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Seilala Mapusua has secured new job eight months after Samoa exit

Former Samoa boss Seilala Mapusua (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Seilala Mapusua is back working in rugby eight months after losing his job as Manu Samoa head coach to Mahonri Schwalger. Despite coming within a whisker of ambushing England in their final pool match in Lille at Rugby World Cup 2023, Mapusua learned in February that the Pacific Islanders were advertising for a new head coach.

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It was late March when it was confirmed that Schwalger would take charge of the national team, leaving Mapusua searching elsewhere to continue his coaching career. That search has proven successful as he has been unveiled as an assistant at Moana Pasifika to Tana Umaga on a two-year deal.

A franchise statement read: “Moana Pasifika is excited to announce the appointment of Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua as backs and skills coach for the 2025 and 2026 DHL Super Rugby Pacific seasons.

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“The former midfielder played 26 Tests for Manu Samoa and was part of the team that famously defeated Australia 32-23 in 2011. The 44-year-old also coached Manu Samoa for four years which included the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

“Mapusua has coached several current Moana Pasifika players with Samoa, including James Lay, Sama Malolo, Jonathan Taumateine and Miracle Fai’ilagi. Mapusua was born in Moto’otua, Samoa and grew up in Wellington, attending Wesley College in Auckland.

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15 Feb 25
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“From 2002-2006 he played for the Highlanders before spending 10 years overseas in England and Japan. He made 126 appearances for the London Irish, 31 appearances for the Kubota Spears and 25 for the Kamaishi Seawaves.”

Mapusua said: “There is a feeling of home and familiarity, and a real excitement around being able to contribute to the continued growth of Pacific rugby. What Fa’alogo (Umaga) is creating here is pretty awesome and I’m really looking forward to contributing to that.

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“Everything about the direction that Moana is heading speaks to me as a Samoan, as a Pacific Islander and as a rugby coach. It all aligns with what I value and it’s another step for me in terms of my own journey. That pursuit of taking this team to a place it hasn’t been before is exciting.

“They have got world class coaches at Moana Pasifika. I’m really looking forward to learning from Fa’alogo and Tom Coventry, and having a guy like Stephen Jones in there with a totally unique perspective from the other coaches just adds to the mix. Then having a guy like Alando Soakai come in off the back of what he’s been doing in Wellington is exciting.”

Head coach Umaga added: “Vaovasamanaia is a tremendous addition to our team. I have had the privilege of working with him during my time with Manu Samoa and I’m looking forward to now working with him in Super Rugby.

“His rugby knowledge and attention to detail will be of huge benefit to the players and the team. He also leads with action and his commitment and pride in serving our Pasifika people is second to none. He is someone that a lot of people in our organisation respect so it’s great to have him on board.”

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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