Tokyo (AFP)
Doing as well as in 1991 and 1995. Samoa coach Steve Jackson wants to "treat every game as a final" to enter the group stage of the World Cup in Japan, which would be a first for twenty-four years.
"We are going to treat every game as a final, because if we lose, we end up in a complicated situation," promised the New Zealand technician, who will face the Irish and Scottish stars, the Japanese host country and Le Petit Russian tomcat in a pool A where the selection ilienne dreams to thwart the forecasts.
Goal quarter-final, therefore, for a selection as brilliant as inconstant, able to surprise Wales (16-13) for his debut in the World Cup and sink without reaction against Japan (26-5) in 2015 .
World Rugby, the sixteenth nation in the world, Samoans snatched their ticket for Japan in trouble, finishing last in the Pacific Nations Cup before beating Germany in the play-offs.
Jackson, who arrived at the Samoan side in September, faces a challenge: the former assistant of the Auckland Blues will have to bring calm to a team that, in 2014 at the heart of a tour in England, threatened to to go on strike in the face of the lack of financial transparency of the staff, derisory bonuses of the matches and the omnipresence of the president of the Federation, also Prime Minister of the country, in the choice of selected players.
Rebelote before the 2019 edition, which saw Steve Jackson rise to the brink, faced with the defection of several executives, who preferred to focus on their clubs.
As a result, to achieve his goals, Jackson has decided to rely on a new generation, including young winger Johnny Vaili, led by "Europeans" such as Chris Vui (Bristol), Piula Faasalele (Perpignan), Paul Alo Emile (Stade Français), Teofilo Ed Fidow (Worcester) or Tim Nanai-Williams (Clermont).
Sufficient to create the surprise? Response from September 24, with the first match of the Manu Samoa against Russia.
© 2019 AFP