‘We knew our time would come’: Manusina talks overcoming adversity to secure Women’s Rugby World Cup place

Manusina’s journey to qualification for the Women’s Rugby World Cup has not been easy amid Lakapi Samoa’s financial woes.

They successfully qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 2014 earlier this month.

World Rugby last week confirmed the pools for next year’s tournament and both Pacific Island teams, Samoa and Fiji, will have a mountain to climb if they are to progress to the knockout stage of the competition.

As the Samoa Rugby Union continues to face scrutiny, Manusina captain Masuisuimatama’ali’i Tauasa-Pauaraisa told RNZ Pacific there was still much work to be done.

Manusina was able to play in front of his family at home for the first time in over 15 years, beating Australia A 20-17.

Looking back on their journey, Pauaraisa says they now need the support of the community to travel to England.

“We know the financial difficulties Lakapi Samoa is going through, and for us to put Samoa back on the world map is a huge achievement.

“We have achieved a lot despite the lack of resources, and this is a team that the country must now support.”

Sometimes, Pauaraisa says, they were paid between NZ$130 and NZ$300 for an entire tournament, with equipment arriving late or not at all.

Manusina players feel “blessed” to have a coach like Mata’afā Lauaki Ramsey Tomokino, she said.

“He’s like a hero,” she says, adding “when we don’t get paid, he takes money out of his pocket to pay the girls and other administrative tasks, which amounts to thousands of dollars of his pocket, and I don’t do it. I think it’s refunded.”

Pauraisa says that as Samoan women, the Manusina players have been “strong in our faith and in what we do”.

She adds that although there is a lot of focus on the Manu Samoa team, “I don’t compare what they do with what we do.”

“We behaved with humility and respect; we just kept going and God blessed us by qualifying for the World Cup,” she explains.

“You can see the hearts of all the girls; our goal was to continue building and learning at the same time.”

It’s time to speak out

But now the time has come for Manusina, and they are ready to speak out and be heard, says Pauaraisa.

“We knew our time would come, but we can’t settle for these opportunities and just be grateful, things have to be better for the next generation.

“We wonder why other countries take our players away from us, it’s because of financial constraints.”

For his part, Mata’afā says what he did to support the team was out of love for the girls, who are mothers and have families to support.

“The (Samoa Rugby) federation is in a bad state. It’s probably the worst it’s ever been in,” he said.

“Personally, I had to put money in my own pocket. The girls received some in Samoa. When we arrived in Dubai, I checked in and saw that the girls didn’t have any money to pay for anything, so I decided to pay the girls myself.

“Lack of sponsors and funding”, estimates Lakapi Smaoa

Lakapi Samoa general manager Faleomavaega Vincent Fepuleai admits there is no doubt the union is in serious financial difficulties and that this problem “is not new”.

He confirmed that Mata’afā had to use his personal funds to support the women.

“We should celebrate a coach who cares deeply about his team and who will defend and fight for them and dig into his own pockets to help his team succeed and bridge the gap for the Union until we can honor the payments,” he said via email response.

“We are fortunate to have him in the Union and he has served Samoa for many years in different roles and understands the landscape and challenges that the Union continues to serve.”

Faleomavaega said he did so knowing he would be compensated for his expenses.

“Steps taken to alleviate or stop the debt included the cancellation of the Manu Samoa tour to the northern hemisphere, the first time in over 20 years, in order to repay the outstanding debt without further hemorrhaging,” he said. declared.

“Ineffective trade deals, lack of sponsors and funding for the union have contributed to our current situation.”

Faleomavaega revealed that the union has not recovered since post-Covid and is still playing catch-up.

He says Lakapi Samoa’s main source of funding is World Rugby, which helps fund travel to competitions and associated costs such as camps and flights.

However, World Rugby’s funding does not cover team allowances or clothing, meaning the union must raise this money to cover these costs.

Faleomavaega says Manuisna players have received their allowances for the Australia A match.

“Normally compensation is paid in full in advance, due to issues with our current clothing supplier, Lakapi Samoa has had to step in to pay for clothing for the Manu Samoa team and now Manusina so the factory can deliver them for their respective competitions.

This unexpected payment further set the union back.

“This was once again a most unfortunate situation and having to do this twice has seriously damaged the Union and impacted Manusina once again.”

He says the “unexpected payments” in addition to the “delay in subsidy disbursement” set the union back and prevented it from supporting Manusina with allowances.

“Manusina is one of our extremely well managed teams”

He adds that Manusina’s successes against adversity to represent their country is what should be celebrated.

“We know our Manusina team will have a big year of preparation ahead of the Rugby World Cup. We, like everyone else, do not want to see player availability affected by finances and the head coach has made shares his concerns about player recruitment which comes from the players and something that we too want to support.

The general manager says that although Lakapi Samoa had to deal with Manu Samoa players who “threatened to strike”, they were “never entertained by our players”, who, he adds, ” just want to represent their family and their country with pride.” “.

Faleomavaega says the union will “seek to do more for Manusina… as best we can”.

“The Manusina team is one of our teams that we know is extremely well managed, always within budgeted costs and going about their business with the utmost confidence of the union.”

“Continuing the celebrations against minimal resources and funding and not allowing that to distract them and qualifying for the ultimate prize of qualification is what should be high,” he says, adding that “the necessary support to ensure better days to come. for these wonderful servants of Samoa.