Contents

Samoa national rugby union team

Samoa

Nickname(s)	Manu Samoa
Emblem	Southern cross
Union	Rugby Samoa
Head coach	Mahonri Schwalger
Captain	Michael Alaalatoa
Most caps	Brian Lima (67)
Top scorer	Tusi Pisi (245)
Top try scorer	Brian Lima (29)
Home stadium	Apia Park
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	12 (as of 28 August 2023)
Highest	7 (2012, 2013)
Lowest	17 (2018, 2019)
First international
Western Samoa 0–6 Fiji  (Apia, Samoa; 18 August 1924)
Biggest win
Samoa 115–7 Papua New Guinea  (Apia, Samoa; 11 July 2009)
Biggest defeat
New Zealand 101–14 Samoa  (New Plymouth, New Zealand; 3 September 2008)
World Cup
Appearances	9 (First in 1991)
Best result	Quarterfinals (1991, 1995)
Medal record Pacific Games 1971 Papeete 1991 Port Moresby 1983 Apia 1963 Suva
Website	manusamoa.com

The Samoa national rugby union team represents the Samoa Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. They are also known as "Manu Samoa", which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior.^[1] They perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga.^[2] They are ranked 11th in the world.^[3]

Rugby was introduced to Samoa in the early 1920s and a governing body was soon formed. The first international was played as Western Samoa against Fiji in August 1924. Along with Tonga, these nations would meet regularly and eventually contest competitions such as the Pacific Tri-Nations – with Western Samoa winning the first of these. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was known as Western Samoa.

Samoa have been to every Rugby World Cup since the 1991 tournament. That tournament, along with the 1995 competition, saw them make the quarterfinals. Under their new coach, former New Zealand and Samoan international player Michael Jones, Samoa competed in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. However, Samoa had a dismal World Cup campaign, winning only one match and finishing fourth in their group. Samoa showed an improved performance at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, winning two matches by comfortable margins, and losing close matches to South Africa and Wales.

History[edit]

The Marist Brothers brought rugby to Western Samoa in 1924 and The Western Samoa Rugby Football Union was formed in 1924. On 18 August 1924, Western Samoa played its first international against Fiji in the capital Apia, the visitors winning 6–0. The match was played at 7 am to allow the Samoans time to get to work afterwards and was played on a pitch with a large tree on the halfway line. The return match was won 9–3 by Samoa to draw the series.

In 1954 Western Samoa visited both Pacific Island neighbors Fiji and Tonga, but had to wait a further 20 years before a tour of New Zealand took place. The Samoans won one of eight matches on that tour.

The traditional tri-series between Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa was established in 1982 with Western Samoa winning the first tournament. Wales visited Western Samoa and won the test 32–16 at Apia. The tour led to a return visit to Wales which brought Western Samoa out of International limbo, although Western Samoa were not invited to the first Rugby World Cup in 1987.

The following year a 14-match tour of Europe took place before a World Cup elimination series in Tokyo, which gave Western Samoa a place in the 1991 Rugby World CupinBritain. They made a huge impact. After sweeping aside Wales 16–13 in Cardiff and defeating Argentina 35–12, and narrowly losing 3–9 to eventual champions Australia in their pool match, Western Samoa, a country with a population of 160,000, found itself in the quarterfinals against ScotlandatMurrayfield. The Scots won comfortably 28–6, but the Samoans were clearly the personality team of the tournament. One Welsh fan ruefully remarked after Wales's defeat, "It's a good job we weren't playing all of Samoa."

Over the next two years, the side had a number of notable wins. The most outstanding achievements were in Sevens where it won the 1993 Hong Kong and 1992 Middlesex Sevens. The 1995 Rugby World CupinSouth Africa proved that the team belonged in top company. They again reached the quarterfinals after wins over Argentina and Italy, but were beaten 42–14 by the eventual winners South Africa. After the Cup, Manu Samoa made a 13-match tour of England and Scotland, drawing 15–15 with the Scots and going down 27–9 to England.

With the advent of professional rugby in 1995 it was vital for Manu Samoa to develop a new administrative structure. This was made possible with Fay Richwhite and the Western Samoan Rugby Union joining forces to form Manu Samoa Rugby Limited. Fay Richwhite invested $5 million from 1995 to 2004 into Samoan rugby.^[4][5]

Samoa emerged from the 1999 World Cup with its honor intact after another shock 38–31 victory over host nation Wales in the pool stages. They again lost out to Scotland in the quarterfinal play-off.

