Adventure with LEONE WHITES 7S RUGBY SQUAD ch. 6: The day is May 31st, 2014. After the beating we took yesterday our Leone Whites got up to a somber morning and conducted our usual routine. Team prayer, team talk, breakfast, then get ready to rumble. The defeats of yesterday were now a distant memory healed by time. Weve had our moment to grieve but now there would be no grieving, no excuses, and no letting up. It was a do or die moment for us and each member of the team from the coaches to the players and down to the support staff knew this. A single loss today would spell an early end for our journey here. One thing I noticed about our team from yesterday is that they played serious. Dont get me wrong, serious is ok but the attitude of the Leone Whites whenever they play rugby is a fun and happy attitude. None of that was evident in their game play yesterday. Not being one to let things hang like that I had a personal talk with most of our players and asked them to bring back that style of playing they are use to, the style we play from back home. My saying was Leone Whites play HAPPY! For the coaches I encouraged them to think positive no matter what. Once again its one of the things as a logistics coach Im pretty good at ;) From there Im pretty sure everyone got the message. When all was done for our morning preparations, the team got together to make for Apia Park once again to do battle. This time around nature wasnt calling me so I was pretty much going along with the team. Before we headed out we gathered in to get some words of encouragement from Rep. Puletu Koko who had brought along a friend whose name was Father Eneliko, he use to be a priest for the Roman Catholic Church of Leone back in the days. When the Rep had finished his encouragements the Father stepped forward and gave the team a brief blessing and words of spiritual uplifting. Honestly for me it felt as if a burden had been lifted, for some reason I believe the team felt it too because they all had big smiles on their faces. We bid our farewells and off we marched, the two mile walk to Apia park, it was a silent march and Im thinking its because we all knew what was at stake. Yet it wasnt a serious and heavy march, no this march was more of a skip to it kind of march. Yep the HAPPY mode kicked in for the team and we were all getting with it. When we arrived at the gates we walked ourselves through and made our way for the usual spot. This time around though we were smarter. We went up to the bleachers so that we could rest ourselves comfortably and out of the elements, including that mud and reeking smell of our previous spot. Before we got there we took a look at the main Apia Park field, the legendary stomping grounds of the world famous Manu Samoa Rugby Team. We all wanted the chance to play on that field so we all contemplated it for a few seconds to keep the image locked within our minds then we merrily marched on to the bleachers. While there we came across our friends with the Marist Pago rugby team. I found out they would be competing for the Spoon trophy as well so it was definitely going to be an interesting day. When we found our seats we made ourselves comfortable and awaited the schedule for the day. That schedule though took us a whole two hours to get. I guess the saying Samoan time is just as powerful out here as it is back in Tutuila lol! Anyhow we were up against a team called Afaluko first. (Afaluko is the Samoan word for Werewolves). The game plan today was simple as stated by head coach Moliaga. If we wanted to play longer, the we should play to win. The boys silently responded with a nod of their heads and then got to stretching. Not a lot of people expected a lot from us there at Apia Park. Most the attention was on the TATOORS who won all their pool games from yesterday and Marist Pago who won a couple of games themselves from that day as well. We were like the third wheel. We didnt mind though. We got ourselves to the Samoa Independence 7s Rugby tournament through our own hard work and sweat along with the prayers, hopes, and support of our families, friends, village, and fans. This Leone Whites team was use to being the underdogs. Its how our 15s squad back in Tutuila won the American Samoa Rugby Shield and its how our 7s squad here in Apia will play to gun for the top! Before long our first game was underway. Within the first 2 minutes of the game our boy Tali Tauese scores set up by Vaalele Autagavaia. No celebration of any sort from us this time, we just got down to business, we put Autagavaia up to kick from the far left but it didnt go in. We were at 5 to 0. A couple seconds after our first score we recover back our kickoff and then Tauese sets up our Maugalei Veavea for the second score. Again no celebration from us because we are just keen on pushing forward. Autagavaia steps up to kick again from the far left but comes up short putting us at 10 to 0. We then hit half time. Afaluko is held up by our suffocating defense. Within the first minutes of the second half we recover the ball by a strip from our very own Afa Tuiletufuga who runs in a breakaway and hands it off to Pepe Silalafaele for the easy score near the posts. Watching the Afaluko team I noticed that with each score we put up the team appeared to be off on their playing. I knew exactly what that meant. Psychologically we were really getting to this team. We brought up Komiti Sosene for the kick and it misses by a few inches but we were up 15 to 0. Back to the kickoff yet