The increasing number of teams from Savai’i for the Vailima Marist Sevens is exciting.

President Laulu Henry Taefu said its good to see new players being given the opportunity to shine.

“We all know Afato So’oalo,” he said.

“He’s a very good example back in the days…he’s from Savai’i but he was automatically picked out at the time because of his great performance during this tournament.”

 “And that is what we’re looking at right now. We want keep up in drawing that roadmap and pushing our very own Samoan talented players through rugby.”

And because of the increasing number of teams, the schedule of matches does not finish until close to 10pm each day.

“This is because of the increasing number of teams.” 

Manager of the Tama Uli team from Salelologa, Pauli Pelenato, praised the management of the Vailima Marist Sevens.

“This is our second year and as a team from Savai’i, we’re very honored to be part of the Vailima Sevens,” he said.

“Many of our youths were really excited when they were told that we’ll be part of the Vailima Marist Sevens, and I believe that coming here to Upolu and minglingh with other different players will give them a chance to improve their talent in rugby.

“There’s a difference between playing in Savai’i and Upolu. We need more team from Savai’i because we’ll never know what tomorrow will bring.”

Winning teams after 27 years, 1988 Moataa, 1989 Moataa, 1990 Marist St. Joseph’s , 1991 Moataa, 1992 Moataa, 1993 Moataa, 1994* Marist St. Joseph’s , 1995 Fiji Cavaliers , 1996 Marist St. Joseph’s , 1997 Marist St. Joseph’s , 1998 (Feb) Moataa, 1998 (Nov) Moataa, 1999 No Tournament , 2000* Marist St. Joseph’s , 2001 Marist St. Joseph’s , 2002* Global Barbarians , 2003 Marist St. Joseph’s , 2004 Marist St. Joseph’s , 2005 Marist St. Joseph’s , 2006 Marist St. Joseph’s , 2007* Moataa, 2008 Vailele, 2009 Marist St. Joseph’s , 2010 Vailele, 2011 Vaiala , 2012 Marist St. Joseph’s , 2013 No Tournament , 2014 Vailele , 2015 Marist St Joseph, 2016 ?