Tusi Pisi confirms Manu Samoa coaching team and captain

New Manu Samoa head coach, Tusi Pisi, has confirmed his coaching staff and captain as they prepare for a busy year of World Cup qualifiers.

Pisi, who is an assistant coach with Japanese Second Division leaders Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, has called on the services of two former Manu Samoa teammates in Census Johnston (scrum and overall forwards coach) and Kane Thompson (lineout and contact skills coach) and also Tai Lavea (defence), the twin brother of another former Manu Samoa international of his generation, Tasesa Lavea.

Former Saracens and Toulouse prop, Johnston, is scrum coach of Auckland in the ITM Cup and has worked with the Blues Women, while Thompson, who was assistant coach with Manu Samoa in 2024, has been head coach of NOLA Gold in New Orleans since December 2021.

Ex-Counties Manukau coach Lavea won the Japanese Rugby League One title with Toshiba Brave Lupus last year, as part of Todd Blackadder’s coaching group.

“It is important to have people around you who you can trust, and also it is important to have people around you who are competent and can do their job. I have worked with all these guys before, and they are all in high-performance environments. I believe that this is a great mix for us moving forward,” Pisi said.

Saracens loose forward Theo McFarland led the team at last year’s Pacific Nations Cup and retains the armband under Pisi.

“He’s a superstar, he’s a great leader of men in our team, and it is great to see him back playing,” said Pisi.

“He leads by his actions, he knows what to say at the right times, and he has played with great leaders in that Saracens team, so he has experienced being in a high-performance environment for a long period – and he is just great around the group.”

Pisi enjoyed a distinguished playing career, which saw him win three caps for the Pacific Islanders in 2006 and 42 for Samoa, from 2011 to 2019, including appearances at three World Cups.

Appearing in a fourth tournament, this time as head coach, is the next goal. With three automatic qualification places available and Fiji and Japan already qualified, all the teams except the one that finishes bottom in this year’s PNC will get a direct ticket to the next tournament in Australia in 2027.

“The sooner we nail that qualification, the better it is for us. That is definitely one of our immediate goals, and we’ll be working hard to get that result.”

Pisi’s first match in charge of Manu Samoa will be against Scotland at Eden Park on July 18th. Just over a month later, they begin their PNC campaign against Tonga on August 23rd.

The PNC clashes with the ITM Cup in New Zealand, which could present challenges in regards to player availability. But Pisi takes a positive view that it could help him discover some otherwise unseen talent, building up to the World Cup. “I guess from where I sit, if a player is not available, then it is a great opportunity for someone else, and we are all of the same mindset – myself and the other coaches,” he said.