24 Sep 2019

Samoan fans excited to watch the Manu take on Russia

From First Up, 5:38 am on 24 September 2019

Samoa are making their 2019 Rugby World Cup debut tonight, taking on Russia in a must-win clash. It will be the first time the the countries have ever played against each other. In the crowd at Kumagaya tonight will be Josie Tada who has been living in Japan for the past twenty years. Our rugby reporter Joe Porter met her on the train and asked her what made her leave Samoa. ** It's been almost 25 years since Samoa made it to the quarter final of a rugby world cup and they face a tough challenge to advance from Pool A - with Ireland, Scotland and hosts Japan all ranked inside the world's top 10. The Manu are ranked 16th. RNZ Pacific's sports reporter Vinnie Wylie is in Japan and says they'll have to beat the 20th-ranked Russians if they're to give themselves a chance of progressing to the knockout stages of the tournament.