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by Falaniko Vitolio
"Congratulations to Samoa on their win which will guarantee them qualification in Rugby World Cup 2007," declared International Rugby Board representative, Tim Harland of Australia who watched the 2007 World Cup qualifying match between Samoa and Fiji which the host country won convincingly, 36-10 at Apia Park last weekend before more than 14,000 spectators.
Harland told the audience at the after match function at the Maota o Samoa in Vaitele which was attended by team Fiji, Manu Samoa, officials from the IRB who conducted the game between the two teams, president of the Samoa Rugby Union, deputy head of state, Tupua Tamasese Taisi, government ministers and fans from American Samoa and Samoa that he thoroughly enjoyed the game "that was played in traditional Island spirit in both style and friendliness."
"It would be difficult to imagine a more exciting game in a more picturesque setting. From the IRB point of view, it cannot be stressed enough how important it is that rugby remains strong and resilient in the Pacific.
"To that end it is relevant that officials like myself attend these matches as independent observers and can send back strong messages to the IRB in support of more appropriate funding to improve development of rugby in this region." IRB representative Harland concluded.
In reaching this milestone for the 2007 World Cup, Manu Samoa destroyed Fiji's front eight and stopped its fast backline from running freely with terrific defense. Samoan coach La'auli Michael Jones said their extensive preparations have paid off and he gave full credits to the Manu Samoa players.
"This was ruthless style of physical game we played against Fiji. We did not give the Fijians time to be potent. This was the real test of character and the boys came through with flying colors. We're very proud of them and their performance.
"This team belongs to the people and I hope they are proud of the Samoan players who showed their true hearts and potential today."
Manu Samoa's motto after the Tongan match that Samoa won, 50-28 two weeks ago was "we're happy with the win but we're never satisfied." That was their attitude in their camp as they prepared for Fiji last week. After the victory against the visiting Fijians, this correspondent asked La'auli if he was satisfied.
He replied with a smile, "You're never satisfied. Our boys stepped up their play and we had every confidence in them."
Assistant coach, former Manu Samoa fullback, Tole'afoa Anitele'a Aiolupo said after the match that he was pleased with the Manu Samoa performance.
"We worked hard the whole week in perfecting our defense and offense and it was satisfying from a coach's perspective when all the pieces fit and clicked. Our performance was excellent. It brought back flashes of our Manu Samoa days when Fats and I were playing. It touches my heart to see our players put on such a courageous display of talents in front of our people."
Captain Semo Sititi echoed the spiritual words of Arch Bishop Alapati Mata'iliga, the head of the Catholic Church in Samoa and Tokelau when he celebrated mass for Manu Samoa last week.
"I recalled the homily given by Arch Bishop Mata'iliga when he referred to us as the salt and the beam of light for Samoa as we faced Fiji in today's game. His sermon was moving and it touched all of our hearts. It renewed our faith and I believe the Holy Spirit was with us during our hard fought match with our Fijian friends."
Coach La'auli, a devout Christian also spoke highly of the Arch Bishop's eloquent speaking role and joked that the head of the Catholic Church may have succeeded in converting him to Catholicism.
La'auli and Sititi thanked the Arch Bishop for the Catholic headquarters in Le'auva'a village called the Tofamamao they have been using as their camp and training center since they arrived from New Zealand three weeks ago.
Sititi said his team deserved to win as they had prepared well for the match against Fiji.
"We worked on our defense all week long and it paid off."
Fiji captain, Jacob Rauluni also praised Manu Samoa for their victory and said Samoa deserved to be proud of its team.
"The game was extremely tough and I'd like to congratulate Manu Samoa for a well deserved victory. We're going to go back and work on some things that we failed to execute," Fiji skipper told the gathering at Maota o Samoa.
The visiting team manager, Simon Poll said that they were worried when Samoa scored 50 points against the Tongans two weeks ago.
"We just got our wings clipped today and I give full credit to Samoa for their fine victory."
Fiji coach, Wayne Pivac showed disappointment at the lackadaisical attitude shown by his players. He promised that he would be harsh and authoritarian in his manner during practice as he prepares his Fijian team for the match against Tonga this Friday, Samoan time in Nuku'alofa.
