Do not underestimate the opponent

By The Editorial Board 13 July 2024, 10:00AM

The tale of the tape favours Manu Samoa in the clash against Spain on Saturday afternoon. Samoa goes into this battle as the favourites, unlike the game last week against Italy.

Spain is the underdog in this match-up. Manu Samoa needs to be aware of the fact that it is not the size of the dog but the size of the fight in the dog. Against Italy, Manu Samoa’s intent to fight was bigger and this showed in the game.

Similarly, guards should be up all the time. Spain has already stated that they have nothing to lose. This makes them dangerous. They will not be scared to try new things and will not hold back when playing expensive rugby.

If Spain’s 15s game has improved like their 7s team’s, then Manu Samoa needs to worry. In 7s rugby, gone are the days when Samoa could trounce Spain without letting them breach their whitewash. The last time Manu Samoa played Spain was in the relegation tournament and Samoa lost.

Before that, it was Singapore 7s. Spain and Samoa met twice and both times, it was the Spaniards who emerged victorious.

On the rankings, Samoa is placed 13th while six places below them is Spain. Both are considered Tier Two rugby teams. Lakapi Samoa will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year, marking a century of rugby in the nation. The oval ball game is Samoa’s number one sport.

While many may be disillusioned that Spain is new to the game, this is not the case.

Rugby union is a growing team sport in Spain. As of 2019, there were 37,241 registered rugby union players in Spain, playing for 332 clubs in various divisions. The sport's governing body in Spain, the Spanish Rugby Federation was founded in 1923.

This makes rugby in Spain, a year older than in Samoa. It joined the International Rugby Board (World Rugby) in 1988 and is also a member of Rugby Europe.

There are traditionally four main rugby-playing regions in Spain: the capital Madrid, the city of Valladolid in the Old Castile region, the entire regions of Basque Country, and Catalonia, particularly in the north and also around Barcelona. Rugby has been emerging recently in Valencia and Andalucia as well, with clubs like Marbella or CAU Valencia providing several players to the national team.

The Spanish national team plays in the Rugby Europe Championship, a competition for second-tier European rugby nations such as Georgia, Romania, and Russia. Spain is ranked 19th in the world and played at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

The national sevens team is now one of the 15 "core teams" participating in each event of the annual World Rugby Sevens Series, having earned that status at the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens. Both men's and women's rugby sevens national teams qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games.

The Manu Samoa are a young bunch. Some of them are unknowns and all of them have a point to prove. They have to prove why they were selected ahead of the older players who have become reputable. Last year, most of these players were either on the bench or never even made the game-day squad.

These are the players that have the potential. If these players were the ones given the break in the World Cup, the results could have been different. Their chemistry is good, they respect each other and there is a sense of brotherhood. This is something every team needs. No one player is above the team.

If Manu Samoa are to win in Saturday’s encounter, the first thing they need to do is accord respect to Spain. Give them the same respect that would be given to the All Blacks or Ireland. At the end of the day, it is 15 men against 15 men. All have two hands and two legs. The difference would be how well 15 men combine to play as one unit.

The other factor that could help the team is the support. The home crowd always drives the Manu Samoa to do better. Go out there and wear blue. Go Manu.

By The Editorial Board 13 July 2024, 10:00AM
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.

>