Samoa Profile

Colours: Blue
Major Honours: Pacific Rim Champions 2000, qualifying for the 1999 Rugby World Cup and the 2003 Rugby World Cup

Coach: Former Waikato fly-half John Boe began his coaching career with the Waikato Under-21 side in 1994 and was elevated to coach of the Waikato team in the New Zealand NPC the following year. Boe was originally loaned to Samoa for a three month period by the New Zealand Rugby Union but he had immediate success leading the Pacific Islanders to the 2000 Epson Cup and decided to stay.

Captain: Likened to Samoan legend Pat Lam, Semo Sititi is exceptionally fast and is able to cover all three of the loose forward positions. He commands respect from his team on the field and like all Samoans is a devastating tackler and attacker. A former international Sevens player, the big flanker debuted for Manu Samoa in May 1999 and was elevated to captain the following year.

Player(s) to watch: Born in New Zealand, Lome Fa'atua is as distinguishable by the traditional tattoos on his legs as he is for his powerful and elusive running. The winger burst onto the scene in New Zealand's National Provincial Championship (NPC) with Taranaki. He moved to Wellington the following year where he was once again the leading try scorer for the side. The 27-year old is currently the only player to be contracted with a Super 12 side, playing on right-wing for the Wellington-based Hurricanes.

Profile: Samoa is unquestionably one of the most fertile breeding grounds for raw rugby talent in the world and the islanders' influence can be felt pretty much wherever the game is played. Virtually every professional club in England has at least one Samoan on the books and they are renowned for their hard-tackling, toughness and will to win. For such a small nation, they have produced a remarkable number of top-class players who have gone on to find fame in both rugby union and rugby league including Va'aiga Tuigamala, Apollo Perelini, Pat Lam and Stephen Bachop.

In fact, the huge numbers of players playing professionally abroad can often work to Samoa's disadvantage when it comes to team training as it can often be difficult to get them all together as a squad. But Samoa still manage to remain competitive on the world-stage and will never be regarded as a soft prospect by any opponent.

Samoa emerged from RWC '99 with honour intact after a brilliant victory over host nation Wales in the Pool stages (as they did at the 1991 World Cup), which upset the form-book and set them up for a quarter-final play-off against Scotland at Murrayfield where their progress was halted.

If Samoa have a weakness, it is in the set-piece and they have often struggled to win possession against the leading rugby nations from scrummage and line-out.

Nevertheless, the Pacific Island nation continue to be an exciting force in the world game, but at the moment are in a consolidation phase, with a number of young players likely to emerge.