MANU SAMOA squad for the 2011 PNC

[mosa62]

Lavea, maan dosent the coach hve any head dat he just suck !. Put james 1st five nstead of tusi nd tasesa !. Both a useless. Same goes to uale mai, ship him bk to spain lol. We dnt need him.

 

[Manu Samoa]

Hey Aucklander.. definately agree with your whole team line up but instead of Lualua Vailoaloa.. I would have Tasesa Lavea on the bench and instead of Eliota F Sapolu I would put a specialist winger which is none other than the electrifying David Lemi.. Watched the game Samoa vs Fiji and I have to say I'm really dissapointed the way we really let that game go.. as we really look to have controlled the game in the early exchanges of the game..I really really REALLY don't like Uale Mai at scrum half.. his service was terrible giving lob passess when he was supposed to give speed balls.. and he was speed balling passes which was supposed to be normal pop up passes to the forwards making the metres up front... half of the time David Lemi was passing the ball because Uale Mai was in the middle of the field lost.. really bad decision making as well which like you said.. lead to the interception try.. He tries too hard to make things happen instantly.. which is not how the 15 man game is.. sorry Uale you might be good in the 7's code.. but at 15's it's an entirely different machine.. it's a team effort which requires patience, perseverance, well thought decision making and structure.. which in the game he showed that he had no knowledge of, too used to the 7's nature... But yeah I'd rather pick Vailoaloa or Brenton Helleur as second choice AND third choice if need be..Other than that .. the team played good.. just some bad choices here and there.. but all in all.. we were outplayed from a side which which was just more hungrier for the win... ohh and one more question for everyone.. Why the hell did Filipo Levi get yello carded for being too "agreesive"???... I don't really get it??...

sole uso... your right about uale mai... he was the reason we lost to wales in 2009, when mapusua kicked the ball for henry faafili, uale was fiapoko and try to run after the ball and it went into touch, that ws supposed to be a try for faafili... he should just stick to the 7's game...

 

[AfakasiAssasin]

Few positives for Samoa to take out of this game The line-out was ok and was a step up from our game vs Japan. I think and our wingers Sailosi and Lemi had high work rates all day and both played well with this being lemis best game for Samoa in a long while. Tusi Pisi impressed coming off the banch as did Ezra Taylor. James So'oialo continued to impress once again showing he has a big future ahead of him for Samoa. Now onto the things that I feel need work...
This was a game looking at the teams on paper, I felt we should've won. I hate to admit we were closer to full strength then the Fijians, but once again we just crack Fiji in Fiji. Their backs cut us to shreds , I'm not sure whose fault defensively it was exactly, but I think it was mostly in the midfield they were making alot of breaks so I'm assuming it must be on the heads of our own midfield (Leota and Fuimaono-Sapolu).. I still believe in Tasesa Lavea, but it needs to be said he a SHOCKER of a game. I knew it wasn't to be his day after the missed the penalty chip shot meters right in front. Really need to work on our tactical kicking at first five prior to world cup. Mai also was not great yesterday and made some pretty poor decisions. We def missed Fotuali'i's leadership, organization and decision making he brings paying at scrumhalf. Apart from Tuifua, Our loose trio did not make enough of an impact as much as they should've as well as our midfield. To see the Fijians put our scrum on the back foot time and time again with a pretty B list team, I gotta admit was very demoralizing and concerning for our depth in scrummaging. We were without our first choice props starting and it showed in the scrum. Though it was a questionable call giving Levi the yellow card, our Discipline once again cost us valuable points with that try just before the half time hooter when we were left with a man in the bin really dipped the momentum in Fiji's favor going into the second half.
We still have a chance to win the PNC which is I feel pretty crucial for our confidence leading up to the RWC. We are second on the ladder behind Tonga on points aggregate so If we win against Tonga on wed, we should be able to retain the PNC cup as long as japan don't get smoked by the Fijians. Bottom line though for me is its better to lose now to Fiji then lose to to them come the RWC. But we better bring it and be at our best if we are to topple them when they're at full strength.

 

[DJRonStar]

A bit to work on for the Manu. As disappointed I am with the loss, the saying goes, you learn more from a loss than a win. I know you should play each game as it comes but I do believe that Samoa will field a B team next Wednesday against Tonga and will field their strongest team against Australia barred injuries.

Would have really liked to have seen Henry Tuilagi & Cencus Johnson in the team to face Australia. Maybe we will see them, never know what to believe when you read the headlines. A good example is the Leiua story. Might give Dicky a call ha ha!

