Samoan halfback Melani Matavao in action against Scotland. Photo: Blake Armstrong/Photosport
Manu Samoa head coach Lemalu Tusi Pisi says they have emerged a better team from their 41-12 loss to Scotland in Auckland on Friday.
Pisi said, despite the result, he and the coaching team were happy with the promise they saw, as they prepared for the Pacific Nations Cup, which will also double as their 2027 Rugby World Cup qualifier.
The former Manu Samoa captain understood what his players had been through, especially with the limited preparation time and the fact that some of their best players are also unavailable, due to club commitments.
Pisi said they were better off and would only get better moving forward, with their next game being their first PNC clash against Tonga at Nuku'alofa on 23 August.
"Look, we had eight days to prepare and, obviously, there's probably habits in our game from lack of playing time that we didn't get to execute today," he said. "At the end of the day, it's a starting point for us moving forward to the qualifiers.
"I'm really proud of the effort from the boys, but I'm sure they know too that those little habits in our game, in their game and our game, we just can't have those lapses in international rugby."
Pisi said the players were getting into the game at a slower pace then expected, hanging off in support and failing to get up quickly on defence against the Scots.
Manu Samoa coach Tusi Pisi. Photo: AFP / Sameer Al-Doumy
Scotland were fired up from the start and really did not let Manu Samoa into the game.
Pisi said getting to the breakdowns and winning possession was a must, and a critical area they would need to focus on moving forward.
"Just a bit of lateness in the breakdown," he said.
"I thought our support player was just half a second, half a step too late and then, obviously, you just can't have those lapses in international rugby.
"They either hold you up or you end up losing the ball in the breakdown, but all in all, I'm proud of the effort from the team. We'll go away and improve those habits in our game, but I'm really excited about a start point and where we can get to."
Scotland scored seven tries, the first after just five minutes, and by halftime, they had led 22-0, with tries to Rory Hutchinson, Kyle Steyn, Arron Reed and Ewan Ashman.
Samoa managed two late consolation tries, but it was all too little too late, as Scotland closed out a dominant performance with another copybook rolling maul in the 78th minute to drive in the final nail.
The result saw Scotland head home with two wins, after a win over the Māori All Blacks and a loss to Fiji.
For Samoa, it was their first hitout since September 2024 and they also missed frontline players due to NPC commitments.
Captain Theo MacFarland said it was a good start and they would learn to improve on areas they had identified, before they tackle.
"It's good, although not the start we wanted," he said. "We had to start somewhere, so obviously disappointing, but we had to start somewhere.
"I think there's a lot of potential in our team and we need to learn from this game."
MacFarland said the 10 days' training was too short to prepare, and he had challenged the players to be realistic and just give their all.
"We had to be real with ourselves, you know, 10 days wasn't going to be an excuse for us," he said.
"We asked the boys to put our best foot forward to this game and I thought they did, so I'm really, I'm really proud of the efforts.
"Today was about execution and we didn't quite get that. We didn't execute the way we wanted and we've made couple mistakes, which really hurt us.
"We'll bounce back, we'll take all the learnings, we'll get back to the drawingboard, but we've got a good group and there's a lot of deputies that have got a lot of talent, so we've got a lot of belief in this group."
Benjamin Petaia Nee-Nee and Duncan Paia'aua scored tries for Samoa.
The Manu Samoa players will now return to their clubs and coach Pisi said his coaching team would look at player availability again, before they get together for the Pacific Nations Cup.
A difficulity for Samoa, Fiji and Tonga is getting their players out of the European competitions, plus those playing in the New Zealand NPC series.
Manu Samoa will now focus on the Pacific Nations Cup, where they will need to finish among the top three from a group that includes Tonga, Canada and USA.
The PNC will be played in two different groups - the Pacific will have Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, while the Asia group has Japan, Canada and USA.
Fiji and Japan have already qualified for the World Cup.
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