Western Samoa national rugby league team
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| Nickname | Toa Samoa | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governing body | Rugby League Samoa | ||||||
| Region | Asia-Pacific | ||||||
| Head coach | Matt Parish | ||||||
| Captain | Leeson Ah Mau | ||||||
| Most caps | Ben Roberts (12) | ||||||
| Home stadium | Newport Oval | ||||||
| RLIF ranking | 4th | ||||||
| First international | |||||||
 Western Samoa 34-12  Tokelau(Rarotonga, Cook Islands; 1986) |
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| Biggest win | |||||||
 New Caledonia 0 - 76 Samoa (Apia, Samoa; 20 October 2004) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||||||
 Australia 66 - 10 Samoa (Watford, England; 11 November 2000) |
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| World Cup | |||||||
| Appearances | 4 (first time in 1995) | ||||||
| Best result | Quarter-finals 2000, 2013 | ||||||
The Samoa rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has been participating in international competition since 1986. From 1986 to 1997 this team was known as the Western Samoa rugby league team. The team has recently been nicknamed Toa Samoa and is currently run by Rugby League Samoa.
Western Samoa has participated in the Pacific Cup (1986–), World Sevens (1994, 1995, 2003), Super League World Nines (1996, 1997), World Cup (since 1995) and Pacific Rim (2004) competitions. Since 1998 the team has been known as Samoa.
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.
Suani and 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. This commitment lead to a historical win over the Maori team for the first time and won the 1990 Pacific Cup. Coached by the Richmond Bulldogs Head Coach, Steve Kaiser, the Western Samoan team put Samoan rugby league on the map.
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.
In 1993 Western Samoa were invited to the International Coca-Cola Sevens in Sydney. With Auckland based Samoan players such as Mark Elia, Tony Tuimavave, Tony Tatupu, Faausu Afoa and Des Maea followed by a group of up and coming players such as Matthew TuiSamoa, Lionel Perera, Aleki Maea, Paki Tuimavave, Joe Vagana, Sefo Fuimaono and Peter Lima, the team beat the Canberra Raiders and the Great Brittan International team. Coached by the Richmond Bulldogs' Head Coach Steve Kaiser, this team gave Samoa the status to create the strong foundation Western Samoa Rugby League needed to move forward. Below this strong foundation however was the strength and commitment of two people: Suani and Lyndsay Stowers. These two held together the concept of Samoa Rugby League and without their dream, Samoa RL will not be where it is today.
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