A mighty challenge

A sixty-man squad will be announced at the end of this month to trial for the Manu Samoa team.

A 38-man squad will be announced in a month’s time. From that squad, a team to play the All Blacks at Apia Park in July will be named.

Manu Samoa coach, Stephen Betham, confirmed the plan yesterday.

He has just returned from the United Kingdom with fellow coach, Namulauulu Alama Ieremia, the manager, a physio and a trainer.

This is the biggest delegation to travel abroad for tracking purposes.

The physio and trainer were there to track how the players were in terms of fitness and strength with the clubs.

The physio would also gauge injuries.

This is a lesson learnt from the 2007 World Cup in France and served as one of the major downfalls for Manu Samoa. A few of the main players carried injuries and the team’s performance suffered. This was due to not keeping to the selection criteria, which Betham admits, “were not done properly”.

“So that’s one thing that’s weighing heavily on our minds at the moment.”

But Betham said it’s not just about the historical match. The 38-man squad will also cover the World Cup and Pacific Nations Cup tournaments.

Betham told the Samoa Observer yesterday, that the remaining players will be kept in case of injuries.

The 38-man squad will assemble in New Zealand on the first week of June, when most of the UK games are finished. Some players will go to NZ and others return to Samoa. There will be two groups taking part in the clinics.

Regulations with professional clubs mean they are not allowed to train until a certain time and thus clinics are timed for then.

“So at the moment, we’ve gone through a pretty hefty selection process.”

Some of the players in Europe have played more than twenty games. They started back in November and they’re still playing.

What worries Betham and his team is that there are three or four players who played 80 minutes over that time and the physio and trainer’s checks have come up with red flags.

“Which means they played too much rugby and the body language is just so, and it’s something we have to be mindful of in selecting the team to make sure we get them back up to where they need to be, instead of bringing them straight from full yard and train them again.”

And the distance doesn’t help.

It has left Betham and Namulauulu to rely on data, which is not always accurate. And that’s where the trainer and the physio come in.

Betham told the Samoa Observer yesterday that while in the UK, they found that all the boys were keen to represent Samoa.

“There is not one player who is not keen to play this historical match.”

But the final selection will take all factors into consideration.

Some of these players have only played a very limited time. They have played twenty games but are yet to reach 100 minutes which means they’re only coming on the field in the last five minutes of the game.

“So it’s a tricky process but something we’re trying to do as well as we can.”

In the UK, there are more than 50 players. This includes about 10 or 12 who are not in contention due to injuries or because they are playing a lower grade of rugby.

So far, only two players from New Zealand have committed to playing for Manu Samoa. They are Tim Nanai Williams and Rey Lee Lo.

On the local scale, he said there were also players in Samoa A and the Sevens that they were looking at.

“A few players there could make the team. I’m not saying that they will, but their chances are still open.”

In Samoa A, Betham said are a few who have “punched above their weight”.

They have showed a lot of skill and that they have got the ability to play the next level. A group of 15 from Samoa A are in training and another two or three in the Sevens are being monitored.

Thirteen local boys in that squad of sixty, said Betham, is a good number. It’s also a reflection of the boys’ commitment in trying to make the team.

“I know they’re not playing the level of competition that is played overseas but they’re putting up their hands in fitness and strength levels. Only time will tell how whether they crank the next step up.”

Although the preparations for these major tournaments are a lot of pressure, Betham is excited.

“I guess it’s something that every coach dreams of, is to play the best team in the world in your own back yard. For any team, you don’t want to go in to lose. So were trying our best to pick the best team we can and on the day, give the best we can, we keep saying to the boys, most people write you off, but probably there’s only 30 people or 40, including management who don’t write us off and that’s within the group. It’s building that belief, I guess.”

Since 2012, the rugby players have trained under a David and Goliath theme. And with everything they face, David is crowned King in the end, like in the Bible.

“ And that’s exactly what we want to achieve at the end of the four year cycle. We’ve taken that dream and that theming is all about us. All the hurdles and everything that we’ve had to face in order to achieve that."

“We are the Davids, a small nation who needs to punch above our weight.”