Samoa back radical re-think of 2025 Lions tour to Australia
Seilala Mapusua is backing plans for a radical change to the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia in 2025 with the most famous touring team in the world facing Fiji, Tonga and Samoa before a three test series with the Wallabies.
Mapusua, the Samoa head coach, wants to ensure his country is included in the proposed schedule after Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan failed to mention them when putting forward the idea of Pacific Islands fixtures.
McLennan only name checked Fiji and Tonga despite Samoa having recently qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France by defeating Tonga in two matches.
Mapusua told RugbyPass: “I hope we haven’t done something to upset Rugby Australia because we would want to be involved in any fixtures for the Pacific Islands nations against the Lions.”
The quality of matches the Lions have been able to arrange leading into recent test series have raised questions about future tours with the provincial games on the South Africa tour which has just finished low on quality and did not feature any of the country’s top players.
Staging test matches in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa would not only give those Pacific Islands a much needed financial boost, it would also show the Four Home Unions really do want to offer tangible support rather than platitudes when it comes to helping nations that are frequently stripped of their young talent because of lack of opportunities at home.
Only Fiji have previously been allowed to face the Lions and in August 1977 they won a famous 25–21 victory as the touring team stopped off on their way back to home from a series loss in New Zealand.
Mapusua believes including the Pacific Islands nations would be significant moment for rugby and said: “It would be awesome to have to Lions play in Samoa and you could make the tour to Australia six tests not just three against the Wallabies. I think that could be of real interest to the Lions because it would give them high quality matches before the test series and they would be battled hardened.
“One of the luxuries that the Lions have over other international teams is that time together and the more test matches you play the tighter you become and playing Samoa, Tonga and Fiji would be ideal.
“It is encouraging that we are being mentioned in these kind of plans but I would be more encouraged if we were having conversations with other Unions rather than just mentions when ideas are put forward. As the Pacific Islands rugby nations we get mentioned quite a bit but it still remains to be seen if that leads to us actually being included.
“We want those conversations to become meaningful for the future of our nations and I would be a massive supporter of making the Lions tour idea work.”
McLennon is confident the plan can work and said:“ We want to deliver competitive games against our teams and we’d also like to bring in countries like Fiji and Tonga. We want to boost the marketability of the tour and that’s what a lot of people would love to see.”
Having qualified for the 2023 World Cup, Mapusua is preparing for November tests in Europe against Georgia, Romania and possibly Spain while there is a match against the Barbarians at Twickenham on November27 although that is outside the international release window.
With COVID-19 travel restrictions in the Southern Hemisphere likely to still be a factor, Mapusua will base his squad around those Samoan players already operating in Europe including Chris Vui and Alapati Leiua at Bristol and Logo Mulipola at Newcastle who were not involved in the Rugby World Cup qualifiers.
He added: “We will be looking to have between 12 and 18 players in the squad who are already in Europe and it will be difficult to bring up the guys because of travel restrictions. It is tough to make plans in terms of the quarantine period that the boys would face when they go back home. It means we will have minimal numbers from here and will rely on our European based players. We will be leaving around October 29 to head to Europe.
“We hope to be based in the UK and we are also looking at bases in France ahead of the Rugby World Cup. These matches will be an opportunity to build the pool of players we can use at the World Cup and there are a lot of boys scattered around France at the moment.”
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments