Samoa 7s

They confirmed their qualification by beating Great Britain 34-5 in the London Sevens seventh-place playoff at Twickenham to secure fifth place in the 2022/2023 series standings.

Australia join Fiji, Argentina, and series champions New Zealand as the four automatic qualifiers from this season's world series, with France also guaranteed a spot at Paris 2024 as hosts.

Samoa missed out on Olympic qualification by the narrowest of margins at the end of the 2022/23 campaign. They could still qualify for Paris via regional qualifying or the final repechage tournament.

The Brian Lima coached side score a try in the first three minutes after Paul Scanlan managed to break through the USA defence line with his brilliant footwork.

Scanlan continued to find his way again through the host’s defence line two minutes later to help Neueli Leitufia score another try for Samoa.

Samoa managed to cross the white line again for a third try before they led 21-7 at halftime.

USA’s lone try of the first half was scored by Malachi Esdale.

Samoa’s last try of the match was scored by Tuna Tuitama after two tries from USA in the second half.

Fuli Faafouina is expected to run out for his first game for Manu Sevens during the Los Angeles tournament this weekend.

Muliagatele continues to put his trust in his three co-captains - Vaafauese Apelu Maliko, Vaovasa Afa Su'a and Melani Matavao.

The team are hoping to maintain their fourth placing for the series as the top four teams at the end of the 2023 Series will have automatic qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

This was after the Brian Lima coached side defeated New Zealand 12-7 in the cup final to win the tournament.

The co-captain said he is grateful for the support towards the team.

“First of all, we give thanks back to our heavenly father for giving us the strength and secondly to thank our supporters our families and all Samoans back at home.”

The team ended their 6-year drought after winning the competition.  

The side won the semifinal over the tough Canadian team 19-17, this morning.

The side bowed out of the medal contention after going down to Australia 7-0 in the quarterfinals.

The Brian Lima coached side was remarkable from the beginning of the campaign in the sport after defeating host nation England 34-0 in their opening game.

The men in blue went also defeated Sri Lanka 44-0 after losing to New Zealand 19-17.

The squad is a mix of youngsters and experienced players, as well as recalled veterans.

Muliagatele has retained Va'afauese Apelu, Melani Matavao and Paul Scanlan, who have played a combined total of 97 matches for the Samoa National 7's team.

They join equally experienced experienced Alefosio Tapili who has played 69 games for the Manu Samoa Sevens team, and David Afamasaga who has 126 international matches under his belt.

Samoa media reports everyone denied travel did not meet the Ministry of Health Covid-19 requirements.

The Manu Samoa Sevens were on their way home after failing to qualify for the Olympic Games at the Monaco Sevens tournament last week.

Because they were in Europe and had travelled back through several other covid affected countries they must go through a mandatory 21 day quarantine period in New Zealand.

The report says 202 of 280 passengers were able to make the flight and are now in quarantine at MOH approved sites.

The Manu Samoa and Manusina Sevens teams have selected entirely homegrown squads to compete in the final Olympic Sevens Qualification Tournament in Monaco later this month.

One former All Black and a former New Zealand Sevens star had been poised to switch their international allegiance to Samoa in two weeks.

But Lakapi Samoa's General Manager of High Performance, Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun, said the players were unable to secure slots in New Zealand's managed

quarantine facilities after the tournament, so will instead have to return home early.

Eight men's and women's teams will compete over two days at Hataitai Park, as Tonga, New Zealand and Samoa step up their preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Samoa Barbarians includes six players who have represented the Manu on the World Sevens Series, including incumbent captain Tomasi Alosio.

He was a part of the Samoan side that lost in the final of the Olympic repechage event four years ago and said the players want to redeem themselves in Monaco in June.

The Manu Samoa men's 7s team have not taken the field for 12 months after last season's World Series was cut short because of Covid-19, while the Manusina women have been out of action since the Oceania Sevens Championship in November 2019.

Neither team has any matches scheduled before the Olympic qualifier in June.

Samoa Rugby Union High Performance Unit General Manager, Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun, said the government has applied for them to travel to New Zealand so they can get some much needed match-play before flying to Europe.