One lapse could cost us, Tietjens say as Samoa begins World Cup mission

20 July 2018, 12:00AM

Manu Samoa coach, Gordon Tietjens believes one lapse in judgement can prove costly for his Samoan side at the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in San Francisco.

Manu Samoa open their campaign today (Samoan time) against Uganda. If Samoa wins, they will advance to play England.

A win there will send Samoa to the quarterfinal where they will likely to play the United States.

Tietjens says the Pacific nation has struggled a lot on the world circuit since their 2009 World Series win.

The Samoan coach believes Samoa lacks resources and says they are trying to build depth, particularly on the island, to get them to play the pace of the game that needs to be played on the World Series.

Samoa finished 10th on the World Series tournament this year.

More than 95,000 fans are expected to attend across three days of high-octane rugby sevens action at AT&T Park, which this week has been transformed from its traditional baseball diamond format into a spectacular venue for rugby sevens. 

Reigning Rugby World Cup Sevens champions in both the men’s and women’s events New Zealand will be looking to retain their crowns.

New Zealand men’s co-captain Scott Curry said: “It’s awesome to be here in San Francisco. To be playing at AT&T Park in a baseball stadium is pretty unique and I’m sure the atmosphere is going to be electric. We’ve had a good week building up to the competition, we’ve trained really well and we’re looking forward to the weekend. It’s going to be a tough ask to defend our title, as it’s a knock-out format we’ll be focusing on one game at a time.”

With rugby sevens a proven driver of fan growth, and the recently-concluded men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series attracting more than 100 million video views, San Francisco 2018 will be the most content-focused, digital-first global rugby event of the year.

A new and innovative ‘knock-out’ style format will see every match count, meaning teams will have to win every match to be crowned World Cup winners. 

20 July 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>