 

[bonafidehamo]

Mahonri Schwalger for Ti'i Paulo
- From what I remember, Paulo came on threw 3 crooked lineouts handing possession to Fiji. Schwalger gets the nod beacause of captaincy; though i wonder if that is in question now.

Kane Thompson and Daniel Leo/Filipo Levi
- We need a strong lineout with Tekori to come off the bench with impact.

Loose Trio
- Ofisa Treviranus at 6
- Manaia Salavea at 7
- Tuifua/Stowers at 8 (Where the hell is Henry? He can't just walk into the run-on team for Wales as that would be a disaster.)

9 and 10
Fotuali'i and Lavea
As much as i don't like Lavea i watched the tape again and his defense was decent and did a few things right, despite having a shocker.
Watch Fotuali'i when he comes back he will be giving Lavea/Pisi bullet passes, pop-up passes and box kicks when they are required.
This will relieve much of the pressure from Lavea and the flow-on effect of this will be felt by the whole team.
Pisi needs to earn his spot and he has the Western Force games to do that and possibly the Wallabies.

11,14 and 15
Where was Paul Williams? He is as good as Kahn Fotuali'i in his respective position. So'oialo, I am sorry to say, is no where near the quality of Paul Williams although he is a promising player. Paul Williams needs to fine-tune his goal kicking which should offset the skill lost from the exclusion of So'oialo.

Tagicakibau and Tuilagi to start. Lemi i reckon is either a starter or not included in the 22. He can only cover wing position.

12 and 13
Maps and Pisi
Its really hard to gauge the form of Sapolu and Leota as the **** ball from Uale had a flow-on effect to the backs leaving them with no space to work with.

 

[fobcrusader]

Mahonri Schwalger for Ti'i Paulo
- From what I remember, Paulo came on threw 3 crooked lineouts handing possession to Fiji. Schwalger gets the nod beacause of captaincy; though i wonder if that is in question now.

Kane Thompson and Daniel Leo/Filipo Levi
- We need a strong lineout with Tekori to come off the bench with impact.

Loose Trio
- Ofisa Treviranus at 6
- Manaia Salavea at 7
- Tuifua/Stowers at 8 (Where the hell is Henry? He can't just walk into the run-on team for Wales as that would be a disaster.)

9 and 10
Fotuali'i and Lavea
As much as i don't like Lavea i watched the tape again and his defense was decent and did a few things right, despite having a shocker.
Watch Fotuali'i when he comes back he will be giving Lavea/Pisi bullet passes, pop-up passes and box kicks when they are required.
This will relieve much of the pressure from Lavea and the flow-on effect of this will be felt by the whole team.
Pisi needs to earn his spot and he has the Western Force games to do that and possibly the Wallabies.

11,14 and 15
Where was Paul Williams? He is as good as Kahn Fotuali'i in his respective position. So'oialo, I am sorry to say, is no where near the quality of Paul Williams although he is a promising player. Paul Williams needs to fine-tune his goal kicking which should offset the skill lost from the exclusion of So'oialo.

Tagicakibau and Tuilagi to start. Lemi i reckon is either a starter or not included in the 22. He can only cover wing position.

12 and 13
Maps and Pisi
Its really hard to gauge the form of Sapolu and Leota as the **** ball from Uale had a flow-on effect to the backs leaving them with no space to work with.

Yeah I agree with all of that but I rekon Lemi should come off the bench when defences are tired near the end of the game.. cause he really carved up in the Fiji game .. finding heaps of spaces and gaps .. with descent defence as well.. and I agree with Stowers being number 8.. he got shown up at 6 against Fiji.. lol

 

[kovana]

F**K... Why did the coach make 11 wholesale changes from the team last week???

FFS... Once Tasesa missed the first kick at goal... Right in front.. The writing was on the wall..

WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE SCRUM!!!

I the coach and team were arrogant.. And we the fans suffer... Lets hope tonga murders us next match.. That way we can get rid of all these so called 'pros' in the team..

Centers were useless.... Loosies were strangely ineffective..

Its frustrating losing to these lesser ranked fiji team...

GRRRRR,,,

Good luck manu in trying to get sponsers to raise 2 million tala.. Thanks to the the lacklustre performance... No one cares for you anymore..

 

[JKFalealupo]

I'm upset about yesterday's loss. Just going to touch on it briefly and be positive for our team!

The Fijian boys wanted it more and it showed in the way they played - Malo Fiji! They were awesome yesterday! They way they counter-rucked against us - We were high and upright in the contact area and the Fijians were low and drove us off the ball, made it look easy.

