“If You Build It, They Will Come”

In the film ‘Field of Dreams’, Kevin Costner’s character hears voices which prompt him to build a baseball diamond on his land for no apparent reason, until the ghosts of former baseball greats start emerging from the crops, gathering for a game which attracts thousands of fans.

Now into the fourth year of his tenure as Manu Samoa’s head coach, Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua is building his own ‘Field of Dreams’. The focus is rebuilding the team’s culture from within, in the hope that it will not only trans- late into positive results on the field, but also attract more Samoan rugby stars overseas to answer the call and play for Manu Samoa.

And it’s hard to argue against the results so far; seven wins and one loss from 2020-2022, including Samoa’s first Pacific Nations Cup title since 2014 which was achieved in Lautoka last year in that famous come-from-behind 23-20 win over Fiji. Further good news came for Lakapi Samoa HQ with Samoa’s World Rugby ranking rising from 15 to 12, leapfrogging Fiji and Tonga in the process.

The 43-year-old Samoan-born coach hailing from Gataivai, has also capitalised on the relaxing of World Rugby’s eligibility laws to convince eligible rugby stars overseas to make themselves available. There were some players who couldn’t answer the call due to club commitments, especially in Japan and New Zealand, but the 2023 squad he has selected is easily the strongest on paper in years. Seeing the likes of former All Blacks Steven Luatua, Lima Sopoaga and Charlie Faumuina rubbing shoulders with locally produced talents is enough to give any die-hard fan optimism to believe with the Rugby World Cup in France looming.

“There’s definitely a correlation,” Vaovasamanaia remarks when asked if those internal changes have made a differ- ence in the team’s performance. “The last World Cup cycle has been about building closer connections between the players, management and stakeholders, and we’ve spent a lot of time in the community while in camp.” Not long after assembling in Apia in July, the 40-strong squad travelled to the big island of Savaii where they were billeted out to families in the villages and spent quality time mixing with local fans and partaking in cultural activities to bring play- ers closer to their roots and heritage.

The disruptions of COVID meant Vaovasamanaia couldn’t develop more younger players during this World Cup cycle, especially with a whole year of rugby effectively wiped out in 2020. But he is satisfied that the current team culture he is building will provide a foundation to attract and develop more young players in the future.

REBUILDING TEAM CULTURE

As a former player, veteran of two Rugby World Cups in 2007 and 2011, and long-serving stalwart of the famous blue jersey, Vaovasamanaia knows how important building trust is, which is why he’s worked hard to bring the team together in a show of unity, to build a positive environment “where everyone is on the same page”.

“The main emphasis in camp is instilling into our players important team values based on fa’a Samoa and the Samoan culture, especially those players who were not brought up with these values, and so they become the best versions of themselves,” explains Vaovasamanaia. “We do everything together, even the management, which starts with morning prayers and ends with evening lotu every day.”

Vaovasamanaia came into the job at a time when Manu Samoa had underperformed at the previous two World Cups. He was motivated to apply for the job so he could make a difference and help restore Manu Samoa back to its former glory. Vaovasamanaia played 26 tests for Manu Samoa during the 2000s and early 2010s and was part of the famous team that upset the Wallabies in 2011. The former Highlanders and London Irish midfielder retired in 2016 after a stint in Japan.