Samoa national rugby sevens team

Samoa Sevens
Union	Samoa Rugby Football Union
Coach(es)	Stephen Betham
Captain(s)	Lolo Lui
Top scorer	Uale Mai 1174
Most tries	Mikaele Pesamino 151
	Team kit
	Team kit
First international
	1993 Hong Kong Sevens.
World Cup Sevens
Appearances	4 (First in 1993)
Best result	2010

The Samoa national rugby union team represent Samoa internationally in rugby sevens, a competitive sports tournament titled the IRB Sevens World Series which takes place annually in seven countries; United Arab Emirates, South Africa, New Zealand, United States, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland.

Referred to as the Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, they are the champions of the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series following a 15-12 victory against England in the semi-finals at the 2010 Edinburgh Sevens on May 30. The semi-finals win at Murrayfield Stadium gave the team enough points to win the sevens world series for the first time in history. ^[1]Samoa Sevens went on to the finals to beat Australia and crowned winners of the 2010 Edinburgh Sevens.

The historic victory follows three consecutive tournament wins in the world series, the Hong Kong Sevens,^[2] the USA Sevens and the Adelaide Sevens.^[3]

Representing the tiny Polynesian country of Samoa with a population of about 180,000 the Samoa Sevens is one of the smallest nations in the international series, competing against some of the wealthiest and high tech countries in the world.^[4]

The team includes several of the highest points and try scorers in series history, Uale Mai and Mikaele Pesamino. Pesamino was also named the 2010 IRB International Sevens Player of the Year, an honour which Uale Mai, a former team captain and one of the most capped players in the sport, had won in 2006. Captain Lolo Lui and teammate Alafoti Fa'osiliva had also been nominated.^[5]

Rugby union in Samoa is governed by the Samoa Rugby Football Union which oversees the Samoa Sevens team and the 15-player Manu Samoa national team.

History

In 2007, the team won both the Wellington Sevens and Hong Kong Sevens. Another past victory was the Hong Kong Sevens in 1993. In 2009, the team made the finals in the Dubai Sevens but lost to the New Zealand team.

While long a solidly competitive side, the Samoa Sevens emerged as true world contenders in the 2006-07 Sevens World Series, finishing third overall while winning two events. This new team has reached the final four times in a row, playing against series favourite Fiji.

Coaches

The current coach is Stephen Betham. Past coaches have included Lilomaiava Taufusi Salesa who trained the 1993 Hong Kong Sevens winning team. Other notable coaches who have led Samoa to sevens prominence were head coach Fuimaono Titimaea "Dicky" Tafua and his assistant Galumalemana Rudolph Moors. In the 2005 - 2006 IRB Sevens Circuit they managed to qualify to two finals (London and Paris) but failed to win any. The Samoa Sevens lost to South Africa in London and island rivals Fiji at Paris.

Fuimaono resigned from coaching in 2007 to his new post as Secretary to Samoa's Head of State, Tupua Tamasese Tufuga Efi. He would later return to coaching in 2009 as head coach of the 15s national team. Galumalemana took over as coach and after a disappointing team performance in the 2008–09 series was temporarily replaced by Lilomaiava Taufusi Salesa for the final two legs of the series. Stephen Betham was named as Galumalemana successor in 2009.

Current squad

Adelaide/Hong Kong Leg 2010

Simaika Mikaele
Afa Aiono
Alafoti Fa'osiliva
Pale Toelupe
Ofisa Treviranus
Paul Chan Tung
Lolo Lui (C)
Reupena Levasa
Mikaele Pesamino
Timoteo Iosua
Fautua Otto
Uale Mai

Dubai/George 2009/2010 series

Simaika Mikaele
Afa Aiono
Alafoti Fa'osiliva
Pale Toelupe
Jerry Meafou
Paul Chan Tung
Lolo Lui (Captain)
Reupena Levasa
Mikaele Pesamino
Timoteo Iosua
Fautua Otto
Taupo Sefo

