When England takes on South Africa in the Rugby World 2023 semi-final this weekend, there will be a family in Savai'i who will be cheering on one English player.

Former Manu Samoa player, Leaupepe Alesana Tuilagi, 42, said he and his daughters as well as his brothers and their families will be rooting for their youngest sibling Manusamoa Tuilagi when England takes on the Springboks in the RWC semi-final on Saturday (Sunday Apia time).

In an exclusive interview with the Samoa Observer on Monday, he showed his fingers, which were painted in the colours of England, and said his daughters painted them on Sunday evening in a show of support for their uncle and his young sibling. 

"It's going to be tough for England and for my brother and the only one that represents the brothers now is the youngest of the Tuilagi clan and we will always be supporting him all the way," Leaupepe said.

"We are all blessed in different ways and there's five of us represented Samoa so if he's been blessed by God to represent England, it's all about opportunities and he had the opportunity when he was young so we're all proud of him and whatever he's representing he'll always come home as a Samoan."

The Tuilagi brothers are two of the six famous Tuilagi brothers from the village of Fatausi on the big island of Savai'i who were all professional rugby union players and also donned the famous blue jersey for Samoa. Freddie Tuilagi, Henry Tuilagi, Olotuli Tuilagi, Anitelea Tuilagi, and Vavae Tuilagi were all born and raised in Samoa by their parents, the late Namulau'ulu Lauaki Su Palakoki Tuilagi Vavae Leo II, and their mother, Su'a Ali'itasi Taupa'u-Tuilagi.

Manu Tuilagi is the youngest of the Tuilagi brothers who is currently playing for England in the current RWC and also competed in the 2019 RWC in Japan.

Their late father in a previous interview with this newspaper said even from a young age Manu was marked out as a strong person and added that it didn’t matter which team he played for.

“His full name is Manusamoa. I named him after our rugby team because he was born when my eldest son, Freddie, was making a big name for himself playing for Samoa," he said. “So even though he plays for England, he carries the name Manusamoa and his heart remains with the place where he was born and raised.”

Alesana is currently a panellist on the "RWC on Island" program which is televised every Thursday night on New Zealand's Sky Sports TV. He was at the Sinalei Resort in Siumu for the filming of the program's next episode when he was interviewed by the Samoa Observer.