Samoa National Rugby Sevens Team



The Samoa national rugby union team represent Samoa internationally in rugby sevens, a competitive sports tournament titled the IRB Sevens World Series which takes place annually in seven countries; United Arab Emirates, South Africa, New Zealand, United States, Hong Kong,Australia, England and Scotland.

Referred to as the Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, they are the champions of the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series following a 15-12 victory against England in the semi-finals at the 2010 Edinburgh Sevens on May 30. The semi-finals win at Murrayfield Stadium gave the team enough points to win the sevens world series for the first time in history. Samoa Sevens went on to the finals to beat Australia and crowned winners of the 2010 Edinburgh Sevens.

The historic victory follows three consecutive tournament wins in the world series, the Hong Kong Sevens, the USA Sevens and the Adelaide Sevens.

Representing the tiny Polynesian country of Samoa with a population of about 180,000 the Samoa Sevens is one of the smallest nations in the international series, competing against some of the wealthiest and high tech countries in the world.

The team includes several of the highest points and try scorers in series history, Uale Mai and Mikaele Pesamino. Pesamino was also named the 2010 IRB International Sevens Player of the Year, an honour which Uale Mai, a former team captain and one of the most capped players in the sport, had won in 2006. Captain Lolo Lui and teammate Alafoti Fa'osiliva had also been nominated.

Rugby union in Samoa is governed by the Samoa Rugby Football Union which oversees the Samoa Sevens team and the 15-player Manu Samoa national team.