The Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Rugby Union says they face a tough year ahead packed with competition for both the sevens and the 15s national teams.
"We're looking at the first few matches which will be our Manu Samoa and Georgia here, and then to Fiji in June, and not only that also the sevens qualifier in Monaco," said Faleomavaega Patrick Fepuleai.
He made the comments during a presentation of financial assistance to the union from Bank of South Pacific.
BSP handed over more than $14,700 tala in assistance from the profits of a long time initiative to SRU.
"The offer today from BSP is the fruit of a special initiative in our partnership with them," said SRU CEO Faleomavaega.
"We established a special debit card with the brand Manu Samoa in our partnership, and agreed that 50% of the profit from its fees would be allocated to Manu Samoa. So today is a celebration of that initiative coming through and the support of our country to the Manu Samoa," added Faleomavaega.
While being thankful for the support, he admits that there is a lot more work ahead for the upcoming tours for the Manu Samoa.
"We’re getting support from World Rugby, and our local sponsors and we’re going to ensure that everything runs smoothly as we need it to be," he added.
"I can’t put a figure on it, but all I can say is it takes hundreds of thousands of tala, but were getting very much support and things look good right now," he added.
Faleomavaega says it is unlikely that there would be a second test against New Zealand following the successful hosting of the clash in Apia last year.
"We’re always looking for matches like that and we’re always okay to jump at those opportunities. However, New Zealand has their own agenda. We all follow a certain time table set by World Rugby, so in order for a match like that to happen, it has to be outside of World Rugby ties so it’s between us and New Zealand," he said.