Manu Samoa qualified for the 2003 World Cup with a 17–16 loss against Fiji, Earl Va'a missing an injury-time penalty. They recovered to beat Tonga both home and away and avenged that Fijian defeat with a 22–12 win in Nadi. They ultimately had to settle for second place in the round robin, behind Fiji on points difference, and a place in the tougher of the two Rugby World Cup 2003 pools alongside automatic qualifiers England and South Africa. In one of the games of the tournament, they led eventual champions England for most of the game before losing 35–22.

Samoa qualified for the 2011 World Cup after beating Papua New Guinea 73–12 in Port Moresby on 18 July 2009. They won 188–19 on aggregate over two matches against Papua New Guinea, having won 115–7 at Apia Park the previous week.^[6]

Samoa began their 2011 World Cup campaign preparation with a flying start, after registering an upset against No.2 ranked Australia with a four-try-to-two win of 32–23.^[7]

In November 2017, Samoa's prime minister and SRU chairman Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi announced that the organisation was bankrupt,^[8] although those claims were denied by world governing body World Rugby.^[9]

Overall record[edit]

Men's World Rugby Rankings v t e Top 20 as of 8 July 2024[10]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.86
2		Ireland	090.37
3		New Zealand	090.12
4		France	088.49
5		England	085.66
6		Scotland	082.82
7		Argentina	080.10
8	1	Australia	078.15
9	1	Italy	077.99
10	1	Fiji	077.44
11	1	Wales	076.58
12		Japan	074.04
13	1	Samoa	073.65
14	1	Georgia	072.95
15		Tonga	071.57
16		Portugal	070.28
17	1	Uruguay	067.39
18	1	United States	066.01
19		Spain	064.37
20		Romania	063.59
21	2	Chile	061.12
22	1	Canada	060.90
23	1	Namibia	060.56
24		Hong Kong	059.17
25		Russia	058.06
26		Switzerland	057.44
27		Netherlands	057.29
28		Belgium	055.89
29		Brazil	055.37
30		Zimbabwe	052.43
* Change from the previous week
Samoa's historical rankings
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[10] Graph updated to 8 July 2024

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Samoa national XV at test level up until 10 October 2023.^[11]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	5	3	2	0	60%	121	101	+20
Australia	6	1	5	0	16.66%	73	238	−165
Australia A	1	1	0	0	100.00%	31	26	+5
Barbarians	1	0	1	0	0.00%	24	27	−3
Belgium	1	1	0	0	100.00%	37	8	+29
Canada	6	6	0	0	100.00%	169	103	+66
Chile	1	1	0	0	100.00%	43	10	+33
Cook Islands	3	3	0	0	100.00%	102	31	+71
England	9	0	9	0	0.00%	131	310	−179
Fiji	55	21	31	3	41.18%	963	1102	−139
Fiji XV	3	0	3	0	0.00%	20	58	−38
France	4	0	4	0	0.00%	49	156	−107
Georgia	6	2	3	1	33.33%	135	110	+25
Germany	2	2	0	0	100.00%	108	43	+65
Ireland	8	1	7	0	12.5%	121	273	−152
Italy	8	5	3	0	62.5%	192	158	+34
Japan	18	12	6	0	66.67%	547	361	+186
South Korea	1	1	0	0	100.00%	74	7	+67
Namibia	2	2	0	0	100.00%	89	25	+64
New Caledonia	1	1	0	0	100.00%	28	6	+22
New Zealand	7	0	7	0	0.00%	72	411	−339
Papua New Guinea	2	2	0	0	100.00%	188	19	+169
Romania	3	1	2	0	33.33%	59	49	+10
Russia	1	1	0	0	100.00%	34	9	+25
Scotland	12	1	10	1	8.33%	193	332	−139
South Africa	9	0	9	0	0.00%	99	431	−332
Spain	1	1	0	0	100.00%	28	10	+18
Tahiti	1	1	0	0	100.00%	33	11	+22
Tonga	69	38	27	4	55.07%	1291	1028	+263
United States	7	5	2	0	71.42%	156	128	+28
Uruguay	1	1	0	0	100.00%	60	13	+47
Wales	10	4	6	0	40.00%	180	235	−55
West Germany	1	1	0	0	100.00%	54	9	+45
Total	265	119	137	9	44.91%	5495	5838	−333

World Cup record[edit]

