Samoa Sevens team which won the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series. Lui was born and raised in Moata'a, the same village as former All Blacks star Michael Jones and ...
, and two winners of the IRB International Sevens Player of the Year Award in
Uale Mai Uale Mai Vala (born 20 July 1978) is a retired rugby union player who played for the country's national teams, Manu Samoa and Samoa Sevens. He is a former captain of the Samoa Sevens team which represent Samoa internationally in the IRB Sevens Wo ...
and
Mikaele Pesamino Mikaele Pesamino (born 2 April 1984) is a rugby union player in the Samoa Sevens team. He was the highest point scorer in the 2009–2010 IRB Sevens World Series helping his country in securing their first World Series crown and was awarded th ...
. 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.


Competitions


National Provincial Championship

This is the second highest level of domestic competition within Samoan rugby union and is a stepping stone for local players into international rugby. Teams play within their respective unions, and then the top teams from each union then contest the finals series held at Apia Park. The Apia West and Apia union teams usually dominate.


Pacific Rugby Cup

The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup started in 2006 and involves representative teams from the three Pacific rugby unions, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Samoa, along with Tonga and Fiji, have two sides in the tournament,
Savaii Samoa Savaii Samoa is a former Samoa rugby union representative team that played in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Samoan team in the Cup was Upolu Samoa. Savaii Samoa and Upolu Samoa were selected from tournaments that took place in ...
and Upolu Samoa. The aim of the tournament is to improve the quality of rugby in the Pacific Islands.


Representative teams


National

The national team known as
Manu Samoa The Samoa national rugby union team (also known as Manu Samoa) represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samo ...
have competed at every
Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...
since 1991, and have made the quarter finals in 1991,
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
and 1999. Samoa also play in the
Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First hel ...
and the
Pacific Tri-Nations The Pacific Tri-Nations was the traditional rugby union series between Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. It was established in 1982 with the Samoan team, then known as Western Samoa, winning the tournament. In 2006 it was replaced by the IRB Pacific 5 Nation ...
. The sport is governed by
Lakapi Samoa Rugby Samoa ( sm, Lakapi Samoa) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. Founded as the ''Apia Rugby Union'' in 1924, it was affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year.Jones, p10 It joined the Internationa ...
, were members of the
Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was set up in 2002 as a basis of co-operation between the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Rugby Unions. Niue and the Cook Islands also became members of the Alliance and supplied players to the Pacific Islanders ...
, and thus, also contributed to the international
Pacific Islanders rugby union team The Pacific Islanders was a combined international rugby union team that played from 2004 to 2008. It represented Fiji, Samoa and Tonga; Niue and the Cook Islands also supplied players to the squad for their tour in 2004. The team did not play at R ...
.


Pacific Tri-Nations

The Pacific Tri-Nations is the series between
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
,
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
and
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
. It has been played since 1982. It was replaced by the Pacific Nations Cup.


Pacific Nations Cup

The Pacific Nations Cup is a competition most often held between six Pacific rim sides;
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
,
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
, Canada, and the United States. The inaugural competition in 2006, known as the IRB Pacific 5 Nations, featured New Zealand's "A" side, the
Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...
. In 2007, Australia A joined the original IRB Pacific 5 Nations teams in the new IRB Pacific Nations Cup. The 2008 competition saw the Junior All Blacks replaced by the New Zealand Māori, a developmental side made up entirely of players from the country's indigenous
Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...
. In 2009, Australia A did not play and the Junior All Blacks returned. The 2010 competition had no participation from Australia or New Zealand, and was won by Manu Samoa.


National (sevens)

The Samoa national rugby sevens team is one of the 15 "core teams" that compete in every event in the annual
World Rugby Sevens Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...
. Long a solidly competitive side, Samoa Sevens burst into prominence in 2006–07, when they ran traditional favourites
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
very close for the title. They cemented their status as one of the world's sevens powers by winning the 2009–10 season title.


Samoa rules

Samoa rules Samoa rules is a game derived from Australian rules football and rugby union that is occasionally played in Samoa. Rules Generally the rules are taken from Australian rules, but each team consists of 15 players, like rugby union. Unlike Austral ...
is a traditional sport derived from
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
and
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
that is occasionally played in Samoa. It generally uses rugby pitches, H posts and 15-a-side teams, but is played to Australian rules otherwise.


See also

* Sport in Samoa *
Culture of Samoa The traditional culture of Samoa is a communal way of life based on Fa'a Samoa, the unique socio-political culture. In Samoan culture, most activities are done together. The traditional living quarters, or '' fale'' (houses), contain no walls and ...
* American Samoa national rugby union team * Rugby union in American Samoa


References

* * *


External links


Official website of Manu SamoaSamoan rugby union news from Planet RugbyThe information website for supporters of the Manu Samoa Rugby TeamSamoa Observer sports pages
{{Rugby union in Oceania