1
Setback for Samoa's World Cup preparations
By Online Editors
Samoa have suffered a massive setback ahead of the Rugby World Cup which begins in a little over eight months time with one of their key personnel walking away.
High-Performance General Manager Zane Hilton has resigned and the former Melbourne Rebels assistant coach's resignation is effective immediately.
Hilton joined Samoa in May 2018 and has aided the side’s journey during the World Cup qualification process.
Samoa certainly didn't have a straight-forward route to the tournament, having to qualify via a playoff. They beat Germany 108-43 on aggregate in their two-legged contest.
Samoa are in Pool A and begin their World Cup campaign on September 24th against Russia in Kumagaya City.
Samoa, who were World Cup quarter-finalists in 1991 and 1995, will also face Ireland, Scotland and Japan in Pool A.
Continue reading below...
Watch: Rugby World Cup Japan city guide - Kumamoto
The 38-year-old has not explained why he's decided to walk away, saying: “While I know there will be disappointments, I want to thank SRU and Manu Samoa in particular, whom I’ve had the honour of working with over the last 12 months.
“I wish them all the best for the upcoming World Cup,”
In a statement, SRU CHief Executive Faleomavaega Vincent Fepulea’i revealed that Samoa and World Rugby is working in close partnership and are now in the process of reviewing the management needs of the programme and the World Cup campaign.
Last month Manu Samoa coach Steve Jackson said he wanted to use the HSBC World Seven Series to allow players to switch countries in time to qualify for the World Cup.
Players wanting to follow this route must compete in five tournaments on the current Sevens Series, which doubles as an Olympic qualifier, provided they have a passport for the second country and have completed a minimum three year stand-down period.
Jackson told Radio New Zealand “It’s always an avenue. I think Tim Nanai-Williams is probably one of the only people I know that has done that through that avenue, and it’s a difficult one because if you’re talking to guys in Europe they’ve got to be released.
“We’ve had some guys put their hands up and say that they’d be interested but we’ve got to be very, very careful around eligibility rules and make sure that we are absolutely clear who’s available (and) what we need to do to make sure that they can get on the field for us at the Rugby World Cup if we are keen on having them in our group.”
Watch: Rugby World Cup Japan city guide - Fukuoka
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Bulls star Willie le Roux makes U-turn on club future
3
Israel Folau to make rugby return despite mid-week Lions disappointmen
4
Gregor Townsend: It’s the first time since 2000 that we’ve been to NZ
5
Latest Comments
Why would you stay in the SH, make no money, play in empty stadiums for ignorant supporters who specialise only in spewing shite online (when they even bother to show up) for slave wages
Or you can play in the best league in the world.
Pretty easy choice
Go to commentsI was introduced to crypto by my son a few years ago, I invested in USDT and BTC using Binance, I have several accounts including personal bank accounts so I was unable to keep up with all of them and ended up forgetting my secret codes used in accessing the account, I asked my son to help me since he had introduced me Crypto, unfortunately he gave me bad news that I had lost my investment, I was so heartbroken considering I had invested my life saving of $70,700, I narrated my ordeal to one of my friends who happened to know someone who had a similar experience, so after I met him he directed to where he got help, he told me that LEE ULTIMATE HACKER who were able to help him with his recovery problem, I quickly contacted them to help me with my lost funds, I was a bit skeptical about it coz of what I had gone through the last few days, the frustration and anxiety was getting to me, after contacting LEE ULTIMATE HACKER one of their team members took me through the recovery process explaining on how it works and what was required from my end ,he informed me that it would take 12 hours for my funds to be recovered, I was so anxious but they assured me that all will be well and soon enough I will be able to have full control of my wallet, true to their word LEE ULTIMATE HACKER team were able to recover my wallet and I was able to access and change my log ins to my wallet, I was so happy and I couldn’t believe it I logged in and out of my account a few times just to be sure, for any lost crypto contact LEE ULTIMATE HACKER via LEEULTIMATEHACKER @ AOL . COM
telegram: LEEULTIMATE
wh@tsapp +1 (715) 314 - 9248 the solution to all your recovery problems.
Go to comments