Rugby World Cup record											Qualification
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Squad	Head coach		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1987	Not invited										Not invited
1991	Quarter-finals	4	2	0	2	60	72	Squad	P. Schuster		1st	3	3	0	0	123	21
1995	Quarter-finals	4	2	0	2	110	130	Squad			Automatically qualified
1999	Quarter-final play-offs	4	2	0	2	117	107	Squad	B. Williams		3rd	3	1	0	2	59	71
2003	Pool stage	4	2	0	2	138	117	Squad	J. Boe		2nd	4	3	0	1	96	58
2007	Pool stage	4	2	0	2	69	143	Squad	M. Jones		1st	4	3	0	1	133	78
2011	Pool stage	4	2	0	2	91	49	Squad	T. Tafua		1st	2	2	0	0	188	19
2015	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	69	124	Squad	S. Betham		Automatically qualified
2019	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	58	128	Squad	S. Jackson		3rd	6	3	0	3	196	47
2023	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	92	75	Squad	S. Mapusua		1st	2	2	0	0	79	28
2027	To be determined										To be determined
2031
Total	—	36	15	0	21	804	977	—	—		—	24	17	0	7	874	422

In one of the scenes of the feature film, Invictus, Western Samoa can be seen playing South Africa in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Pacific Nations Cup[edit]

Samoa previously competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations winning 11 tournaments. The Pacific Nations Cup replaced the Tri-Nations tournament in 2006. Samoa have won four tournaments.

Wins against Tier 1 nations[edit]

Samoa have recorded 15 wins against tier 1 nations. In addition, Samoa drew with Scotland 15–15 on the 18 November 1995 at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland.

6 October 1991	Wales	13–16	Samoa	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
	Try: I Evans Emyr Con: Ring Pen: Ring	Report	Try: Vaega Vaifale Con: Vaea Pen: Vaea (2)	Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Patrick Robin (France)

13 October 1991	Argentina	12–35	Samoa	Sardis Road, Pontypridd
	Try: Teran Nougues Con: Arbizu Pen: Arbizu Laborde	Report	Try: Bachop Bunce Lima (2) Tagaloa (2) Con: Vaea (4) Pen: Vaea	Attendance: 8,500

25 June 1994	Samoa	34–9	Wales	Moamoa
	Try: Lam Lima (2) Con: Kellett (2) Pen: Kellett (5)	Report	Pen: N Jenkins (3)	Referee: Barry Leask (Australia)

27 May 1995	Italy	18–42	Samoa	ABSA Stadium, East London
	Try: Cuttitta Vaccari Con: Domínguez Pen: Domínguez Drop: Domínguez	Report	Try: Harder (2) Kellett Lima (2) Tatupu Con: Kellett (3) Pen: Kellett (2)	Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Joel Dume (France)

30 May 1995	Argentina	26–32	Samoa	ABSA Stadium, East London
	Try: Crexell Penalty Try Con: Cilley (2) Pen: Cilley (4)	Report	Try: Harder Lam Leaupepe Con: Kellett Pen: Kellett (5)	Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Dave Bishop (New Zealand)

12 November 1996	Ireland	25–40	Samoa	Lansdowne Road, Dublin
	Try: Wallace Con: Mason Pen: Mason (6)	Report	Try: Leaupepe Patu So'oalo Vaega (2) Con: Va'a (3) Pen: Va'a (3)	Referee: Santiago Borsani (Argentina)

14 October 1999	Wales	31–38	Samoa	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
	Try: Thomas Penalty Try (2) Con: N Jenkins (2) Pen: N Jenkins (4)	Report	Try: Bachop (2) Falaniko Lam Leaega Con: Leaega (5) Pen: Leaega	Attendance: 72,500 Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

8 July 2000	Samoa	43–24	Italy	Apia Park, Apia
	Try: Lima Samania So'oalo Vaega Vili Con: Samania (3) Pen: Samania (4)	Report	Try: Checchinato Moscardi Stoica Con: Pez (3) Drop: Pez	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Tappe Henning (South Africa)

24 November 2001	Italy	9–17	Samoa	Stadio Tommaso Fattori, L'Aquila
	Pen: Domínguez (3)	Report	Try: Fa'atau Pen: Leaega (2) Vili (2)	Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Robert G. Davies (Wales)

3 December 2005	Argentina	12–28	Samoa	Buenos Aires
	Try: Agulla Fernández Lobbe Con: Fernández Miranda	Report	Try: Johnston Sititi Tagicakibau Con: Warren (2) Pen: Warren (2) Drop: Warren	Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

17 July 2011	Australia	23–32	Samoa	Stadium Australia, Sydney
	Try: Ioane 37' Giteau 70' Con: Giteau (38', 71') Pen: Giteau (40', 41', 57')	Report	Try: Tuilagi 11' Williams 28' Thompson 45' G Pisi 54' Con: T Pisi (13', 29', 55') Pen: T Pisi (3', 65')	Attendance: 29,908 Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

