Manu Samoa sevens

Samoa are yet to compete in any tournament this season, largely because of their government's strict Covid protocols.

They set up camp in Dubai in January in the hope that they could play during the second half of the campaign, but they didn't feature in Spain because of a COVID outbreak in the squad, and the next tournament in Singapore is two months away.

To add to Lakapi Samoa's woes, a letter has surfaced from the players which accuses team management of bullying and intimidation.

Mr McGrath was seeking $US400,000 from the Samoa Rugby Union.

RNZ reports the judge said mediation on grievances between the head coach and the union was part of the contract but it didn't happen when the union terminated Mr McGrath's contract last year.

Mr McGrath has claimed wrongful dismissal and said the SRU and its chief executive defamed him.

The plaintiff has sought mediation but the SRU told the court it had enough evidence and wanted the court case to proceed.

Justice Nelson said 75 percent of impossible cases are settled by mediation.

Ng Shiu appeared for Tasman, raising the interest of Samoan coach Sir Gordon Tietjens.

But here's where things get murky.

On the second day's play in Rotorua, Tietjens was seen, in the grandstand, talking to Ng Shiu.

Tietjens says that the 22-year-old, Napier-born Ng Shiu, while not a standout, would have been good value for his young Samoan side.

Samoa last won a cup in the HSBC sevens series in Dubai in 2012.

Fiji's defeat which came from the hands of the most criticized yet still rolling, Falemiga Selesele has proved that Manu Samoa's big hearts can do the job.

Loop Samoa spoke to McGrath this morning following their win against South Africa in the quarterfinal and he said there’s no fancy game plan left to discuss.

"Self-belief. The other teams, particularly the big teams are highly paid professionals with lots of Internationals and Super Rugby players," he said.