Disappointing to say the least as they are in our RWC pool - a match I saw as a certain victory. I believe it will be one of the matches of the tournament.

Definitely a wake up call for me - last year's tour was just that - it was last year..we can only do the best with what we have, and move on to the next challenge. Looking forward to the Wallabies game..fa'amalosi Manu!

All the best to the Manu boys, put that game behind us and let's build for the new challenge! Manuia lasaga o le vaiaso!

 

[AfakasiAssasin]

F**K... Why did the coach make 11 wholesale changes from the team last week???

FFS... Once Tasesa missed the first kick at goal... Right in front.. The writing was on the wall..

WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE SCRUM!!!

I the coach and team were arrogant.. And we the fans suffer... Lets hope tonga murders us next match.. That way we can get rid of all these so called 'pros' in the team..

Centers were useless.... Loosies were strangely ineffective..

Its frustrating losing to these lesser ranked fiji team...

GRRRRR,,,

Good luck manu in trying to get sponsers to raise 2 million tala.. Thanks to the the lacklustre performance... No one cares for you anymore..

Sole, I feel your pain....I 2 am frustrated at losing a game I was soo confident we would win. But lets hope they can take the positives out of this game and learn from the mistakes. Look what happened in 2007 with our other Pacific rivals Tonga. We SMOKED Tonga in the PNC encounter that year, but come RWC it was a different result as you know it was the Tongans who were triumphant. Some of our weaknesses have been exposed, so lets work on them now and come RWC turn it around and triumph over our Pacific rivals.

 

[kovana]

Another thing to be noted.. The Ref needs to know how to ref a ruck.. The Fijians were basically playing the ball on the ground at EVERY ruck...

Also.. since they are the first tackler.. They never let the Samoan player the chance to place the ball on the ground..

Some pretty poor reffing.

 

[MtAlbertUso]

Agree selau pasene with mosa.I was in disgust watching the game yesterday.The problem is the coaching staff.why do we need to rest players for the wallabies match and the world cup?we shouldnt be looking to far ahead coz then we forget about the task ahead.the focus should of been about retaining the pnc cup and after that worry about bigger fish to fry.The last time something like this happened was at the 2007 rugby world cup.Underestimating tonga we fielded a half strength team with the chiropractor saved for the springboks.what happened in the end was history for tonga and heartbreak for manu.even worse the chiropractor was injured in his own attempt to do what he does best in the springboks match.My point is we should be playing to win evry comp and go in to evry other game as favourites.bragging rights is another thing in the pacific and we want that.Dickie needs to review some of them players who didnt put there hands up in the fiji game and worry bout retaining what we already have(pnc cup)not what we dont have(world cup).


My 30man worldcup squad and test team for the wallabies;

1.cencus johnston/zak taulafo
2.mo schwalger/tii paulo
3.james johnston/ant perenise
4.kane thompson/ezra taylor
5.joe tekori/filipo levi
6.ofisa treviranus/taiasina tuifua
7.manaia salavea/maurie faasavalu
8.henry tuilagi/george stowers
9.kahn fotualii/lualua vailoaloa
10.t pisi/faatonu fili
11.alesana tuilagi/tim iosua
12.seilala maps/fautua otto
13.g pisi/eli saps
14.s tagicakibau/david lemz
15.james sooialo/paul wils

 

[Muzzy]

but what also happened in 2007 is that Samoa beat fiji, tonga and Japan in the PNC that year, but it was because fiji and tonga had rested all their best players during the 2007 pnc and fielded new players, then of course samoa ended up losing later in the year to tonga in the world cup, i think samoa are trying to make sure that doesn't happen by not tiring their players out during the pnc and saving them for the world cup like fiji and tonga had done

fiji have a bunch of experienced players they're not even using for the whole pnc, you might have seen Rabeni and Bai on the field talking to the players after the game finished

 

[DJRonStar]

Another thing to be noted.. The Ref needs to know how to ref a ruck.. The Fijians were basically playing the ball on the ground at EVERY ruck...

Also.. since they are the first tackler.. They never let the Samoan player the chance to place the ball on the ground..

Some pretty poor reffing.

Hit the nail on the head Kovana. I thought Marius Plonker reffed poorly. Hands in the rucks, playing the ball on the ground. At times he was reffing the match like it was a first fifteen match. He showed little respect talking down to some of the players. And for the linesman to intervene saying that Filipo Levi was too aggressive, what a joke.

Samoa should have used there best team yesterday to get ready for the Wallabies and leave a B team to play Tonga because they only have a few days to get ready against Australia. What do the coaches do now?? Select there strongest team to try and win the PNC meaning some of them won't play against Australia because of so little time in between or do they throw in a B team and concentrate on giving the Wallabies a good go??

