Tears and glory as Taula All Stars triumphs

By Vaelei Von Dincklage 15 August 2020, 10:30PM

The Taula All-Stars has claimed the title for the second leg of the Vodafone Samoa National Sevens Series.

They defeated SCB Apia Maroons, 28-10, in the final at Apia Park on Saturday.

Before the game started, the two teams observed a moment of silence to pay tribute to the passing of one of the pillars of the Apia Rugby Union and Vaiala legend, La'auli Rudy Leavasa. 

Captain of the Taula All Stars, Patrick Fa'apale, was in tears when they played a short video clip of Coach Laauli on the big screen at the Apia Park Stadium. 

It was an emotional final for both teams because a number of players had been coached by the late Laauli.

The game between the two teams was a tough.

But Taula All-Stars proved the better team.

Taula All Stars clinched the title without conceding a defeat.

Coach So'oalo Fonopitoitua said they learnt a lot from the first leg of the series and they wanted to rectify what happened last week at Apia Park.

"Taula has fixed their mistakes from the Savaii leg and has worked on it during the week, now they have come out of this two-days tournament and corrected it," he said. 

"I am proud of their achievements, and we are hoping that it will keep on for the last leg next week. Our pathway to the finals was not an easy road but I am glad that we did make it out successful."

Taula All Stars defeated last week's champions, Ott Constructor Tama Uli, in the quarterfinal, 21- 19. 

They then moved on to beat Tepatasi in their semifinal.

The team is looking forward to the final leg of the series.






Tags

Samoa Rugby Union
By Vaelei Von Dincklage 15 August 2020, 10:30PM
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.

>