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Japan Not An Easy Team To Play – Coach Tuala

Written by Pio Sioa
Thursday, 03 July 2008
WATCHING AND MOLDING : Coach Tuala putting the Manu Samoa through its paces in the lead up to the Saturday clash with Japan. Coach Tuala Niko Palamo, is under no illusion about the threat Japan holds for the Manu Samoa at the Apia Park this Saturday. “They are a very technical team, and quite strong in the set pieces,” Tuala said yesterday after a training run by the Manu Samoa at the Apia Park yesterday. It is the last game of the Pacific Nations Cup for both teams. Japan is coming off a loss against the New Zealand Maori All Blacks last week, but not after giving them a scare in the first half. The Manu Samoa recorded their first win of the tournament against Tonga in Nukualofa last week, as the team continues to work on a winning combination. “Both teams will be eager to sign off on a winning note, so there’ll be a lot of motivation on the field on Saturday.” The last time the Manu Samoa played at its Apia Park home ground was against Australia A where they lost in a close game against the visitors. Playing before the home fans and winning is an added impetus for the players. “We have been trying to develop a new pattern of play for the team from the start and we are sticking with that on Saturday. “We need to get away from the physical confrontation mode we’re so used to and focus on a more structured pattern of play.” The improvement made so far is encouraging to the teams coaching staff. “We saw that starting to happen in the game against Tonga, but it was difficult at times when they start to react to the physical play by the Tongans.” Assistant Coaches Fepulea’i Selefuti Patu and Paepaetele Stan Toomalatai, are largely pleased with the progress in the front line up. “They are starting to get there but they still need to be consistent as a unit,” Paepaetele said. He was impressed however with the improvements in the scrum, making particular reference to the tight forwards. “We have only one experienced front row, the rest are all new players.” Fitness was a key factor in the strength the forwards are showing, according to Assistant Coach Fepulea’i. “They have the fitness level to play between 50-60 minutes and this can be reflected in the way the scrum holds up strongly,” Fepulea’i said. “But they will need to lift on their fitness levels further.” The improvements the Manu Samoa is starting to show is caused for mixed feelings for the coaching staff. “These boys have been playing together now for the past 4 weeks and if we were able to have that kind of preparations time instead of just one week prior to the start of the PNC, we would have been far more competitive,” Coach Tuala said. The comments were echoed by his assistants who were saddened by fan criticisms. “ What our fans have to understand we may have lost on the scoreboard but if you analyse our games closely, especially against the New Zealand Maoris and Australia, we were never really beaten,” Asst. Coach Paepaetele argued. “Intercept passes and simple lapses of play did us in but we held ourselves up all the way through those games. “When we played against Fiji, it was our first game and we had only a week to get our boys to play as a team and it was mission impossible. ‘They had to adapt to a lot of things…these are the facts, we are not trying to put up excuses. After playing together these past few weeks they are now starting to play as a unit.” The outcome of the Saturday matchup will decide the final placings for the two teams in the tournament this year. Comments (1) Subscribe to this comment's feed Faiai ma le Akigipoo written by ka, July 10, 2008 There you go Manu staffs.All about fitness,fitness,fitness..We can take any top team,that's the only way we can rule the world..I am damm sure.God gives us gifts,our natural strong body..so we got to do the hard work man.."Stay Fit"..God bless Samoa..MANU 4 life.. Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 July 2008 )

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