They've had ample time to prepare and knew of the schedule. This is the first world cup where we've had ample time to prepare for one. Chopping and changing players should have been done last year and the year before. They should have stuck solely with the squad they took to the Northern Hemisphere late last year.

I'm not too worried about the Tongan game but would like to see them at least test the Wallabies.

 

[DJRonStar]

What dissapointed me with the loss against Fiji is that certain players did not step up. We may have had a B team but on paper there were enough experienced players to have got Samoa through. Mahonri Schwalger, Daniel Leo, Filipo Levi, Maurie Fa'asavalu, George Stowers, Uale Mai, Tasesa Lavea, Eliota Sapolu, David Lemi, Sailosi Tagicakibau. Some of these players didn't front up or were invisible. Schwalger - hardly gained the advantage line when running it up. Stowers - Needs to bring more energy to the game. Fa'asavalu - Looks unfit and just not quick and scavenger like for a number 7. Uale & Tasesa - Both need to share a room together as they lacked communication on the field.

Good luck against Tonga. Win or lose as long as you put in maximum heart and effort.

My 30 man squad for World Cup;

Forwards
Hookers - Mahonri Schwalger, Ti'i Paulo, Steve Fualau

Props - Cencus Johnston, Sakaria Taulafo, Anthony Perenise,

Locks - Jo Tekori, Kane Thompson, Daniel Leo, Filipo Levi

Loose Forwards - Henry Tuilagi, Taiasina Tuifua, Ezra Taylor, Manaia Salavea, Ofisa Travaranus, Alafoti Faosiliva

Halfbacks - Kahn Fotuali'i, Lualua Vailoaloa, Brenton Helleur

First Five Eighths - Tasesa Lavea, Tusi Pisi,

Centers - Seilala Mapusua, Eliota Sapolu, George Pisi

Wings - Alesana Tuilagi, Sailosi Tagicakibau, David Lemi, *Anitelea Tuilagi (Cover in center as well)

Fullbacks - Paul Williams, *Fa'atonu Fili

*Have gone for Anitelea over Iosua and Otto because he is a big game player and I'd like to see some big hits!!

*As erratic as he is, on his day he can be a game breaker and his experience get's him through over So'oialo, who's time will come in the future. Plenty of cover at full back with Sailosi and Tusi Pisi.

Have gone with three props because Steve Fualau can cover the fourth propping role. Has played prop for Canterbury in the ITM cup.

Six loose forwards - Yes, big call to leave out Stowers but Tuilagi and Tuifua are ahead in the pecking order. Faosiliva, can play all three back row positions and is a good go forward player.

 

[Manu Samoa]

Uso's... i found out why anitelea hasnt been playing.... heres something from radio new zealand... Samoa rugby great assaulted...
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=61718

A former Manu Samoa player and his brother have been charged for allegedly attacking rugby legend Muliagatele Brian Lima.
The Samoa Observer reports that Anitele’a Tuilagi and his brother, Vavae Tuilagi were arrested and charged with the alleged assault of Muliagatele last thursday night.
Muliagatele is reportedly nursing a split lip and minor scratches from the incident at Vaitele.
Police have declined to give details about what led to the alleged assault, saying it’s a personal matter.
The Tuilagi brothers, who were intoxicated, were held in police custody on the thursday night.

 

[Manu Samoa]

heres another website for the incident that happened between 2 of the tuilagi brothers(anitelea & vavae) and the rugby legend brian lima(the chiropractor)
http://www.samoaobserver.ws/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34288&Itemid=62

 

[kovana]

Dude... Brian Lima.. Man.. He is supposed to be a role model... Hell.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Crikey, that's not good.

I remember reading a story before about when Anitelia was a Tigers and he drank too much/started acting out of line so Alesana just smacked him back into place

 

[AfakasiAssasin]

Word has it and I dont know wether this is true or not, but I heard Brian was assaulting his wife before the Tuilagis came to her aid. Not sure what the truth behind the matter is but Brian has been charged for assaulting his wife in the past. As a player Brian Lima is def a role model, but as a person, if he is violating his wife, he definitely is not!

 

[Sam Owen]

To be honest, domestic violence is quite common in Samoa. I dont agree with it at all but when I was a young Samoan boy, I witnessed it several times. From those experiences I got fear and anger, as I grew older the anger started to drown out the fear. I've had a few Samoan friends growing up who told me similar stuff as well.

Hope Brian sorts himself out.