16 November 2012	Wales	19–26	Samoa	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
	Try: Beck 32' Con: Halfpenny (1/1) 33' Pen: Halfpenny (4/5) 15', 28', 49', 61'	Report	Try: Autagavaia 1' c G Pisi 46' m Leota 77' m Con: T Pisi (1/3) 2' Pen: T Pisi (3/6) 40', 56', 65'	Attendance: 44,329 Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)

8 June 2013	Samoa	27–17	Scotland	Mr Price Kings Park, Durban
	Try: So'oialo 6' c Tuilagi (2) 11' c, 62' c Con: So'oialo (3/3) 8', 13', 64' Pen: So'oialo (2/3) 53', 69'		Try: Lamont 49' m Pen: Laidlaw (4/5) 10', 18', 31', 41'	Attendance: 9,753 Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

15 June 2013	Samoa	39–10	Italy	Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
	Try: Williams 20' c Leiua 41' m Leota 53' c Tuifu'a 63' c Va'aulu 72' c Con: Williams (3/4) 21', 53', 64' Anufe (1/1) 73' Pen: Williams (2/3) 30', 51'		Try: Penalty try 70' c Con: di Bernardo (1/1) 70' Pen: Orquera (1/3) 27'	Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

14 June 2014	Samoa	15–0	Italy	Apia Park, Apia
14:00 WST (UTC+13)	Pen: T. Pisi (5/7) 10', 24', 30', 47', 69'	Report (In Italian)		Attendance: 7,000 Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

5 July 2024	Samoa	33–25	Italy	Apia Park, Apia
17:00 AST (UTC+13)	Try: Taramai 9' c Ah Wong 30' m Toala 58' c Moleli 77' m Con: Leuila (2/3) 10', 59' Pen: Leuila (3/3) 43', 50', 69'		Try: Ioane 16' m Lynagh 20' c Garbisi 45' c Con: Garbisi (2/3) 21', 46' Pen: Garbisi (2/3) 14', 36'	Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

On 13 June 2024, newly-appointed head coach Mahonri Schwalger named a 32-player squad for Samoa's July internationals against Italy and Spain.

Head coach: Mahonri Schwalger

• Caps updated: 5 July 2024 (after game v Italy)

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Sama Malolo	Hooker	(1998-02-19) 19 February 1998 (age 26)	8	Moana Pasifika
JP Sauni	Hooker	(1997-07-07) 7 July 1997 (age 27)	1	Endeavour Hills
Andrew Tuala	Hooker	(1991-03-09) 9 March 1991 (age 33)	2	Hunter Wildfires
Lolani Faleiva	Prop	(1991-12-22) 22 December 1991 (age 32)	1	Taradale
Marco Fepulea'i	Prop	(1995-04-25) 25 April 1995 (age 29)	2	Colomiers
Aki Seiuli	Prop	(1992-12-22) 22 December 1992 (age 31)	4	Dragons
Kalolo Tuiloma	Prop	(1990-06-24) 24 June 1990 (age 34)	4	Taradale
Tietie Tuimauga	Prop	(1993-08-05) 5 August 1993 (age 30)	5	US Montauban
Michael Curry	Lock	(1994-03-02) 2 March 1994 (age 30)	4	Moana Pasifika
Theo McFarland (c)	Lock	(1995-10-16) 16 October 1995 (age 28)	13	Saracens
Ben Nee-Nee	Lock	(1993-05-12) 12 May 1993 (age 31)	4	Kamaishi Seawaves
Sam Slade	Lock	(1997-08-28) 28 August 1997 (age 26)	7	Moana Pasifika
Senio Toleafoa	Lock	(1993-08-26) 26 August 1993 (age 30)	5	Nevers
Iakopo Mapu	Back row	(1997-11-04) 4 November 1997 (age 26)	3	Moana Pasifika
Izaiha Moore-Aiono	Back row	(2000-03-03) 3 March 2000 (age 24)	1	Ampthill
Olajuwon Noa	Back row	(1989-12-28) 28 December 1989 (age 34)	5	New Orleans Gold
Murphy Taramai	Back row	(1992-08-17) 17 August 1992 (age 31)	0	Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks
Fred Tuilagi	Back row	(1997-06-09) 9 June 1997 (age 27)	0	Marist St. Joseph
Ere Enari	Scrum-half	(1997-05-30) 30 May 1997 (age 27)	8	Moana Pasifika
Melani Matavao	Scrum-half	(1995-11-19) 19 November 1995 (age 28)	16	Moana Pasifika
Jonathan Taumateine	Scrum-half	(1996-09-28) 28 September 1996 (age 27)	16	Moana Pasifika
D'Angelo Leuila	Fly-half	(1997-01-18) 18 January 1997 (age 27)	25	Moana Pasifika
Afa Moleli	Fly-half		1	University of Auckland
Duncan Paia'aua	Fly-half	(1995-01-20) 20 January 1995 (age 29)	11	Toulon
Stacey Ili	Centre	(1991-05-11) 11 May 1991 (age 33)	6	Thames Valley
Alapati Leiua	Centre	(1988-09-21) 21 September 1988 (age 35)	32	Ponsonby
Sebastian Visinia	Centre		1	Suburbs
Nigel Ah Wong	Wing	(1990-05-30) 30 May 1990 (age 34)	13	Moana Pasifika
Tomasi Alosio	Wing	(1992-01-26) 26 January 1992 (age 32)	4	Anthem RC
Pisi Leilua	Wing	(1995-05-12) 12 May 1995 (age 29)	0	Waipu
Owen Niue	Wing		0	Afega
Danny Toala	Fullback	(1999-03-26) 26 March 1999 (age 25)	13	Moana Pasifika

