4 days ago
Manusina XV aim to prove their worth at Women's Rugby World Cup
Player unavailability and the lack of tough Tier 1 competition during their build-up are two major challenges they have had to endure.
Photo:
Facebook / Manusina XV
Manusina Samoa is heading to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England focused proving their worth against the best.
Head coach Ramsey Tomokino and captain Masuisuimatamaalii Tauaua-Pauaraisa both agree that, despite all the challenges they have faced, the side is focused on making their families and fans proud at the event.
Player unavailability and the lack of tough Tier 1 competition during their build-up are two major challenges they have had to endure.
However, there is silent confidence that the new band of Manusina players will compete and perform well.
"Every team that is going to the World Cup, they pretty much have matches before the World Cup," captain Tauaua-Pauaraisa told RNZ Pacific from Nadi this week.
"As for us, we've all just been training, and we don't really have competition [or] test matches.
"We're not just going to participate. We are going to compete against the best in the world and we will just focus on us do what we can do.
"We want to make our families proud, and our main focus will be to take one team at a time, which is our first match against Australia."
The team has been in Nadi this week for some scrimmaging sessions against the Fijiana side.
They play one Test match on Saturday before flying off to England.
They are in Pool A, alongside Australia, England and the USA. Their opening pool match is against Australia on 23 August.
Photo:
Facebook / Manusina XV
"We're not a team that's just there to compete and make up numbers," Tomokino said
"We want to go there and be a performance team. That's been our focus."
The challenge for Manusina will not be any easier.
They are in Pool A, alongside Australia, England and the USA. Their opening pool match is against Australia on 23 August.
While the Samoans have played at the 2002, 2006 and 2014 Rugby World Cups, this year's event will be different, with a number of young players carrying the hopes of a rugby crazed nation.
Tauaua-Pauaraisa has been with the side since 2018.
She has been there, done that, having also played rugby league in her prime.
Her leadership on and off the field has been instrumental in keeping players on the go.
She believes the team has prepared well, despite the limitations.
"Things are looking good at the moment. We prepared really well in Auckland, leading up to to Samoa and we've been training like preseason.
"This weekend, we are going to play Fijiana and it really is an opportunity for us to have our plays and just to get our connection and the combinations right before our first game against Australia."
The Manusina side were able to have some controlled practice runs against the Fijiana team in the forward set-pieces and backline plays in Nadi this week. 5 August 2025
Photo:
Facebook / Manusina XV
In Nadi, the team were able to have some controlled practise runs against the Fijians in the forward set-pieces and backline plays.
Tauaua-Pauaraisa said they have a lot of young players that have come in to the mix, adding their campaigns have always seen different sets of players involved, due to many reasons, including work.
"We're missing a lot of our experienced players, due to injuries and family commitment," she revealed.
"Financially, with us overseas, you gotta work to pay the rent, pay the bills, and we've got kids too."
"So, every campaign has been different, and that's like the hard part about about it, because we're not full contracted players as well.
"But leading up to World Cup, I think it's coming out right, like our connection, it's been really good at training. There is a connection there."
She said the world cup means a lot to the team and for women's rugby in Samoa.
The experience will help the younger players grow in maturity and knowledge as they will be tasked with moving things forward.
"The game has grown, and I know that there's a lot of support within our Manusina team, and there's opportunities now for for our players coming through," she stated.
"We've tried so hard to get our Manusina Samoa back on the world map, and it's a dream come true to be there at the world cup.
"It's going to be our first ever as the current crop of players experiencing the world cup and it's exciting."
She said the world cup will also be an opportunity for Manusina to write their own history, just like what their male counterparts in the Manu Samoa teams have done over the years.
Coach Tomokino told RNZ Pacific that the challenge for them at the moment is building their game to be able to play Tier 1 intensity.
He believes that if the team can do that then they would be able to hold their own against their three pool opponents.
"Our biggest focus has been on us and being able to play tier one teams at tier one intensity," he said,
"Obviously fitness and movement of players, and getting our systems and structure right has been our big focus as we work towards Australia.
"The girls are getting fitter, they are getting better as each goes by.
"We've certainly better than we were."
He said they divided their preparation into two phases - phase one was pre-Oceania Championship in Fiji two month ago where they played against Fiji and Tonga.
Phase Two has been post-Oceania and leading into this weekend's warm-up test against the Fijiana in Sigatoka.
Their phase two started with a camp in Auckland before they moved home to Apia.
Tomokino said building player death has been a big focus too over the last 24 months and the result has shown a lot of competition for positions throughout the preparation.
"It's going to be fantastic," he stated.
"The opportunity of playing at our fourth world cup, one that we haven't attended since 2014 is something we're really looking forward to.
"Having Samoa on the world stage and we are going to put our best foot forward, and work on doing something special, particularly in game one against the Wallaroos."
On following in the footsteps of the Manu Samoa, the head coach said he is hoping their world cup performance will be the catalyst to help grow the game even more back home.
"That's a big deal. We need to remind our players that it is a big deal that they're representing Samoa at a rugby world cup. Obviously Manu Samoa have been to a number of world cups and we want it to be the same for Manusina.
"We don't want to be at this world cup, we want to be at the world cups to come and we have the opportunity to put our nation there for the next four years and get more players to want to play for Samoa.
"We always know that the Samoan players, without a doubt, will always choose to represent Samoa, so, we've got to build that up and just continue to be competitive year in, year out."
The team management and the players are thankful for the support they have received from fans and families, especially their corporate dinners where they raised funds to help them on their campaign.
Their trip to Samoa saw them visiting villages and receiving blessings and well-wishes from villagers.
Tomokino said they will do their best to "the promise that we'll make to our people and to pay back their support is that we certainly give our best in every game".
The Manusina team is scheduled to leave Fiji for England on 14 August.
