Samoan

Sports

Samoan shredders

FOR Western Samoa there will be no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The reward they seek at October’s rugby World Cup is recog nition. At the end of the day they simply want to be known as the best rugby union team in the Pacific Islands.

The best, they are. Earlier this year they soundly beat Fiji and Tonga to win the Pacific Three Nations championship.

After a successful tour of New Zealand in May, they went to Australia last month and hammered the Barbarians 36-24 in Sydney on the 25th. Even though they were beaten 31-15 by Australian Capital Territory five days later, they outscored ACT four tries to two and led 10-3 at halftime.

“To me they look ripe and ready to perform at the World Cup,” said former Argentine and Wallaby test player Topo Rodriguez. “They are very fit, very fast and strong, the backrow is superb.”

Western Samoa’s success is due mainly to the presence of New Zealand-based players brought back especially for the country’s first participation in the World

Cup.

Success, however, continues to elude the Pacific Islands’ only other World

Cup entrant Fiji. With time running

out very fast, the once mighty Fijians were still having too much worries last month trying to sort out too few chances.

A World Cup squad was to have been named on July 21 after nearly 20,000 people watched England hammer Fiji 28-12 in Suva. But there was no squad by the end of the month.

England went on to Australia and got thumped 40-15 by the Wallabies who also beat Wales 63-6.

Fiji play France, Canada and Ro mania in the World Cup. Western Samoa, now expected to put up a better showing than Fiji, play Australia, Argen tina and Wales. And Rodriguez believes that the Samoans will trouble Australia and scare the life out of Argentina and

down-at-heel Wales.

Against the Australian Barbarians, Western Samoa came back from 13-15 down at halftime and 16-24 shortly after against a classy Barbarian team to dominate the second half. And a measure of their exciting and effective style was the two tries apiece to wingers Timo Tagalo, a former US college American football player, and Brian Lima.

“I would say they are a 30-point better side than Wales,” said Rodriguez Rodriguez was especially taken with the athleticism of back rowers Apollo Perelini and Par Lam, who cut the Barbarian defence to shreds with some tremendous charges. The team, superbly led from the front by All Black triallist Pita Fatialofa, comprises almost half New Zealand-based players, most with provincial experience. It showed. □

Talat Mehmood

World Cup trail: Fiji runs against England in Suva. England won 28-12