The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed Toa Samoa (English: Samoan Warriors).
Western Samoa made their debut in the 1986 Pacific Cup. Joe Raymond coached this side to a final where they went down to a strong NZ Maori side. Joe Raymond went on to coach them again in 1988 and would return again to coach them 10 years later in 1998 in a one-off game against a Samoan team of Samoan resident players at Carlaw park.
William John "Swanny" Stowers and his wife Lyndsay Stowers operated Samoa Rugby League out of their North Shore home in Auckland and from the Richmond Rugby League Club house where Lyndsay ran the canteen. This resilient couple were known to have put a mortgage on their home to assist with funding the thirty (30) men representing Samoa in the Pacific Cup held in Tonga, 1990.[citation needed] This commitment lead to a historical win over the Maori team for the first time and a win in the 1990 Pacific Cup. Coached by the Richmond Bulldogs Head Coach, Steve Kaiser.
Samoa then won the 1992 Pacific Cup over Tonga in an action filled thriller that went into two (2) overtimes and sent the NZ Rugby League and Polynesian rugby league public into a frenzy. The 1992 Tournament showcased all of NZ Rugby league talent and Australian Rugby league scouts were already booked to witness the 1994 Pacific Cup held in Fiji.
Steve Kaiser in his sixth year as the Samoan Coach had an array of NZ based quality players for the 1994 Pacific Cup with the likes of Se'e Solomona, Tony Tatupu, the Tuimavave brothers Paki and Tony plus the loyal players of Mike Setefano, Matthew TuiSamoa, Alex Tupou and Mark Faumuina. Henry Suluvale and Rudy David led the contingent of first class players from Canterbury however this arsenal were well contained by the Tongan stars Jim Dymock, John Hopoate, Solomon Haumono and Albert Fulivai.
The 1998 Pacific Cup team saw a new and old talent. Joe Raymond, one of the first Samoan Rugby League Rep coaches returned after coaching Tonga and the NZ Maori, the late Eddie Poching managed the team and the introduction of Francis Meli to Samoan Rugby League and Junior Papalii a loyal American Samoan Representative. Pati Tuimavave from the 1992 squad and Matthew TuiSamoa, the only survivor from 1990 Pacific Cup champion team returned. Samoa battled Tonga for the 1998 Pacific Cup again at Carlaw park and again Samoa regained the Pacific Champions Title.
2000s
The Pacific Cup was taken to Australia's Gold Coast in 2000 where Auckland coach John Ackland took over the reins. Ackland added another dimension to Samoa Rugby League in selecting rising stars Itikeri Samani a Canberra and Goulburn Stockmen Junior who previously represented American Samoa and Wayne McDade from the New Zealand Warriors while bringing back Matthew tuiSamoa into the Pacific Cup arena.
Samoa took on Ireland, Scotland, and the Aotearoa Māori in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup pool stages. They would lose to 'the Irish' in their opening game, but they'd beat NZ Maori, and Scotland in their next two games, sealing a place in the knock-out stages. They would take on Australia in the quarter-final. Unfortunately, they ended their tournament with a thrashing 66–10 defeat (their biggest defeat up to date), sealing an end to a respectable World Cup Campaign.
Samoa played in the Pacific Pool of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers. They beat the Cook Islands and Fiji, but lost to Tonga. On a points difference, Samoa came in third and had to play USA in the Repecharge Semi-final. Samoa won this match 42–10 and then played Lebanon on 14 November 2007 in the Repecharge Final to see who would take the 10th and final World Cup place. Samoa came out eventual winners of the 10th and final 2008 Rugby League World Cup place beating Lebanon 38–16 at the Chris Moyles Stadium, Featherstone.[1]
Samoa took on Tonga and Ireland in the Tournament's pool stages. They beat their Pacific rivals 20–12, but they then lost to the Irish by 34–16. This big losing margin, sent the Samoans into battle against the French in the Tournament's 9th place play-off. Samoa easily won, winning 42–10 and capping off an undesirable World Cup Tournament.
In April 2013, Samoa took on Tonga in the '2013 Pacific Rugby League Test' at Penrith Stadium. The International was created as a World Cup warm-up match. Tonga targeted Samoa's weak defence, and it paid off, thrashing the Toa Samoans by 36–4.
