Manu Samoa 7s

Maliko has created history by being the first Samoan player to collect three awards this season.

He won the awards for Top Try Scorer, Impact Player Award and Dream Team.

Samoa defeated New Zealand 24-19 to win bronze at the London 7s last week.

The Toulouse 7s is scheduled to be held next weekend.

Samoa is currently trailing behind Australia with 111 points in the overall standings.

Australia is in fifth place with 112 points.

Series leaders New Zealand has 164 under its name ahead of Argentina with 140 points. Fiji is in third place with 130 points.

France is in fourth place with 122 points ahead of Australia with 112 points.

Samoa will face Ireland in their first game in Toulouse on Friday, 12 May.

The side defeated the national team 28-7.

Samoa had a fiery start with two converted tries.

Paul Scanlan went in first, finishing off a well-executed team effort.

Tuna Tuitama backed this up with their second try, making the Fijian defenders look like amateurs in the game, running a straight line through.

Fiji’s restart woes continues as they gave away precious possession.

But after some patient play they were able to get on the scoresheet through Iowane Teba seeing Fiji trail 7-14 at the breather.

It was a shaky start by both sides with a few handling errors in the first two minutes before Joseva Talacolo marked his return for Fiji at the World Series with the first try following some powerful work by Josese Batirerega.

Samoa had a few scoring chances but Fiji’s defense made the difference in the first seven minutes for a converted try lead at the break under wet conditions.

However, it was Waisea Nacuqu who sliced through the defense in the 4th minute before teaming up with Ponipate Loganimasi who released Filipo Bukayaro to score.

Head Coach Brian Lima has assembled a squad with outstanding players from past two tournaments.

The side features Paul Scanlan, who was an exceptional player at the Los Angeles 7s.

The 27-year-old has been awarded DHL Impact Player in five out of the total of six games they played altogether.

The line-up also features the likes of Tanu Niulevaea, Paul Eti Slater, who were both also outstanding players at the Los Angeles 7s.

Samoa will be facing Fiji in its first game on Friday, 31 March, at 8.28pm (Samoa Time).

The Men in Blue opened the score board scoring three consecutive tries in the first five minutes.

The tries were scored by Tanu Niulevaea, Paul Eti Slater and Owen Niue.

The Brian Liman coached side continued to break the defence line of the South Africans to score one more try and led 26-0 at halftime.

Samoa continued to score three more tries in the second half before South Africa scored the last and lone try of the match.

Samoa will now face Great Britain in the final of the 5th place play-off.

The Brian Lima-coached side will be going head to head with the current World Sevens Series leaders, New Zealand in their last pool game on Sunday.

Currently in third place, Samoa will face USA in their first pool game on Sunday, before they take on Chile in their second game on the same day.

The Los Angeles 7s will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

New Zealand is currently leading the series with 85 points, South Africa in second place with 76 points ahead of Samoa in third with 68 points.

France is in fourth place with 68 points.

 Sione sustained a season-ending knee injury in Sydney and is recovering from a reconstructive surgery in Auckland.

The 27-year-old is expected to return to the side next season.

The Island nation team is expected to feature Neueli Leitufia and Motu Opetai in the competition after they were both handed three match bans in Sydney.

The duo missed out on Samoa’s 5th place final in Sydney against Ireland and the last two weeks of club rugby in Samoa, making up the three weeks.

Samoa is pooled with Sydney 7s champions, New Zealand, USA and Chile at the LA 7s.

The side went down to New Zealand 12-0 in the first quarterfinals.

NZ proved to be too strong for the pacific lads and scored two tries from Roderick Solo and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black.

Samoa will now go on to play against Australia in the first 5th place semifinal before Ireland takes on Great Britain.

Meanwhile in the other cup quarters, South Africa defeated Ireland 26-12, Fiji defeated Great Britain 14-17 France.

South Africa will face Fiji in the first cup semifinals before New Zealand takes on France.

The side will be playing against current HSBC World Sevens series leaders, New Zealand in the first quarterfinal.

Samoa remained undefeated in their pool stage after beating Spain 35-15 in their last pool game.

New Zealand lost their last pool game after they were beaten 17-14, going down to a late South Africa penalty shot at goal after both sides had scored two tries.

The quarterfinal match between Samoa and New Zealand will kick start at 9.37pm.