Samoa Prime Minister says his rugby team have 'no guts' after losing streak
Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Lupesoliai Malielegaoi is not pleased with his national rugby team.
Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has laid into his national rugby team, saying they have "no guts".
Speaking in Parliament as ministers looked to pass the 2018-19 budget, Tuilaepa, who is also the chairman of Samoan Rugby, revealed he was frustrated with the national team's form.
Manu Samoa have not won an international rugby match since November 2016, when they edged Canada 25-23 in France.
Since then they've lost nine consecutive matches, leading into a Rugby World Cup qualifier against Germany in Apia on July 14.
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"I told them to look at Tonga, their population is nowhere near 200,000 and yet they are playing cricket with you guys," the Samoa Observer reported Tuilaepa as saying.
Samoa's losing streak includes a heavy loss to the All Blacks in 2017.
"This shows you have no guts. You played ten games and you lost in all of those ten games, so what does that tell me, you have no guts."
Although the Prime Minister is concerned about his team's form, he isn't concerned about the German opposition that awaits his team in the coming weeks.
But if the worst were to happen, he has already called for his players to resign.
"I said, if you don't win this game then you all have to resign from the team," the Observer reported.
"I told them that it would be better to let the kids playing in the Super 9 to represent the Manu Samoa if they can't handle it."
After simmering on his thoughts, Tuilaepa was calmer later in the week when discussing the team.
"We have reached the very bottom and there is nowhere else for us to go except coming back up.
"They will be playing against [a] team that has no knowledge whatsoever on how to play rugby, so we must win this game.
"And the other good thing about this is that when we win against Germany and make it through the World Cup, we will be in a good pool. So I would be very shocked if we don't make it to the Quarter final."
- Stuff
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