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Samoa roll out big guns for World Cup opener

Steven Luatua of Samoa poses for a portrait during the Samoa Rugby World Cup 2023 Squad photocall on September 05, 2023 in Montpellier, France. (Photo by Adam Pretty - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

After a season of chopping and changing, Samoan head coach Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua has settled on a strong match-day 23 for the side’s opening World Cup clash with Chile.

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Three weeks following an impressive showing against the world’s top ranked side, Ireland, in Bayonne, Mapusua has made just three changes to the starting line-up that came within a whisker of knocking the Irish off their perch.

Regular captain Michael Alaalatoa has been reinstated to the No 3 jersey in place of Paul Alo-Emile and will partner James Lay and Seilala lam in the front row.

The back five all retain their spots from the previous match, with Chris Vui and Theodore McFarland named as locks and Taleni Seu, Fritz Lee and Steven Luatua rounding out the forward pack.

In the halves, Jonathan Taumateine retains the No 9 jersey while the experienced Christian Leali’ifano comes into the starting line-up in place of former All Blacks Lima Sopoaga, who performed admirably in his Manu Samoa Test debut against Ireland.

Leali’ifano is one of three players in the team, alongside Luatua and Sopoaga, to have previously played Test rugby for another nation. While Luatua and Sopoaga represented New Zealand, Leali’ifano was Australia’s top points scorer from the 2019 World Cup.

Tumua Manu and Ulupano Junior Seuteni hold down the midfield while Danny Toala’s introduction on the right wing is the sole change to the back three. Nigel Ah Wong holds his spot on the left while France-based Duncan Paia’aua will don the No 15 jersey for the second match in a row after spending the earlier Tests in the midfield.

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Samoa’s battle with Chile will kick off at 3pm CET on Saturday from the Stade de Bordeaux.

Samoa: Duncan Paia’aua, Danny Toala, Ulupano Seuteni, Tumua Manu, Nigel Ah Wong, Christian Leali’ifano, Jonathan Taumateine, Steven Luatua, Fritz Lee, Taleni Seu, Theodore McFarland, Chris Vui, Michael Alaalatoa, Seilala Lam, James Lay. Reserves: Sama Malolo, Jorday Lay, Paul Alo-Emile, Samuel Slade, Jordan Taufua, Ereatara Enari, Lima Sopoaga, Ed Fidow.

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1 Comment
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SS 643 days ago

Good luck Samoa! Let the rugby world know you have arrived

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f
fl 2 hours ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

I ultimately don’t care who the best club team in the world is, so yeah, lets agree to disagree on that.


I would appreciate clarity on a couple of things though:

Where did I contradict myself?

Saying “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” is entirely compatible with ranking a team as the best - over an extended period - when they have won more games and made more finals than other comparable teams. It would be contradictory for me to say “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.” and then completely ignore Leinster record of winning games and making finals.


“You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself.”

What you said (that I think trophies matter) is true, in that I said “Trophies matter. They matter a lot. But so does winning games. So does making finals.”. Do you understand that Leinster won more games and made more finals than any other (URC-based) team did under the period under consideration?


“Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.”

I really don’t understand why you would think that this is irrelevant. You seem to be saying that winning trophies is the only thing that matters when assessing who is the best, but doesn’t matter at all when assessing who is 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.


“What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.”

Well then we’ve just been talking at cross purposes. In that my position (that Leinster were the best team overall in 2022-2024) was pretty clear, and you just decided to respond to a different point (whether Leinster were the best team individually in particular years) essentially making the entire discussion completely pointless. I guess if you think that trophies are the only thing that matters then it makes sense to see the season as an individual event that culminates in a trophy (or not), whereas because I believe that trophies matter a lot, but that so does winning matches and making finals, it makes it easier for me to consider quality over an extended period.

24 Go to comments
M
MT 2 hours ago
Ex-Wallaby laughs off claims Bath are amongst the best in the world

As I said in one of my first replies to you - we can agree to disagree. If you want to leave it no problem. I completely disagree with your ranking of Leinster as the best team in the world. Now you have said you will change it if Bordeaux win the Top 14. Well as Leinster themselves prioritise the CC over the URC and Bordeaux won the CC, how are they not ranked higher by you? Are Leinster one of the best teams, yeah - never said they weren’t. But not the very best team, as the very best team have trophies to show for their seasons. They matter when you discuss the very best.


You can get frustrated and say I am not reading what you write, but when you quote me, then your first line is to say thats true (what I wrote), but by the end of the paragraph have stated something different, thats where you contradict yourself. Just so we are clear, you said you would too on my statement that I would rather be a fan of a team that won a trophy over the three seasons, but end the paragraph saying you would rather be a fan of the team that won the most matches but didn’t win a trophy. Both cant be true. Thats one example of where you contradict yourself.


Pointless comparison on Blackburn and Tottenham to this discussion as no-one includes them on a list of the best club. I would say that Blackburns title season was better than anything Tottenham have done in the Premier League. My reference to the league was that the team who finished second over two seasons are not better than the two other teams who did win the league each time. One of the best - of course, but not the best, which is relevant to my point here about Leinster, not comparing teams who won 30 years ago against a team that never won.


What I referred to in my Leinster wouldn’t say the were the best is your post earlier where you said Leinster were the best overall. You said that in two separate posts. Seasons dont work like that, they are individual. Unless the same team keeps winning then you can say they were the best over a period of time and group them, but thats not the case here.

24 Go to comments
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