Nothing but hard work will do it.
That’s something coach Stephen Betham and his captain, Ofisa Treviranus, have been hammering into the Manu Samoa ahead of their opening game of the Rugby World Cup in England, tomorrow night.
<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>
Last night, coach Betham named a well tested and an experienced team for their opening assignment against the United States of America at Brighton.
“The players have trained well this week and we’ve had the ideal preparation,” Betham said from England.
“U.S.A showed in the Pacific Nations Cup that they can play – they’re fast and they’re physical and we will need to work hard against them.”
For Betham, nothing but hard work will suffice. His thoughts are echoed by Treviranus who will for the first time lead out his country onto rugby’s biggest stage.
“This is the World Cup,” he said.
“There is no question about our preparations, we are well prepared. We’ve had a really solid training camp and everyone is keen to get out there and give their all for Samoa.
“They are mentally and physically prepared, now it’s only a matter of getting out there and executing what we’ve been working on.”
And work they have been doing a lot.
“Like many other teams, we have been preparing for this tournament for a long time,” said Betham.
“The boys have worked incredibly hard to get themselves into the best possible shape for this tournament and I commend them for this.”
Tomorrow night’s test team includes Toulouse strongman, Census Johnston, who is starting off the bench in his 50th test match for Samoa. Johnston was called in as a late replacement for injured Leicester Tigers prop Logovi’i Mulipola.
The starting team features one of the most experienced sides Betham has named for a test match. The tight five includes Sakaria Taulafo, Wayne Ole Avei, Anthony Perenise, Teofilo Paulo and Iosefa Tekori. Maurie Fa’asavalu and Jack Lam will help Treviranus at the back of the scrum.
Kahn Fotuali’i’s experience will again be critical as he pairs up with Tusi Pisi at the halves. Rey Lee Lo gets a start at second five eighth with Paul Perez given a run at centre.
Alesana Tuilagi, Ken Pisi and Tim Nanai-Williams round up the backline.
Unavailable for selection were veteran lock Kane Thompson who has one week left to serve on a two-match suspension. Loose forwards TJ Ioane is suffering from a concussion with Vavae Tuilagi also carrying a shoulder injury.
“We’ve had to be a little creative with some of our bench cover with a couple of key guys unavailable for selection this week,” Betham said. “But we have been fortunate in that the majority of these boys have played a bit of rugby now since July and so they are well used to working together to plug any gaps.”
<!-- 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}