PACNEWS
10 May, 2021, 1:07 pm
Samoa women’s sevens coach Auimatagi Sapani believes Olympic qualification could help unite the Pacific Island nation. Picture: WORLD RUGBY
APIA, 10 MAY 2021 (WORLD RUGBY) – Samoa women’s sevens coach Auimatagi Sapani believes Olympic qualification could help unite the Pacific Island nation.
Both the Manusina and their male counterparts remain in contention for a place at Tokyo 2020, and are scheduled to compete in the Olympic repechage tournament in Monaco next month.
The two teams came close to qualifying for Rio 2016, as Manu Samoa lost the repechage final to Spain on the last play of the match, while the country’s women were beaten by Kazakhstan in their quarter-final.
Manu Samoa coach Seilala Mapusua is confident of selecting a competitive squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup qualifiers against Tonga, but Is already resigned to being without a host of European based stars.
Manu Samoa have not played since the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
It s been nine months since the former test midfielder was appointed to the top job but almost two years since the Manu last took to the field because of the ongoing impact of Covid-19.
Samoa will play two tests against the Ikale Tahi in New Zealand in July, with the winner to qualify for the 2023 World Cup in France.
After months of patience, planning and preparation, Mapusua was looking forward to actually playing. It s been a bit frustrating but at the same time you ve just got to roll with the punches and deal with what s in front of you, he said.
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Manu Samoa first played the Barbarians in 2015.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua played twice for the Barbarians and said it was one of the highlights of his career. Their style of rugby gives you the freedom to simply go out and express yourself on the field alongside numerous international superstars of the game so, it is not only a great honour to play for the Barbarians, but a great privilege for the Manu Samoa to play against them too, he said. Fixtures such as these play an important role in the development of players on the international stage and provide fantastic building blocks for Samoa in the run up to Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.