Manu Samoa 28 - Western Force 24

On a totally left of field note! I went and watched the Manu Samoa team blitz the Western Force on Saturday evening, with a lot of eager cuzzy bro's!! My extended family & I, all 50 of us, waved our flags proudly & supported another cousin (cousin of a cousin...you know how it goes!) from NZ who had made the team. We had excellent seats near the try line where we got to see a lot of action. There was a lot of kicking & penalty goals which was a little dissapointing, but twas a good game none the less. I think the Samoans were saved by the bell as The Force were playing hard in the second half almost scoring a few tries...luckily for us there wasn't enough time in the game! Also got to see Luke & Josh play (young churchies making a name for themselves).

What a team

Samoa in white

This pic wasn't from the game, but damn that's gotta hurt!

What I was most impressed about was this little tidbit of info I got off www.sportsaustralia.com.

"In a wonderful example of the strength of the rugby fraternity, Western Force Gold players will donate half of their match payment from Saturday night’s game against Manu Samoa to the financially struggling Samoan Rugby Union. It has been well documented that the governing bodies of Pacific Island Rugby nations have had financial difficulties despite consistently competitive results".

'“The guys understand the situation Samoan rugby is in, and it’s a good opportunity for us to help out in a small way,” Welborn said. “We want Samoa to be competitive on Saturday night and into the future, and to achieve that they are going to need some support.”'

Now that's what I call 'good sportmanship!!

Good onya Force...keep up the good work! As for the games, ummmm...better luck next time.