The Odyssey of They Who Bear the Dreams of Their Predecessors (A story built of the recollection of the Leone Whites vs Fagatogo Blues 15s Rugby Shield match on May 24, 2013 as witnessed by players, coaches, and observers from the Leone Whites Rugby Team and supporters) On May 24, 2014, at the break of dawn, the American Samoa village of Leone in the West had called a meeting of all its Chieftains representing the many family clans living within the confines of its borders. This meeting was routine and held once a month, attended by more than 20 clan heads and respected leaders, chieftains all. As routine as it was, there was a feeling in the air that this day would be different. For years the village has had men both young and old training and putting together a group of players who would play in the name of the Leone Whites Rugby Team, and yet for years the team has been without formal recognition by the very village for which they stood for and still the team pushed forward with what little they were able to do. Historically, that all changed on this day. After an opening solemn prayer by an esteemed village chieftain the Leone Whites Rugby team was called to sit before the gathering of village leaders to receive their lectures and then finally the blessings of the Leone village itself. It was a practice from time immemorial, reminiscent of the ancient Samoan custom of sending off Samoan warriors to battle in distant lands. This time though, it was a battle of Rugby. Tears were shed and words were shared. Today the Leone Whites Rugby team truly became a team of the village of Leone in every essence of the word. It was a moment of intense feelings and pride for both new and veteran members of the Leone Whites. Instilled with an almost supernatural like feeling, along with bodies and minds disciplined, hardened, and quickened by months of brutal soldier like rugby training, the Leone Whites made their way, somber and quietly, to the Tafuna Stadium in Central American Samoa to meet the Juggernaut that was the Fagatogo Blues Rugby Team, the undefeated champions of the American Samoa Rugby Union for up to 3 or more years or so. For the Leone Whites, it has been that same amount of time since they have last held the American Samoa Rugby Union Shield within their grasp dating back to an unfortunate team ban issued to them 5 years ago stripping them of that very shield. It was the wish of the coaches and many of the older players, all veterans of the Leone Whites, that the younger and newer members of the team help them obtain that which has eluded them for so long after years or struggling and coming so close, an odyssey of sorts. Zoom! We come to the present! Leone Whites take the field, Fagatogo Blues set to receive, the ball is up, the Blues recover and then it begins! Pounding, grinding, grunting, yelling, screaming, running, clashing, crashing. The sound of bone crunching tackles filled the air, the crowds from both teams cheering their teams on with crackling voices! The heat of battle grew intense. At the Fagatogo bleachers a good amount of supporters cheered on their favorite Blues singing their village songs in recognition of their players and the competition that laid before them. Yet when viewing the Leone bleachers one obviously deduced that an entire village of supporters, more than 200 strong, came to cheer on their underdogs, their sons, their brothers, their husbands, their uncles, their cousins, and their boyfriends who rumbled on the field wearing the white red and black colored uniforms and numbers of the Leone Whites. Whop! Fagatogo draws first blood as they successfully complete a penalty kick for 3 pts bringing the Fagatogo bleachers to a standing frezy screaming with excitement for the points which were the first of the game! The Blues were experienced and knew what they wanted to do with the ball yet the Whites were not going to give up. Thud, crunch! A bone crunching tackle by Pepe Silalafaele of the Whites, ohhhhh! goes the Leone bleachers as they too felt the impact of Silalafaeles hits, a jumble of cheers rang out, and then another tackle, and another! This guy was fricking amazing! Men twice his size trying to run him over only to find themselves put on the flat of their backs in utter mystification! Boom! Break away! Wingman Maugalei Veavea set up by Jereme Sefuiva of the Whites, on the run, 1st defender juked! 