Win summaries

Event	Venue	Cup			Plate	Bowl	Shield
Event	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Winner	Winner
2010 Edinburgh Sevens	Murrayfield Stadium	Samoa	41 - 14	Australia	Scotland	Wales	Russia
2010 Hong Kong Sevens	Hong Kong Stadium	Samoa	24 - 21	New Zealand	Australia	Canada	Hong Kong
2010 Adelaide Sevens	Adelaide Oval	Samoa	38 - 10	United States	New Zealand	England	Japan
2010 USA Sevens	Sam Boyd Stadium	Samoa	33 - 12	New Zealand	South Africa	United States	Scotland
2008 London Sevens	Westpac Stadium	Samoa	19 - 14	Fiji	New Zealand	Australia	Spain
2007 Hong Kong Sevens	Hong Kong Stadium	Samoa	27 - 22	Fiji	Wales	Russia
2007 Wellington Sevens	Westpac Stadium	Samoa	14 - 7	Fiji	England	Tonga	Portugal
1993 Hong Kong Sevens	Government Stadium	Western Samoa	14 - 12	Fiji	Tonga	Romania

In July 1997, the Government of Samoa amended its constitution to change the country's name from Western Samoa to Samoa.^[6]

2009-10 IRB Sevens World Series

Itinerary

The series' tournaments are identical to those in 2008–09 and span the globe, visiting five of the six populated continents.

The itinerary for the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series;

2009–10 Itinerary^[7]
Leg	Venue	Date	Winner
Dubai	The Sevens	December 4–5, 2009	New Zealand
South Africa	Outeniqua Park, George	December 11–12, 2009	New Zealand
New Zealand	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	February 5–6, 2010	Fiji
United States	Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas	February 13–14, 2010	Samoa
Australia	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide	March 19–21, 2010	Samoa
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Stadium	March 26–28, 2010	Samoa
London	Twickenham	May 22–23, 2010	Australia
Edinburgh	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	May 29–30, 2010	Samoa

Overall Standings

2009–10 Standings^[8]
Pos.	Country	Dubai	South Africa (George)	New Zealand (Wellington)	USA (Las Vegas)	Australia (Adelaide)	Hong Kong	England (London)	Scotland (Edinburgh)	Overall
1	Samoa	20	6	20	24	24	30	16	24	164
2	New Zealand	24	24	16	20	12	25	12	16	149
3	Australia	12	6	12	16	16	16	24	20	122
4	Fiji	16	20	24	8	6	20	8	6	108
5	England	16	12	16	6	4	20	6	16	96
6	South Africa	8	8	8	12	8	10	20	6	80
7	Argentina	6	16	0	0	16	0	16	8	62
8	Kenya	6	16	6	16	0	8	0	0	52
9	Wales	4	4	4	6	6	0	6	4	34
10	United States	0	0	0	4	20	8	0	0	32
11	Canada	DNP	DNP	6	0	DNP	5	4	0	15
12	Scotland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	12

Former players

Other statistics

Year	Host	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Winner	Score	Runner-up
Year	Host	Cup Final			Plate Final
2009 Details	Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground	New Zealand	24-12	Samoa	Australia	7-0	South Africa
2008 Details	Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground	South Africa	19-12	England	Samoa	12-7	Kenya
2007 Details	Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground	New Zealand	31-21	Fiji	Argentina	15-14	Samoa
2004 Details	Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground	England	26 - 21	Fiji	Samoa	21 - 19	Argentina

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2010 Details	Westpac Stadium	Fiji	19-14	Samoa	Australia	26-22	South Africa
2008 Details	Westpac Stadium	New Zealand	22-7	Samoa	South Africa	19-12	Wales

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2007^[9] Details	San Diego, California	Fiji	38 - 24	Samoa	South Africa	28 - 19	Scotland
2005^[10] Details	Carson, California	New Zealand	34 - 5	Argentina	Fiji	24 - 21	Samoa

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2007 Details	Outeniqua Park	New Zealand	33-9	Fiji	South Africa	12-7	Samoa
2005 Details	Outeniqua Park	Fiji	21 - 19	Argentina	Samoa	17 - 5	New Zealand

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2007 Details	Adelaide Oval	Fiji	21-7	Samoa	Australia	31-0	South Africa

