Pretty useless, forward Falemiga Selesele

PM drills mediocre sevens team

.. Meanwhile, word from the Manu Sevens camp yesterday is that Selesele has since become a driven man.

By Tupuola Terry Tavita

 

The underachieving Manu Samoa sevens team and management could be excused for losing their appetite after a thorough dressing down by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi Wednesday afternoon.

“All this country wants from you is to win, win and win,” rattled the chairman at the special luncheon hosted by the Samoa Rugby Union at the Samoa Tradition Resort, Ululoloa.

“You can no longer get away with anything that happens on the field. The country watches you live on tv and everyone is a judge of your performance. Old man, old woman and child.”

The chairman cautioned the team on being bullheaded and not taking good advice. He recalled the Polynesian Airlines crash some years ago at Moamoa due to pilot error.

“It was a stormy day and the plane could not land at Fagalii and then, at Faleolo because of cloud cover. So they flew back to Fagalii to try to land once more. The co-pilot – the lone survivor of the crash – asked the captain to take the sea route as it allowed some maneuverability. But the expert captain was arrogant and bullheaded and took the mountain route instead. At the last minute, there was a cloud opening but it was too late. The plane was already into the trees.

“The point is, be wary of being expert minded and ignorant to advice.”

The coach and manager, he said, have yet to make a name for themselves.

“You have yet to enter the Samoan rugby history books. People don’t know you. You have yet to earn people’s respect.”

The chairman singled out Falemiga Selesele as one of the worst players in the recent legs in Wellington and Las Vegas.

“When Falemiga Selesele came on, he basically killed the whole team. But I’m glad another player I told off before really improved on these last two outings.”

The chairman also expressed his displeasure at the numerous injuries disrupting the team.

“When I was playing on the wing, yes, I was the fastest student at St Joseph’s College, we were all urged by the coaches to drink a lot of milk. Milk contains a lot of calcium that build up the bones. But it is useless if you don’t get any sunshine. Sunlight provides Vitamin D-3 that synthesizes calcium. So drink a lot of milk, get lots of sunshine and you will have strong bones. So hard it will snap Fijian bones in half.”

Meanwhile, word from the sevens camp yesterday is that Selesele has since become a driven man. Leading the team’s training drills, distance runs and ten kilometer swim yesterday. That he can’t wait until the next tournaments in Tokyo and Hong Kong to get stuck into the Fijians and South Africans and prove his worth.

 

 

 

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