2nd defender broken tackle, 3rd defender juked, and another and another, broken tackle, almost there! Awwww goes the Leone bleachers as the Whites commit a knock-on by dropping an offloaded pass! Into the scrum they go grinding it out with the Fagatogo Blues who now appear a bit shaken by the defensive and offensive onslaught of the Leone Whites! Whistle! Penalty call on Fagatogo! Whats this? Silalafaele is on the ground, a hilarious scene ensues as he frantically grabs for an ice pack offered by field medic Monique Solofa and rubs the left side of his tosh, a funny moment for some but the pain in Silafaeles face is recognizable, yo get up man youre kicking this ball! Kirifi Ofagalilo shouts in Samoan to his grounded teammate encouraging him to pull through for he is the Whites kicker! Two steps back, 3 jump steps, forward he goes, whop! In goes the 3 point kick and the Leone crowd goes wild! The game is tied at 3 to 3 and its almost half time! Scrum, Fagatogo was powerful at first but now on their 6th scrum they begin to feel the strength and endurance of the Leone Whites forwards, Camren Coulter, Phillip Yandall, Nemia Vitale, Vaituni Malo, Scott Moliaga, Petelo Noga, Pepe Silalafaele, and Melea Timo begin tearing into the Blues, scrum on, scrum off, they were feeling the hurt, often times cursing their teammates, then flinging their curses at the Whites players to vent their frustrations of failed offensive attacks, scrums, and side outs. Suddenly... Half time! Everyone catches their breath for up to 7 minutes or so and then its on again! Whites receive. Whoosh! Break away by Vaituni Malo! One defender trucked! Stiff arm on another, stiff arm again! Hes going all the way! Offload! Pass to Kirifi Ofagalilo, he cuts in taking with him a slew of Blues defenders, down they go, whistle! Penalty on Leone, offsides! So close to the score! The Blues begin bringing the pressure, aiming to kick the ball to the rear of the Whites to buy time and distance yet their purchases are voided as the tag team of Sean Salavea and Jereme Sefuiva keep the Whites flank well guarded and handled! Hand off! The rest of the backs are making plays like crazy, ball to Vaalele Autagavaia, pass to Tusi Maae, pass to Komiti Sosene. Oh my gosh! Autagavaia with the break away, offload to Silalafaele, almost there, almost there, offload to Veavea, nooooo! Knock-on on the Whites! So close again! The score only a few feet away! Blues take the scrum. Whats this? Whites punish them on the inside, penalty ball to Whites! Theyve got it back. Scrum on, Sosene drops the ball in, Malo with the pick and run, offload to Autagavaia, offload to Veavea, he steps to it, Blues get confused, offloaded to Rudy Steffany Yes! Steffany with the score, right between the posts! Steffany with the score! 8 - 3 Leone Whites! Silalafaele sets the kick... Its good! 10 - 3 Leone Whites! The Blues arent undefeated champions for nothing, they stage their comeback with ingeniously placed kicks giving them very good field position. Scrum, they are getting close! Scrum, so much closer! Scrum, theyre on the goal line! Leone holds out! So much riding on this, boom! Tackle! Blues stopped, up they go again, boom another tackle, Blues stopped again! And again, and again, amazing these teams are grinding on the goal line for more than 8 minutes! The ball has moved from one end of the goal line down the the other far end! Blues step... Its a score! A far end score for the Blues and their bleachers go wild! 10 - 8 Leone up by two now! Kicker is brought in, Leones bleachers gets loud trying to distract him, he has to kick from the far corner against the wind to tie the game, he sets, he sets, he kicks, no good! score is at 10 - 8 Leone Whites! Leone fans get wild again! In the finale, the Leone Whites end their odyssey with the elusive American Samoa Rugby Union Shield holding out to the last minute of the last half to win their championship game. It was a battle of gigantic proportions and a match worthy of American Samoa Rugby history. The Blues definitely lived up to their juggernaut ways but the Whites this time around were the hungrier wolves of the day. A big congrats to both teams on a game so well played. An even bigger congratulations to the Leone Whites. The journey to the top has ended. Now the journey to keep the top begins. Thank you all for reading my updates on our Leone Whites team. Video for our championship game will be up very soon, itll have a more detailed recollection, you can count on that lol! Till then, live :) We are the CHAMPIONS!
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 13:17:46 +0000
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