In May 2014, Samoa defeated Fiji 32–16 in a one-off Test match to qualify for the 2014 Four Nations. In the Four Nations, Samoa was the fourth nation and the underdogs against rugby league's three big heavyweight nations England, New Zealand and Australia. But they proved that they were anything but underdogs, losing to England by six points in a sea-sawing battle, and they were within four minutes of creating rugby league history by beating New Zealand. By the final round, Samoa still had a chance to qualify for the final, making this Four Nations the toughest ever. This Samoan performance added credential to the rugby league game showing that the game is not all about the big three. An annual series against New Zealand was proposed to run likewise to Australia's State of Origin series.[3]
In May 2015, Samoa took on Tonga. The game was an absolute thriller with the lead alternating between the teams and the biggest margin throughout the match was only 6 points. Samoa won 18–16. The following year, in May 2016, Samoa defeated Tonga 18–12.
Samoa were winless at the 2017 World Cup, losing 38–8 to New Zealand and 32–18 Tonga, and drawing 14–14 with Scotland. However, due to the tournament structure, they advanced to the knock-out stage thanks to the draw.[4][5] In the quarter-final, Samoa lost 46–0 to defending champions Australia.[6] Former rugby league players Reni Maitua and Willie Mason were heavily critical of the team after the tournament, claiming the players were staying up late at night and had no respect for coach Matt Parish.[7]
In February 2021, it was reported that 34 current and former Samoan players had co-signed a letter to Samoan Prime MinisterTuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi requesting for Parish to be removed as coach, citing a lack of professionalism and success. Parish responded by claiming the players were coerced to sign the letter.[8] In May 2021, Andrew Johns, Matthew Johns and Sonny Bill Williams voiced interest to jointly coach Samoa at the 2021 World Cup.[9][10]Rugby League Samoa affirmed Parish would remain as head coach for the tournament in a statement.[11]NRL.com noted that Samoa has approximately 85 NRL players to choose from in 2021, more than is available for the successful Tongan (60) and Fijian (40) teams,[12] however, according to reports, there are some players not willing to represent Samoa under the current coaching set-up.[13][14]
Samoa rebounded from the loss in the competition opener with big wins over Greece and France, 72-4 and 62-4 respectively.
Samoa qualified for the finals, coming second place in their pool behind England, and went on to face rivals Mate Ma'a Tonga in the quarter-finals. Samoa would go on to win the match despite a late resurgence from Tonga to win 20-18, qualifying for their first ever world cup semi final.
Samoa would face England in the semi-final, who they lost their first match against. In a back and forth encounter, the scores were tied at 20-20 with less than 8 minutes to go in the match but Stephen Crichton would intercept a pass from Victor Radley running more than 60 metres to score a try to put Samoa ahead. Several minutes later, with just 3 minutes left in the match, England halfback George Williams broke Samoas defence and passed to Herbie Farnworth who would complete a 90 metre long try, taking the score to 26-24. Tommy Makinson would then kick the conversion to tie the match. With the scores tied at 26-26, the match went to Golden Point, with England receiving the ball first. Jack Welsby made an error giving Samoa the ball, which would lead to an Anthony Milford field goal attempt but missed. England received the ball again but a Sam Tomkins error would give the ball back to Samoa once again and Stephen Chrichton kicked the field goal to win the match, 27-26. Sending Samoa to their first ever World Cup final against Australia, and just the fifth team to qualify for the final. (Great Britain, England, France, New Zealand)
Identity
Kit
Samoa's kit consists of a blue jersey with usually a white V on the chest, paired with blue shorts and socks.
Kit suppliers
Since 2023, Samoa's kits are currently supplied by Dynasty Sport. Former suppliers were Classic Sportswear (2022), FI-TA (2013-2021), SAS (2006–2013), SportM (1995–2000), Zeus (1992–1995) and Adidas (1990–1992).
Four members of the squad have previously played for other nations: Asiata Tonga and Tonga Invitational XIII (one match each, in 2019); Molo Cook Islands (2015–16); Nanai Australia (2022), and Tuivasa-Sheck New Zealand (2013–2019).
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Western Samoa 34–12 Tokelau 
New Caledonia 0–76 Samoa 
New Zealand Māori 70-10 Samoa 
