Manu Seven’s flying start

By Vatapuia Maiava 15 May 2016, 12:00AM

The Manu Samoa Sevens smashed Wales, 52-10 yesterday morning, sending out a strong warning to the rest of the field at the Paris Sevens.

The men in blue were then scheduled to play Scotland and Fiji last night to determine its position for today. The results were not available at press time last night.

But the flying start made Head Coach Damien McGrath a very happy man.

 “Preparations are going well,” he said. 

“Our only problem right now is facing Jet Lag; but today is game day and it's the first morning that everyone has reported having a full night’s sleep; that aside we have trained pretty well.”

According to Mr. McGrath, consistency is their main goal despite being faced with a few minor changes to their team.

“We are focusing on our own consistency; to perform to our best we must cut the errors from our game,” he said.

“We have had to make only one change to our squad and that is Etiuefa Faivaai has come in for Phoenix Hunapo Nofoa (who is unavailable for family reasons).

“Whilst losing a key player is never ideal we are very lucky to have someone of Etiuefa's quality ready to step in.

“He has been unlucky to miss out on selection several times this year. He has been in great form for Laulii in local 7's so he fully deserves this chance.

“The other countries have brought their Olympic squads with them and there are some high quality players wandering around the team hotel.

“We will have to perform to the best of our ability to compete in these two legs of the World Series.”

The coach continued to explain that the provision of their new kit courtesy of the new found partnership between Limited Edition Sportswear and Samoa Rugby Union has given a minor psychological boost to the team.

“It's great to have a new sponsor on board and whilst we are a very close knit team it is a boost to all dress in top quality kit and look like a team,” he said.

“We hope that we can continue to improve and represent Samoa to the best of our ability.

“Every player is desperate to give their country something to be proud of; Samoans know their rugby and can see how well the boys are doing as they continue to develop.

“Please Samoa; continue to support the boys and I.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 15 May 2016, 12:00AM
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