Manu Samoa have made six changes to their lineup that beat Namibia for tomorrow (Wednesday) morning’s winner-take-all Final Qualification Tournament clash against Belgium in Dubai.<\/p>\n
Both teams undefeated, the Samoans just need a draw to claim a spot at the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.<\/p>\n
A win will clear their pathway as the top team from the final qualifier, making them the 24th team to join the other 23 confirmed nations.<\/p>\n
Head coach Lemalu Tusiata Pisi has named six changes to his lineup, in an attempt to balance his starting XV and his bench players.<\/p>\n
“There’s a few things to be happy about and there’s also a few things to work on and learn from [the Namibia game],” Pisi said.<\/p>\n
“So we took those learnings and we’ll try and correct it for this game.”<\/p>\n
The statistics from the Namibia game showed that Samoa lost 21 turnovers and won just two.<\/p>\n
Manu Samoa captain Theo McFarland told reporters after their win over Namibia they would need to work on their execution.<\/p>\n
The Samoans defeated Namibia 26-8 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai early on Friday morning (Thursday, UAE time), but McFarland said there were a lot of things the team did not do.<\/p>\n
“It will be a tough game but we need to focus on our system and execution,” he said.<\/p>\n
A new-look front row has been named to face Belgium.<\/p>\n
Hooker Millennium Sanerivi and props Titi Lamositele and Michael Alaalatoa get to start the game, moving last week’s starters Sama Malolo, Scott Sio, and Tietie Tuimauga to the bench.<\/p>\n
Flanker-cum-lock forward Taleni Seu, makes way for Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves’ player Ben Nee-Nee, in the starting lineup, while the experienced Melani Nanai replaces Tumua Manu at centre.<\/p>\n
Niko Jones, son of Samoan and New Zealand rugby legend Savae La’auli Sir Michael Jones, will make his first test start, after debuting off the bench against Scotland in June.<\/p>\n
Samoa are favourites to win, having won the only Test between the two sides in 1989 by 37-12.<\/p>\n
Samoa:\u00a0<\/strong>1. Titi Lamositele, 2. Millennium Sanerivi, 3. Michael Alaalatoa, 4. Ben Nee Nee, 5. Theo McFarland (captain), 6. Miracle Faiilagi, 7. Niko Jones, 8. Iakopo Petelo-Mapu, 9. Jonathan Taumateine, 10. Rodney Iona, 11. Vaafauese Apelu Maliko, 12. Lalomilo Lalomilo, 13. Melani Nanai, 14. Latrell Ah Kiong, 15. Jacob Umaga; Manu Samoa have made six changes to their lineup that beat Namibia for tomorrow (Wednesday) morning’s winner-take-all Final Qualification Tournament clash against Belgium in Dubai. Both teams undefeated, the Samoans just need a draw to claim a spot at the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia. A win will clear their pathway as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":54434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[212,6],"tags":[5955,59,5954],"class_list":["post-54433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby","category-sports","tag-against-belgium-inn-dubai","tag-featured","tag-manu-samoa-final-match-of-rwc-qualifications-tournament"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nBench:<\/strong>\u00a016. Sama Malolo, 17. Scott Sio, 18. Tietie Tuimauga, 19. Taleni Seu, 20. Abraham Papali’i, 21. Connor Tupa’i, 22. Faletoi Peni, 23. Tuna Tuitama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"