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2007 Details	Murrayfield	New Zealand	34-5	Samoa	Fiji	31-7	Kenya

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2006 Details	Stade Jean-Bouin	South Africa	33-12	Samoa	Fiji	31-12	Argentina

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2006 Details	National Stadium, Singapore	Fiji	40-21	England	Samoa	26-5	France

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
2006 Details	Twickenham	Fiji	54-14	Samoa	South Africa	42-7	Kenya

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate	Bowl
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Winner
1998 Details	Hong Kong Stadium	Fiji	28-19	Western Samoa	South Korea	Morocco

Year	Venue	Cup			Plate
Year	Venue	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up
1979 Details	HK Football Club Stadium	Australia	39-3	Western Samoa	Papua New Guinea	13-10	Hawaii

References

^ International Rugby Board, Retrieved 31 May, 2010
^ "Samoa win Hong Kong Sevens". Times LIVE. 28 March, 2010. Retrieved 29 March, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
^ "Superb Samoa wins Adelaide Sevens". International Rugby Board. 21 March, 2010. Retrieved 29 March, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
^ Hunter, Russell (22 March, 2010). "A breathtaking achievement". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 24 May, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
^ "NZ sevens players miss awards list". Television NZ. 26 May, 2010. Retrieved 26 May, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
^ "Constitution Amendment Act (No 2) 1997". Retrieved 27 November 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ "2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series schedule set" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
^ "Overall Standings". International Rugby Board. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
^ Official 2007 Results
^ Official 2005 Results

External links

[1] International Rugby Board, Retrieved 31 May, 2010

[2] "Samoa win Hong Kong Sevens". Times LIVE. 28 March, 2010. Retrieved 29 March, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)

[3] "Superb Samoa wins Adelaide Sevens". International Rugby Board. 21 March, 2010. Retrieved 29 March, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)

[4] Hunter, Russell (22 March, 2010). "A breathtaking achievement". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 24 May, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)

[5] "NZ sevens players miss awards list". Television NZ. 26 May, 2010. Retrieved 26 May, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)

[6] "Constitution Amendment Act (No 2) 1997". Retrieved 27 November 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[2009-10_schedule-7] "2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series schedule set" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2009-07-14.

[0910Standings-8] "Overall Standings". International Rugby Board. Retrieved 2010-03-28.

[9] Official 2007 Results

[10] Official 2005 Results

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v t e National rugby sevens teams
World Rugby Sevens Series core teams	Argentina Australia Canada Fiji France Great Britain Ireland New Zealand Samoa South Africa Spain United States
Teams with Rugby World Cup Sevens experience	Chile Chinese Taipei Cook Islands England Georgia Germany Hong Kong Italy Jamaica Japan Kenya Latvia Morocco Namibia Netherlands Papua New Guinea Philippines Portugal Romania Russia Scotland South Korea Tonga Tunisia Uganda Uruguay Wales Zimbabwe
Other teams	Afghanistan Algeria American Samoa Andorra Austria Bahamas Bahrain Barbados Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Cayman Islands China Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland Guam Guyana Hungary India Indonesia Iran Israel Kazakhstan Kiribati Kosovo Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malaysia Malta Mexico Moldova Monaco Montenegro Nauru New Caledonia Nigeria Niue Norway Pakistan Paraguay Peru Poland Qatar San Marino Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Sri Lanka Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Tahiti Thailand Tokelau Trinidad & Tobago Turkey Tuvalu Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Wallis and Futuna West Indies
Defunct	Arabian Gulf Czechoslovakia East Germany West Germany USSR Yugoslavia

v t e SVNS
Seasons	1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2021 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
2023–24 events	Dubai Cape Town Perth Vancouver Los Angeles Hong Kong Singapore Madrid (Grand Final)
Former events	Argentina Chile China Fiji France Japan London (England) Malaysia New Zealand Scotland Uruguay Wales
Current stadiums	BC Place Cape Town Stadium Dignity Health Sports Park Hong Kong Stadium Metropolitano Stadium National Stadium, Singapore Perth Rectangular Stadium The Sevens
Related articles	Sevens Challenger Series Olympic Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens