Gutted Betham tells all

It’s official. Manu Samoa Head Coach, Stephen Betham, officially resigned on Tuesday.

And it was a decision that did not come easy.

During an interview with the Samoa Observer at his parents’ home at Lotopa, he fights to hold back the tears. The emotions are still very raw.

Following his arrival back into Samoa after the Rugby World Cup, Betham talked with his family on how things would pan out. For Betham, he said he had failed to meet his job performance indicators and had consequently let his country down.

The resignation, prior to the review, would give the Samoa Rugby Union (S.R.U.) ample time to advertise the post and the new Head Coach time to prepare.

That would mean his replacement was not put in the position Betham was in when he was given the job, with just six weeks before a tournament.

He was still with the Sevens at the time.

“My thoughts are instead of the next coach suffering that, I want him to prepare well, especially for the sake of the team,” he said.

The review is set to end in January. The advertisement won’t be done until February.

Betham said everything was done in the interest of the team and his family.

Since his return, he’s tried to stay out of the media.

“Sometimes when people see you in the news so many times, you know, [they say] he’s still in there [yet] he’s failed. He’s still hanging around. It’s just one of those things you accept as part of your job.”

Stepping down for Betham has been, in his own words, very hard.

But after nine years at it, it’s a chance for him to spend time with family as never before, as he was always on the road. Eventually, he plans to return to where it all began for him; the rugby club at Vaiala and the Apia Union.

“I guess being at the international level for nine years, you sort of lose that hunger. Sometimes it’s repetitive stuff.

When you’ve done something over and over, you start to lose focus.

You start to lose that hunger.”

Vaiala and Apia Union supported him from day one and are the reason he reached the echelon of Samoa rugby. It is there he will return and rekindle that same desire to return to the top again.

Even better, he is also willing to help any clubs that seek his assistance.

Does Betham feel he should shoulder the blame?

He admits there were contributing factors, but would rather wait for the review. Although the review will look at the players, coaches and logisitics, Betham says it’s his responsibility at the end of the day.

At the end of the review, everything is documented. He hopes the next management will use this as a base for where they went wrong.

Performance, Betham says, is not just on the field. It is a broad reflection of everything, including financial factors.

“I don’t look for excuses. The performance wasn’t good and probably 50 percent is my job and every other factor that comes from the review, we’ll find out later.”

He declined to comment on politics at the S.R.U.

“When I’m doing my coaching, I stay far away from [the politics]. All we know is we’re guided by the Union.

We’re given policies and we abide by them. We do the best we can and to me whatever happens, I can’t blame the Union for it. Maybe it might have a small influence, but I’m not going to point fingers.”

Criticisms on the performance of some players on social media also had consequences as they are read by players or they hear about it from family and friends. Some players don’t take it well and Betham says that also affects their performance.

“When you start criticizing people and they read about it, it affects them.

No matter what we say, it affects them and my hope is for those who criticize, wait until it’s all finished.”

As for his assistant coach, Namulauulu Alama Ieremia, Betham describes him as very professional, very thorough and very process influenced coach, like any other professional coach.

This compared to Betham who lacked the experience at an international level, Super XV and whose profession was with clubs on a local scale.

But he has learned a lot and is happy to take it back and filter down to the club level. “You get knocked down and have to get up. And for me getting back up is starting from the bottom again, making your way back to the top.”

Looking back, one of Betham’s most memorable moments was in winning the series in 2010. They had joked about it during the year when they were placed second in the ranks. Halfway through the series the boys were sitting around joking about what it would be like to win, or even give Samoa a public holiday and make history in the process.

“That challenge was taken to heart and when they won, they said ‘coach, we earned a public holiday for the country!’”

Another highlight was in 2012, with the fifteens, where Samoa became the first Tier two nation to rank seventh in the world.

Betham was happy to have seen some of the Sevens boys play at a professional level, settle overseas and buy homes.

“That’s a personal highlight for me. Just to see some of these boys make it that far.”

It was a dream for Betham to coach the Manu Samoa. If he couldn’t represent Samoa in rugby, his next choice was to coach.

He is grateful to God and everyone for the support, with the country’s support for the team easily felt.

Betham admits to being one of the critics before he started coaching. And when he got there, he tried to execute ideas he thought would avoid the same mistakes.

“One thing about coaching is you can never please everybody, [there are] different opinions and that’s life. You’ve got to live with it.”

Betham wished all teams well and urged the country to get behind them. And with the Sevens next week, it will be a big boost for Samoa to qualify for Olympics.

All in all, for Betham, the past nine years have been filled with memories.

“It’s been a great ride, been a rollercoaster ride, up and down… it’s an experience that I would do all over again. But for now, I’ve got to start again from the bottom.”