Former Manu Samoa flanker, Apollo Perelini, is backing Samoa to reach the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, which gets under way in England on Saturday morning.
Manu Samoa’s opening game against the United States of America is at 12middnight on Sunday.
Samoa and Fiji have both reached the quarter-finals twice, Samoa in 1991 and 1995 and Fiji in 1987 and 2007, while Tonga have never progressed beyond the pool stages.
But Perelini, 46, who featured in the 1991 World Cup with Manu Samoa, is now tipping an island nation to break the last four.
“I think a Pacific Island nation will come into the mix,” the UAE Rugby Federation’s development coach told Gulf News.
<script async src="http://www.samoaobserver.ws///pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- ads-articles(24.03.14) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="2395638412"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>
“There’s a lot more in these sides than they have previously shown at tournaments and I think this year they could go much further — to the semi-finals.
“A lot of the big teams are very fearful of the Pacific Islanders at the moment and you only have to see the amount of Pacific Island players playing for the bigger teams to realise how highly rated these players are.
“The thing about the Pacific Island sides is that they create something out of nothing. They have also gone to England a lot earlier than the other teams and I think this will be crucial to their World Cup.”
Fiji are in Pool A alongside England, Australia, Wales and Uruguay, Samoa face South Africa, Scotland, Japan and the USA in Pool B, and Tonga have New Zealand, Argentina, Georgia and Namibia in Pool C.
“Fiji and Samoa have got massive potential but Tonga as well, they are very strong and physically brutal,” Perelini said.
“England have got Fiji in the first game [on Friday] and that will be a big challenge for England. Fiji have got nothing to lose and are coming to play physical rugby. England will have to weather the storm early because it’s going to come thick, fast and very hard. And that’s where I think Pacific Island sides can really threaten these big teams.”
Of Samoa’s prospects, he added: “They’ve got a good chance [of getting out of the group] if they bring their A game to every game and hold their discipline, I can’t see why Samoa can’t make the semi-final.”
Asked why the Pacific Islanders had stumbled in previous editions of the tournament, he said:
“They are the only teams that don’t get to play at home [very often]. And when we come up against other sides we get drowned out.
“In 1991 we played Scotland in Scotland in the quarter-final and had 100 Samoans to 60,000 Scots singing ‘The Flower of Scotland’.
“Samoa recently lost to the All Blacks by just nine points. Why? Because we were playing at home. Home advantage plays such a big part.
Why do you think Tonga beat France in New Zealand in 2011? Because the whole of New Zealand was supporting Tonga. With support behind you, you can go further.”
<!-- ads-articles(24.03.14) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="2395638412"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}