External links
| Fiji | |
|---|---|
| Samoa | |
| Tonga | |
| Cook Islands | |
| Head coach | |
 | This biographical article relating to Samoan rugby union is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| Birth name | Steven So'oialo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 11 May 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Apia, Samoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 13 st (83 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Rodney So'oialo, James So'oialo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Steven So'oialo (born 11 May 1977 in Apia, Samoa) is a Samoan rugby union footballer. He played scrum-half for English club Harlequins and formerly Orrell. He played for Manu Samoa in the 1999 and 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also played for the Pacific Islanders team in 2004. He is the older brother of New Zealand All Blacks rugby union international and Wellington Hurricanes Super Rugby player, Rodney So'oialo, and of James So'oialo, who has also represented Samoa internationally.
| Fiji | |
|---|---|
| Samoa | |
| Tonga | |
| Cook Islands | |
| Head coach | |
| | This biographical article relating to Samoan rugby union is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
The Manu Siva Tau is a Samoan war dance, performed by the Samoan sporting teams before each match.
Fereti Tuilagi is a Samoan former professional rugby footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. After playing rugby union at international level, he turned professional and played rugby league for English clubs Halifax Blue Sox and St. Helens. He played as a wing or centre and is now retired. His first name is often anglicised to Freddie.
The Pacific Islanders was a combined international rugby union team that played from 2004 to 2008. It represented Fiji, Samoa and Tonga; Niue and the Cook Islands also supplied players to the squad for their tour in 2004. The team did not play at Rugby World Cups, where each of the nations continued to represent themselves.
The Samoa national rugby union team represents the Samoa Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. They are also known as "Manu Samoa", which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior. They perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. They are ranked 11th in the world.
Semo Sititi is a rugby union footballer in Samoa. He was born in Motootua.
Rugby Samoa is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. Founded as the Apia Rugby Union in 1924, it was affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year. It joined the International Rugby Board as the Western Samoa Rugby Football Union in 1988. In 1997, when Western Samoa amended its constitution to change the country's name from Western Samoa to Samoa, the union also changed its name, and dropped the word football to become the Samoa Rugby Union. In November 2020, they changed their name to Lakapi Samoa which is Samoan for Rugby Samoa. They were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. The union is also a member of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU).
Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua is a retired Samoan rugby player who last played for the Kubota Spears of the Japanese Top League. Prior to his move to Japan in 2011, he also had long stints with the Highlanders in Super Rugby and London Irish in the Aviva Premiership. He is currently the head coach of Manu Samoa having been appointed in 2020.
Rugby union in Samoa is the country's most popular sport. The national teams in both the standard 15-man game and rugby sevens are consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations.
Justin Va'a is a former prop for the Samoan national rugby team and the Scottish club Glasgow Warriors in the Celtic League.
Loki Crichton is a former Samoan rugby union international player. He played at fullback or fly-half.
Enele "Henry" Tuilagi is a Samoan former professional rugby union player who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He appeared ten times for the Samoa national team and played club rugby in Italy, France and England.
Alesana "Alex" Tuilagi is a former Samoan rugby player. He is a retired rugby player, currently residing in Fogapoa Savaii and has appeared numerous times for his national team Samoa. He previously played for Parma in Italy and for Leicester Tigers in the Aviva Premiership and more recently Newcastle Falcons. As an incredibly strong player, Tuilagi uses his blend of pace and power to good effect, proving a nightmare for many defences. Such a combination of speed and strength makes him very difficult for defences to handle.
The Samoa national rugby sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 202,000, the team competes against some of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Samoa sevens team is overseen by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, which oversees all of rugby union in Samoa.
The Samoa women's national rugby union team is a national sporting side of Samoa, representing the nation at rugby union. The side first played in 2000, and have competed in three Rugby World Cup's since their debut in the 2002 tournament in Spain. In 2023, they claimed their first Oceania Championship.
Filipo Levi is the former International Rugby Captain for Manu Samoa and has captained teams from a local and international stage since 2000 until 2013. Filipo experience and knowledge is understanding business leaders unique challenges from a local to international context. He is passionate in helping leaders build strong resilient teams and equipping, empowering people to overcome challenges.
Samoa have played in every Rugby World Cup since the 1991 tournament. Their omission from the inaugural tournament in 1987 was controversial, as there were no qualifications. Their worst World Cups were in 2007, 2015 and 2019 when they finished fourth in their pool.
George Stowers is a Samoan international rugby union player. He plays as a Flanker or a No.8.
Junior Poluleuligaga is a Samoan rugby union international player. He previously played for Exeter Chiefs in the Aviva Premiers before returning to Auckland and played two years with Auckland rugby union team before retiring 2015. He played as a Scrum-half and was educated at De La Salle College, Mangere East. His name is often abbreviated to Junior Polu. He is currently the Rugby Development Officer (RDO) for the Papatoetoe Rugby Football Club and occasionally plays for the La Salle Collegians old boys rugby team.
Leo Lafaiali'i is a Samoan rugby union footballer.
James So'oialo is a Samoan rugby union player. He currently plays as a fly-half for Horowhenua Kapiti in the Heartland Championship. He made his international debut in 2011 when he was part of the Samoan team at the 2011 Rugby World Cup where he played in one match. He signed for Irish provincial rugby team Connacht for the 2013/2014 season. On 26 October, after only having arrived in late September, Connacht released So'oialo from his contract on 'compassionate grounds', and he returned to New Zealand. He was included in the Melbourne Rising squad for the NRC 2019 season as a fly half.