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18 hours ago
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You can keep the 92 points England scored. Let’s talk about Samoa’s three. It’s been 11 years since Samoa recorded a point in a World Cup match. They didn’t qualify for the tournaments in 2017 or 2021, and they were whitewashed 73-0 by Australia in the first round of this one on the opening weekend. So Franklin’s Gardens fell awfully quiet when the team won a scrum penalty just inside England’s half in the 42nd minute, 32m out, and straight in front of the posts. Everyone knew what was at stake in that next moment, and it was a hell of a lot more than cutting three points off England’s lead.
Their coach, Ramsey Tomokino, was expecting them to tap-and-go, they had prepared for it in the week, but on the pitch their captain, Sui Pauarasia, turned to her young fly half, Harmony Vatau, and said: “You got this?” instead. “She’s a pretty shy player,” Pauarasia said afterwards, “but she looked back at me and nodded.” The team were so surprised by it that no one thought to bring on a kicking tee, and the players had to scream at the water-carriers waiting on the sidelines to get it on quickly because the shot clock was already ticking. The ball flew straight and true, right between the uprights.
The place erupted. In the stands, the handful of fans who had travelled around the world to be here started screaming and shouting in celebration, the Samoa team broke out dancing as they ran back to their half. “Just to see the jubilation on the face of Harmony and the girls was heartwarming,” Tomokino said. He really wanted the team to score a try, something they haven’t managed in three games against England across the last two and a half decades, but the looks on players’ faces told you that they were thrilled just to have their first points.
Samoa had Glory. She was playing prop forward. And they had Faith. She was packing down at hooker. Now they had hope, too. What they didn’t have was any time, or money. And it takes both to play like the Red Roses do.
It takes time and money to scrum like that, to run through the endless drills, and pay for the coaches, analysts, and strength and conditioning coaches who help them learn how to do it. It takes time and money to learn their set-piece routines, time and money to develop the team cohesion which underpins their intricate attacking patterns and defensive plays they use. It takes time and money to learn to kick the ball like Helena Rowland, or to throw it in the wet like Lucy Packer, or handle it like Jade Shekells and Megan Jones.
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Samoa are amateurs – their squad includes a property manager, a primary school teacher and a police officer – and the only reason they’re out there playing is for the love of representing their country. Most of them have to play rugby league if they want to make a living out of sport. There isn’t any cash in Samoan men’s rugby, let alone the women’s game. The governing body has been on the edge of bankruptcy ever since the pandemic. It has been living off its overdraft ever since, a situation, World Rugby argues, that is largely down to a serial mismanagement of distributed funds. It had to cancel the men’s European tour last autumn because it couldn’t afford it.
There have been times when the Samoan women have considered themselves lucky to get paid anything at all. The £1,500 appearance fee paid to each of the England players in this match would cover what the entire Samoa squad has received in full for playing in some recent tournaments. A lot of them had to set up crowdfunding pages to help cover the shortfall in earnings they’re suffering while they are playing over here, so they would have enough to cover their domestic bills. More than once, Tomokino has had to pay operational expenses out of his own pocket.
“Our girls have worked really hard to be here,” he said. “To walk off the bus and be applauded like that, we’ve never had that, we’ve never had the opportunity to play in front of 14,000 like we did tonight, and our girls deserve it.” He broke down crying as he spoke. “I know there was a worry that England’s score could get to triple figures, and I know people have been talking about whether that is good for the game or not, but I think what’s good for the game is that we’re here and we’re getting better.”
All they want is a fair shot, just like the one they took to score those three points. “We’ve been longing to be part of a professional competition for some time,” Tomokino said. “I know if we get given these same opportunities we will be a far stronger team. I long for the day where the competition for the women is like it is for the men, the sooner we can get to there, the better.”