Veteran Fijian fly half, Nick Little showed his dismay at his team's performance, which lacked the usual Fiji flair the players showed every time they played against Manu Samoa.
From the first kick off when Australian IRB referee Mat Goddard whistled the game between Fiji and Samoa to begin, Little fumbled Samoan goal kicker, Roger Warren's kick off and Fiji never really recovered from that.
"Pressure, pressure, pressure and attack them in their face" were the key words Manu Samoa imbedded in their heads as they faced the gigantic Fijians last week. Despite the Fijians huge advantage in weight and height, Manu Samoa squeezed the life out of their dangerous opponents as time and time the visitors fumbled, lost concentration, lacked any combination and were pushed, driven, and brought down hard with ferocious tackling by the young Samoan team.
"It was frustrating. Our team did not have any urgency. Samoa took its chances and won. Manu Samoa played extremely well. They tackled hard and played with purpose. They were quick to loose balls and scrummed well," Little told this correspondent at Apia Park last Saturday just before he boarded the team bus that took them to their hotel, Kitano Tusitala in Sogi, Apia.
Goal kicker Warren, who opposed Little as both wore #10 for their respective teams out kicked the Fijian in their dual. Warren scored 21 personal points from four penalty goals, one dropped goal, and three try conversions while Little had five points from one touchdown conversion and one penalty goal.
Warren was on target the whole game. He missed just one penalty goal (out of nine attempts) as the ball hit the uprights and bounced forward . He kicked from everywhere and gained his team valuable real estate and good field position. Working under pressure from the charging Fijians at about 25 meters from the goal posts, he called for the ball from a maul and neatly drop kicked it for three points. Two weeks ago against Tonga, Warren scored 20 points from his goal kicking. He was named the most valuable player( MVP) of last week's game against the Fijians.
Winger, Alesana Tuilagi was overwhelming in his performance. He scored a brilliant try in the 22nd minute of the game when he received a pass from Terry Fanolua 40 meters from the end zone. The Samoan passing movement moved from Warren to Anitele'a Tuilagi who volleyed the ball to Fanolua as his counterpart, Fijian center, Epeli Ruvadra charged the younger Tuilagi. Fanolua threw a pass at the older Tuilagi and he started his show.
Alesana Tuilagi, took off from there and trying to halt his powerful strides toward the end zone were Little and fullback, Norman Ligairi. The two Fijians could not stop Tuilagi as he smashed head on against them and they went sprawling while Tuilagi rocked on to the end zone for Samoa's first of three tries. Warren, who scored Samoa's first nine points from penalty goals converted to put Samoa ahead 16-0.
Fiji's Little kicked a penalty goal in the 29th minute for his team's first points on the scoreboard. That followed immediately thereafter with a well executed try by Fiji's backline that took fullback, Norman Ligairi over the try line. Little converted but just before halftime, Warren goaled his fourth penalty of the match for Samoa's halftime lead, 19-10.
When the game resumed for the next 40 minutes, Samoa looked focus, poised and ready to strike at the heart of the Fiji defense. Coach Toleafoa explained that Manu Samoa had a big talk in the locker room as they mapped out their strategy in the second half.
"We spoke about attacking the heart of the Fiji defense and not giving away possession. Our goal was to starve them of ball possession, and be quick on the loose ball and not give room for the Fijians to move around as they were quick and smart in their open play."
The Fijians had no room to spin their open play they are famous for as the Samoans closed the gap fast and in a furious way when play resumed in the second half. They tackled in pairs as the Fijians were big and tall. Hard tackler, Pala Brian Lima led the onslaught as he put fear in the eyes of the opposition whenever he connected with a bone crushing hit.
The forwards torpedoed their bodies into the Fijians and gained valuable space to set up play. Manu Samoa made sure that once a Fijian player was down, they plugged every access for the ball not to be let out. In that way they forced the ball carrier to protect the ball and thus get penalized for not releasing it.
