Samoa's Historic Win in Oceania Rugby Women's Championship Sets Game-Changing Moment for Women's Rugby
By Thomas Airey
Manusina head coach Mata’afa Ramsey Tomokino thinks his team’s historic Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship win can be a game-changing moment for Samoan women’s rugby.
Last Sunday at Bond University in Gold Coast, Australia, Manusina defeated the Fijiana 19-18, ending Fiji’s dominant run in the competition.
The win qualified Samoa for the second tier of World Rugby’s new WXV competition to be played in South Africa at the end of the year.
Tomokino said he couldn’t be prouder of his players and the magnitude of their achievement is yet to fully sink in.
“I just think it’s massive for the girls, how many of them would have gone to South Africa in their lifetime?” he pondered.
Manusina will be joined in WXV 2 by the Springbok Women, Japan, Scotland, Italy or Spain and the lowest ranked team in July’s Pacific Four Series featuring Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and USA.
Tomokino emphasised the importance of more test matches, particularly against opposition from around the world, for the continued growth of his team.
Manusina’s last test against a team from outside the Pacific islands was against Hong Kong in May 2019, and before that came during the 2014 World Cup campaign.
For finishing second, Fijiana secured a place in the third tier of WXV, to be played in Hong Kong.
But their destinations could have easily been swapped with Fiji’s Adita Milinia scoring a try in the 77th minute of Sunday’s game to give Fijiana an 18-16 lead.
Manusina first five eighths Cassie Siataga slotted a sideline penalty in pouring rain with the last kick of the game to snatch victory.
Tomokino said he felt déjà vu in those final few minutes since Fiji had beaten Samoa with a try on fulltime in last year’s tournament.
“We came agonisingly close last year,” he said.
“Did we deserve to win? Maybe not but we could have. But this year we had a strong team.”
The Manusina coaching staff, who are predominantly women, tried to instil confidence in their players with heavyweight boxing metaphors ahead of the deciding game.
“We’ve got to fight them at the breakdown and really take it to them,” Tomokino said.
“Just talked about how we’re genuine contenders and you can’t win a title unless you throw punches and land them.”
He added that the most important thing was they weren’t intimidated by their impressive opposition.
The Fijiana’s feeder team Drua have won both editions of Australia’s Super W competition since being invited to compete, and the national side played well at last year’s World Cup.
The also played a test against the Wallaroos in Sydney a week before the Oceania Championship
“It’s easy to think, oh man, how are we going to be able to compete with that, but there’s just so much belief in the team,” Tomokino said.
“We have a great culture and I think that’s what underpins everything. Every campaign it’s so hard for everyone to say goodbye.”
It’s an attractive environment and Tomokino said some former Black Ferns and Black Ferns 7s players have indicated their interest in transferring their international eligibility to jump aboard.
“We’ll be really careful, they’ve gotta be playing as well as if not better than our current players, but we’re not shutting the door on anybody either,” he said.
Any gems they can add to the group will be a bonus, but Tomokino said the key improvements will come from Samoan women stepping towards semi-professional rugby careers by playing in more domestic and international tournaments.
The 2022 Oceania Rugby Women’s Combine saw New Zealand-based Manusina players Angel Schwenke and Easter Savelio, and Samoa-based representatives Saelua Leaula and Fa’alua Ioe Tugaga all receive contracts to play Super W for the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels this year.
Tomokino said that sort of exposure is huge and they have all progressed to play key roles in the Oceania Championship triumph.
“It’s really important that we have our local players and there’s a clear pathway for them to be able to make it,” he said.
“There’s the combine happening again and hopefully there will be some more girls that get an opportunity to get into Super W.”
Discussions are also ongoing towards having a Moana Pasifika team in Super W; likely to play some preseason games next year with a view to being included fully in the Australian competition from 2025 when it plans to expand.
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