Player records[edit]

Most caps[edit]

Last updated: Samoa vs Italy, 5 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[12]

Most tries[edit]

Last updated: Samoa vs Italy, 5 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[13]

Most points[edit]

Last updated: Samoa vs Italy, 5 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[14]

Most matches as captain[edit]

Last updated: Samoa vs Italy, 5 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[15]

Most points in a match[edit]

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Gavin Williams	Centre	30	2	10	0	0	Papua New Guinea	Apia	11/07/2009
2	Roger Warren	Fly-half	24	0	0	8	0	Tonga	Apia	29/05/2004
3	Andrew Aiolupo	Fullback	23	1	8	1	0	South Korea	Tokyo	08/04/1990
	Silao Leaega	Fullback	23	1	3	4	0	Japan	Wrexham	03/10/1999
	Toa Samania	Fullback	23	1	3	4	0	Italy	Apia	08/07/2000
6	Darren Kellett	Fly-half	22	0	2	5	1	Tonga	Moamoa	04/06/1994
	Ahsee Tuala	Fullback	22	2	6	0	0	Germany	Heidelberg	14/07/2018
8	To'o Vaega	Centre	21	1	4	3	0	Fiji	Apia	01/06/1991
	Earl Va'a	Fly-half	21	1	5	2	0	Georgia	Perth	19/10/2003
	Roger Warren	Fly-half	21	0	3	4	1	Fiji	Apia	09/07/2005

Last updated: Samoa vs Italy, 5 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[16]

Most tries in a match[edit]

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1	Elvis Seveali'i	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Japan	Apia	10/06/2000
	Alesana Tuilagi	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Tonga	Apia	02/07/2005
	Esera Lauina	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Papua New Guinea	Apia	11/07/2009
	Robert Lilomaiava	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Canada	Colwyn Bay	09/11/2012
5	Tupo Fa'amasino	Wing	12	3	0	0	0	South Korea	Tokyo	08/04/1990
	Brian Lima	Centre	12	3	0	0	0	Fiji	Apia	01/06/1991
	Afato So'oalo	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Tonga	Apia	28/06/1997
	Dominic Feau'nati	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Namibia	Windhoek	12/07/2003
	Mikaele Pesamino	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	18/07/2009
	Alesana Tuilagi	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Namibia	Rotorua	14/09/2011
	Ed Fidow	Wing	15	3	0	0	0	Germany	Apia	30/06/2018

Last updated: Samoa vs Italy, 5 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[17]

Coaches[edit]

Period	Name	Nationality
197?–19??	Keli Tuatagaloa	Samoa
198?–198?	Paul Wallwork	Samoa
198?–1988	Richard Cook	New Zealand
1989–1995	Peter Schuster	Samoa
1996–1999	Bryan Williams	New Zealand
2000–2003	John Boe	New Zealand
2004–2007	Michael Jones	New Zealand
2008–2009	Niko Palamo	Samoa
2009–2011	Titimaea Tafua	Samoa
2011	Scott Wisemantel	Australia
2012–2015	Stephen Betham	Samoa
2016–2017	Alama Ieremia	New Zealand
2017–2018	Titimaea Tafua	Samoa
2018–2020	Steve Jackson	New Zealand
2020–2023	Seilala Mapusua	Samoa
2024–	Mahonri Schwalger	Samoa