in not time again we get the ball back and now were set up for a push to the try line again. This time our tank Tali Tauese drags along a bunch of defenders leaving our wing man Lei Veavea to take in the easy corner score. Up steps Komiti Sosene for the kick and its wide. Now were at 20 to 0. Then came the heavy rains. Obviously our team loves the rain because we train in it day in day out. As I run for cover under the officials tent to keep my camera gear from getting wet the second half alert sounds and suddenly team captain Kirifi Ofagalilo gets the ball for a breakaway which he takes and all the while yelling to the skies to pick up his speed. As he reaches the posts a hilarious seen unfolds when he takes a slow kneel and then falls between the posts issuing our final score. Our kick is delivered and we win against Afaluko 27 to 0. Everyone comes back happy just like theyre supposed to be and then we make for the bleachers. Our boys get in their cool down stretches before coming over. After an almost 45 minute wait we were up to play again. This time we came up against the Laumosooi team that originally beat us 17 to our 10 yesterday. In my head I kept telling myself, what a great opportunity for payback. Our game plan was the same, simple and straight forward. If we wanted to continue playing we had to win. The boys had it down. In they went, onto the battle field to meet their nemesis who a day before had handed them their first defeat. This Laumosooi team appeared a little arrogant to me with the words they were telling their teammates. Things like these guys arent nothing, we already beat them, lets do it again. Funny thing is, it would end up a totally different story from what they believed to be true. When the game started we were receiving, things looked to go good but then suddenly out of no where a Laumosooi defender intercepts one of our passes and takes it in to try near the posts. Their kicker got in a good kick and we found ourselves trailing in the first few seconds of the game their 7 to our 0. They thought they had us but they only riled up a monster. On kickoff our boy Veavea gets a breakaway breaking tackles on his way up the center field, he then offloads the ball to get it down to Tuiletufuga and Silalafaele whose stepping pulls defenders down their way setting up our tank, Tauese to pull through and score easily between the posts. Sosene places the kick and Laumosooi then realizes weve tied the game at 7 to 7. At this point the Laumosooi fans begin getting a little rowdy with some hilarious words of cheer for their team. After a couple of exchanging runs between us and them we get the ball long enough to hand off to Silalafaele who fakes out a defender and dives in for a try. Sosene steps up to kick but it goes wide putting us at 11 to 7. Suddenly I hear a loud shout and its our captain catching his breath as he sets up for defense lol! As an answer to our scoring, Laumosooi runs in a try but their kick is wide and they tie us up 11 to 11. Then its half time. During the half I finally realize that our team is getting banged up evident by their slow rising from the field after getting knocked down. They were gladiators about it though because they got back up and into the game. Suddenly Laumosooi scores again, and again their kick is wide making it 15 to our 10. Time is running fast and Laumosooi is bringing the pressure. Their fans are cheering saying theyve already won, in my head Im saying dont count your eggs before they hatch. I was proven correct as we get the ball back and our tank, Tali Tauese, goes into overdrive. He gets a breakaway and is on a solo run towards the try line to score right between the posts. Sosene steps up with the kick and its good! Were up 17 to 15. By this time weve got about 2 more minutes on the clock so anything can happen. After a couple of rugby skirmishes we finally get a big break when Lui Noga catches a pass set up by Augtagavaia and scores right between the posts to put our kicker in place for an easy kick and we win 24 to 15. Payback was so sweet lol. Before anyone could celebrate though we had injuries on the field and two of our boys, Komiti Sosene and Maugalei Veavea, were really banged up. The situation then began to get dire. We had just finished the quarterfinals and found ourselves in the semi-finals with team members who were not 100%. On the way through, our boys were telling me they were being singled out by the opposing team players to get injured. Bad sportsmanship on the opposing teams part which really pissed me off. We needed to pull through for the next games so my advice was they were going to need to be very alert for the next game. We held our heads high though and made our way back to our spot on the bleachers to await our next match. While we were at our bleachers it finally kicked in we were on a hot streak. Thing is none of it got to our boys heads because they were playing the way they were use to. Playing happy. They were banged up but they were still in it taping themselves up popping their shoulders back in, locking down their ankles in place, and everything. I do want to mention that the night before the boys all got to watching 300 Rise of the Empire and they were acting just like the famed Greeks in that movie lol! Tape the ish up and get back to battling. As we sat there chatting among ourselves we literally ran out of water and had to send some of our staff members to get some from the store near our hotel 2 miles away since Apia Parks food vendors were all out of bottled water too and there was no way we were drinking their pipe water. Suddenly we get called back to battle with no warning at all. We could have sat there and complained but that wasnt us. Coach Scott called for everyone to gear up again and go back out there and the team responded. This time there would be no warm up since it was already time to play. The team that stood before us was Taga Blowholes (dont ask lol) but this team we would find out was really a bad news team. As our game opened we finally set up a good pass to Vaalele Autagavaia who sprinted for the score and got us a try at the far corner. He was slow getting up from his dive on the score line and I knew the grind of the day was kicking in. We literally played 6 games all together in the tournament. 