Pacific Island rugby - Trouble in Paradise

[rowan]

I was crestfallen when Samoa missed out on qualifying for the Olympics after a few dodgy calls from the ref in their repechage final with Spain. The Spanish won't even know their team is competing, whereas for the Samoans it would have been a much-needed shot in the arm as its national XVs team struggles to recapture its former glory days. It may be a small island, but it is one of the major production lines for rugby stars on the club and international stage. We neglect them at our peril. This article says it all:

It could be one of the feel-good stories of Rio 2016 -- a tiny island nation triumphs on the world's biggest sporting stage to win its first Olympic medal.
Fiji is favorite to claim gold in the men's rugby sevens tournament, which starts Tuesday, having overcome financial problems and the loss of leading players to win back-to-back world titles.
Such a result would, according to Brett Gosper, the head of World Rugby, be "the fairytale result -- a story that transcends the sport."
But not everything is rosy with rugby in the Pacific Islands. Neither Samoa, a one-time powerhouse of the sevens format, nor Tonga have qualified teams for Rio.
And the three rugby-proud nations are losing top talent to an increasing number of tier-one teams -- an age-old problem -- with many stories of players then being blocked from playing for their countries by their club employers.
The body representing the players has heard stories of players being left stranded without visas in their new countries, or else left with sizable tax bills, unaware of the contracts they had signed.


Continues here: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/09/sport ... index.html

[rowan]

In fact, what that article doesn't mention is that Samoa's PM basically runs the rugby union as well and doesn't appear to be very good at it...

[rowan]

Alama names his squad:

The TEAM

*Indicates Manu Samoa debutants

Props:

1. Sakaria Taulafo - Stade Francais (FRANCE)

2. Census Johnston - Toulouse (FRANCE)

3. Logovii Mulipola - Leicester (UK)

4. Anthony Perenise - Bristol (UK)

5. Nephi Leatigaga* - Samoa A (SAMOA)

6. Yoshishisa Sasagi* - Hurricanes (NZ)

Hookers:

7. Maatulimanu Leiataua - Bayonne (FRANCE)

8. Wayne Ole Avei - Bordeaux (FRANCE)

9. Elia Elia - Canterbury (NZ)

Locks:

10. Teofilo Paulo - Treviso (ITALY)

11. Faatiga Lemalu - Sunwolves (JAPAN)

12. Piula Faasalele - Toulouse (FRANCE)

13. Chris Vui* - North Harbour (NZ)

Loose Forwards:

14. Jack Lam - Bristol (UK)

15. Alafoti Faosiliva - Worcester (UK)

16. Gregory Foe - Wellington (NZ)

17. Oneone Faafou - Samoa A (SAMOA)

18. Genesis Mamea* - Perpignan (FRANCE)

Halfbacks:

19. Kahn Fotualii - Bath (UK)

20. Pelefofoga Cowley - Waikato (NZ)

21. Danny Tusitala - Samoa A (SAMOA)

Flyhalf:

22. D'Angelo Leuila - Southland (NZ)

23. Patrick Faapale - Samoa A (SAMOA)

Midfielders:

24. Reynold Lee-­Lo - Cardiff Blues (WALES)

25. Paul Williams - Stade Francais (FRANCE)

26. George Pisi - Northampton Saints (UK)

27. Winston Stanley - Halequins (UK)

28. Opetera Peleseuma* - Samoa A (SAMOA)

Outside Backs:

29. David Lemi - Bristol (UK)

30. Ken Pisi - Northampton (UK)

31. Ahsee Tuala - Northampton (UK)

32. Paul Perez - Toulouse (FRANCE)

33. Albert Nikoro - Western Force (AUSTRALIA)

Management Team:

1. Head Coach: Namulauulu Alama Ieremia (SRU, SAMOA)

2. Manager: Ramsey Tomokino (SRU, SAMOA)

3. Forwards Coach: Richard Watt (Hurricanes, NZ)

4. Scrum Coach: Daniel Cron (Hurricanes, NZ)

5. Defence Coach: Semo Sititi (Counties, NZ)

6. Video Analysis: Junior Narayan (SRU, SAMOA)

7. Trainer S&C: Tim Rogers (SRU, SAMOA)

8. Physio: Grant Ashton (SRU, SAMOA)

Players unavailable due to injury:

• Paul Alo­‐Emile (Stade Francais, FRANCE)

• Sam Aiono (Counties, NZ)

• Motu Matuu (Gloucester, UK)

• TJ Ioane (Sale, UK)

• Vavae Tuilagi (Carcassonne, FRANCE)

• Tusi Pisi (Bristol, UK)

• Alapati Leiua (Wasps, UK)

• Faatoina Autagavaia (Nevers, FRANCE)

Players declaring their unavailability:

• Tim Nanai-‐Williams (Ricoh, JAPAN)

• Faifili Levave (Mitsubishi, JAPAN)

http://sobserver.ws/en/18_10_2016/sport ... -named.htm

[rowan]

"Forwards Coach: Richard Watt (Hurricanes, NZ) "

OMG, that's not Richard Watt the former rubbish collector who played eight games for Wellington over a period of eight years, is it? I met him once - and that was enough....

[zer0]

Off the top of my head they've got 9/10 players born in New Zealand. The filthy poachers. I eagerly await Fuimaono-Sapolu's Twitter-delivered outrage at this blatant plundering of Pacific Island talent.

[morepork]

No taro for Zero tonight.