Samoan rugby is on a high at the moment, boosted by Upolu Samoa’s victory in the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup final, their title challenge in the IRB Sevens World Series and a highest ever placing at the IRB Under 19 World Championship.

Upolu Samoa’s 35-15 defeat of Tongan side Tau’uta Reds in Nuku’alofa last weekend – the biggest winning margin of an ultra competitive competition – keeps the Pacific Rugby Cup trophy in the country after Savai’i Samoa’s victory in the inaugural event.

This success, allied with Savai’i finishing fourth in the competition involving two representative teams from Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, gives national coach Michael Jones cause for optimism as he builds towards Rugby World Cup 2007 in September.

“It is a great result for Samoan rugby. Savai’i were representing Samoa ably last year as the PRC champions, I think Upolu were unlucky, they might have ended up pretty lower down the table, but they were very unlucky,” Jones told Total Rugby Radio.

Wonderful accomplishment

“They were probably one or two points between being fifth and second or third and then this year they have turned it around and taken out the Championship, which is again a wonderful accomplishment for Samoan rugby.”

However it is not only Samoa that have benefited from a competition which saw only three of the 16 matches decided by more than a converted try, with Jones under no illusions as to its importance for rugby in the Pacific Islands.

“It is a key vehicle for Pacific Island rugby to bridge that gap, not just between club rugby and the next level of rugby, but in particular between a semi professional league to Test, international rugby,” the former All Black flanker added.

“It has been fantastic for Pacific Island development and Pacific Island rugby progress in that we have been able to provide a really key vehicle for a lot of our Island-based players to get a taste of pretty close to semi professional anyway.

“A really well organised tournament that is providing them with exposure to all the national selectors at a level that we believe is not far off playing Test rugby at the highest level, so in that regard it has been a very significant tournament.

The perfect blend

“And a very significant development for Pacific Island rugby, so wearing the coaching hat and wearing the Pacific Island rugby advocacy hat, it is a very important step for us in the right direction.”

With Samoa’s first match in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup against Fiji in the capital Apia only 10 days away, Jones now has to build on “the high benchmark for the Manu” set by the PRC and find the right mix between overseas professional and home grown players.

“It is something we celebrate and we take into Pacific Six Nations just with a good grounding we feel and a good showing and now the challenge with Manu Samoa is to continue that success at a level for Samoa,” Jones added.

“I think you have got to put it in perspective. We know there is a big step up, we have got seasoned professionals too who are performing really well at a high intensity rugby week in, week out.

Unearthing the next generation

“Whether it is Super 14 players to Heineken Cup, European Cup, all the different leagues that are going on in the northern hemisphere, they are all participating in that, which is good for us because it helps shape players for us that are of the highest quality.

”We have got to meld those players into the local player base too and bring that all together and hopefully get the mix right because we definitely are looking at growing the local talent that is coming out of the PRC.

“That is a definite way ahead for us and tapping into that catchment that sits there on island, which we truly believe are still churning out the Brian Lima’s of the world and the future Semo Sititi’s etc, so it is just getting the balance right.

“We do look very seriously at both ends of the equation so to speak, so if we can get that formula right, then it normally ends up being a pretty good mix of Samoan-based players and bringing in our professionals from offshore.”