3 from the day before and 3 at the current moment. We were in survival mode with one loss separating us from the early walk home that was waiting for us. Our kick was wide and we were up 5 to 0. Into the kickoff we went as Autagvaia kicked off the ball straight up over the 10 meter line, on the far end our Pepe Silalafaele recovers the ball with an amazing catch and goes down, our team captain Kirifi Ofagalilo rushes in with the pick and run off to the weak side getting a break away, he takes with him a couple defenders as they try to pull him down but not before he offloads a pass to our Afa Tuiletufuga who stiff arms his way into the try line right between the posts and in a act of rebellion and victory spikes the ball up towards our kicker. Later on Tuiletufuga would tell me that as he ran the ball the opposing team were teasing him and goading him to come up to them with the ball, which in the end he did putting them to shame ha ha ha! This time our kicker Komiti Sosene puts it through the posts and gets us the points for 12 to 0. By this time the Taga players began playing dirty ball and started aiming at injuring our players. The field was muddy and slippery yet our boys were playing their style, moving the ball with ease faking and juking, passing from the air, passing from the ground, we did it all. Soon we were set up again with Silalafaele taking the ball to the front of the try line then offloading from the ground to Komiti Sosene who easily scored between the posts giving us a good kick and putting us up 19 to 0. It would have been a happy moment but fatigue was really kicking in for our team. The heat, sun, rain, and mud wasnt making it any easier for them yet they pushed on like the rugby monsters they were. Then halftime came along. Our team had but a moment to catch their breath, recover, and get in some water before heading out again. Still Taga kept gunning to injure our players but they wouldnt go down easy, we just kept bringing it, as I watched the whole drama unfold I could clearly see the fatigue in our boys and still they would not quit! This was definitely the Whites team we had trained. They werent going to let things end in this semi-final game. Whoosh suddenly Lui Noga gets a break away run bringing all the defenders to him which opens up the end for the tank as Tauese catches Nogas offloaded pass and runs it up to the try line in between the posts! I was shocked when I heard cheering coming from the stands and I looked back to find there were people there cheering for us! A whole bunch of them too! I shared a smile but it was short because in the field our tank was getting into a scuffle with a Taga player who played dirty by landing a knee into his back while he dived onto the try line. Things were heated for a bit but then Tauese then maintained his cool and let things go. In the end he and two opposing players from Taga side were yellow carded and sent to the side lines. Our kicker put up a good kick and now we were up 26 to 0. If you ask me we were smashing the Taga team. Taga tried to pull a fast one by sneaking in an additional player but our boys alerted the referees and that player was sent out (sneaky bastards!) Anyhow we got back to business. Taga played it out and finally broke the 0 by getting in a try at the far end yet their kick was wide. The game was now our 26 to their 5. Our teams fatigue really got to us because our boys were now moving sluggishly. Taga suddenly got in another try and another missed kick putting them at 10 to our 26. The alert to the end of second half sounded and that was that. We won and were now officially in the finals for the SPOON TROPHY but we won at a great price. Injuries increased on our end and we found ourselves with only 2 spares left to substitute for starting 7 who themselves had some pretty bad sprains, bruises, and scrapes. Everyone manned-up and walked themselves back to the bleachers to patch-up. Hunger now kicked in for our boys but we didnt have enough funds to get them something to munch on for the moment because we spent it all on ice and water. We only had the thought that after everything was over we could finally gorge on a huge dinner prepared by one of our supporters that was waiting for us back at the hotel no matter what the outcome. For the Leone Whites, we were marching forward just as we have been doing ever since. We collected a bunch of fans too because everyone loves an underdog! Finally our team was set to play on the very field we were aiming to play on. The main APIA PARK field! We were going to the FINALS! - To be continued!
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 03:02:07 +0000
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