One such move in the second half when the Samoans trapped a Fijian with the ball underneath a sea of bodies, referee Goddard whistled a penalty for Samoa about 30 meters from the uprights. As some Fijians turned their backs toward Warren who had walked lazily to the mark pretending to place the ball on the platform for his expected kick to goal for what appeared to be an easy three-point conversion, he suddenly sent a long pass to his captain, Sititi who was yelling for it.
By the time the Fijians realized what had happened, Sititi had crossed the end zone for Samoa's second try.
"That was well disguised. The Fijians were stunned. They never expected that a three-point opportunity in front of the goal posts would turn into a seven-point play. That was very smart on the part of Semo and Roger and the Manu Samoa team," Fuiono Felise Vito remarked.
Fuiono was a former Samoa halfback for over 10 years. When he retired from international rugby, he became the first international Samoan referee who officiated at two World Cups, in 1991 in England and in 1995 in South Africa. He has retired from refereeing after a two year IRB appointment in a referee board that oversees the appointment of IRB officials that control international test matches around the world.
On the 44th minute, star winger, Alesana Tuilagi and well-known Fijian winger, Vilimone Delasau exchanged punches. The Fijian was knocked out. Both were cited for fighting and were sent off the field for a 10 minute suspension called the sinbin. Tuilagi returned for Samoa after serving his fa'asalaga while Delasau, one of the fastest wingers in world rugby was sent to the hospital to see an eye specialist. According to his coach, Pivac, he is out for the rest of Fiji's 2007 World Cup campaign and the tri-nation tournament between the three countries .
The final nail that was hammered into the heart of the opposition came in extra time, the 82nd minute when Samoa scored a try at the corner from a quick lineout throw. Bench player, Loleni Tafuna'i was pushed over the try line by the forwards and buried in a wave of blue jerseys that piled on top of him.
The failure by the Fijians to score a single point in the second half marked the first time that they had been shut out like this in matches involving Samoa and Fiji. Fiji had 10 points in the first half and never scored for the last 45 minutes of the second half.
Samoa's defense reflects the type of game plan Samoa's coach, the famous La'auli Michael Jones and his coaching assistants, Papali'i Peter Fatialofa, and Tole'afoa Anitele'a Aiolupo are trying to instill into the Manu Samoa with an eye toward the 2007 World Cup competition in France.
"We're rebuilding Manu Samoa and scouting for the best players that will represent Samoa to the World Cup games in 2007. We have had success with many of our local and overseas players and we're still watching others closely especially at the grassroot level. That's why I said, we're never satisfied but we can build our success," coach La'auli stressed.
Fiji left on Monday for Nuku'alofa and will play Tonga on Friday, Samoan time. First Five, Little hopes the Tongans will not give them a hard and tough time in the field as the Samoans did last week.
"I wish for our Tongan brothers to give us an easier time," he said with a giggle at Apia Park.
A large tapua'iga from American Samoa were there at Apia Park to cheer for the Manu Samoa. John Asalemo of Lepua and Kerisiano Tamaseu of Aoloau were impressed with the Manu Samoa performance.
They were a part of a large group of Vailima Beer raffle winners who were sponsored by Vailima Beer and GHC Reid to attend the game, stayed at the Inselfehmarn Hotel in Tanugamanono, and flew there by way of Polynesian Airlines.
"This was my first time to see Manu Samoa in action," said Tamaseu. "I only listened to the radio and read about their achievements in the newspaper but seeing them in play for the first time was something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. And I thank Vailima Beer and GHC Reid for this golden opportunity to watch Manu Samoa. I hope I can win another Vailima Beer raffle so I can see Samoa's team play in the future. This was a memorable trip."
Manu Samoa are now in the big island of Savai'i to hold practice sessions in elementary and secondary schools there. They will also visit villages to thank their many fans for their support during the 2007 World Cup campaign that has just ended successfully for Samoa. The team will return on Wednesday to Tofamamao at Leauva'a. On Saturday, Manu Samoa will hold a telethon to raise funds for the team.
They depart for Tonga next Monday to play the Ikale Tahi at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku'alofa. On the following week, Manu Samoa will be in Suva to play Fiji on July 30 to complete the tri-nation tournament.
Osini Faleatasi, Inc. dba Samoa News reserves all rights.
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