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Manuma Samoa

Union	Samoa Rugby Union
Founded	2019 (Kagifa Samoa) 2020 (Manuma Samoa)
Ground(s)	Apia Park (Cap: 12,000)
Coach(es)	Brian Lima
Captain(s)	Patrick Fa’apale
League(s)	Global Rapid Rugby
Union website
www.manusamoa.com

Manuma Samoa is a professional rugby union team based in Samoa that plays in the Global Rapid Rugby competition. Founded in 2019 as Kagifa Samoa, the team is backed by the Samoa Rugby Union.

Name and logo

Manuma, in Samoan, refers to the many-colored fruit dove (Ptilinopus perousii), a small dove found in that country. The team logo includes the head of a manuma bird in profile beneath the Southern Cross in white on a blue background.

History

Kagifa Samoa

The Kagifa Samoa team was established in 2019 and competed in the Pacific Showcase series during the inaugural year of Global Rapid Rugby. In Samoan colloquial speech, a kagifa refers to an enormous wild fish or shark that wreaked havoc in Polynesian mythical legend, and which is more formally referred to as tanifa.

The team was backed by Pacific Sports International in partnership with the Samoa Rugby Union. The 2019 squad included Samoan-based players, Tongans, Fijians and New Zealanders as well as Samoan-eligible players based in Australia and New Zealand.

Manuma Samoa

The team was renamed Manuma Samoa with the backing of the Samoa Rugby Union for the 2020 Rapid Rugby season.

Home field

Manuma Samoa plays home games at Apia Park Stadium. Due to construction at Apia Park in 2019 for the Pacific Games, the team's home matches for the Rapid Rugby Pacific Showcase were moved to Pukekohe Stadium in Auckland and Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane.

Squad

The Manuma squad for the 2020 Global Rapid Rugby season:

Records

Season standings

Global Rapid Rugby

Notes:

^* 2019 Rapid Rugby matches in the Pacific showcase.

Head coaches

• Darryl Suasua (2019) 
• Brian Lima (2020) 

Captains

• Leon Fukofuka (2019) 
• Patrick Fa’apale (2020)

See also

• Rugby union in Samoa

References

1. ^ Airey, Thomas (14 November 2019). "Manuma Samoa team named for Global Rapid Rugby season". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019.
2. ^ Keni Lesa, Mata'afa (9 April 2019). "Samoa Rugby Union sanctions Kagifa Samoa as it eyes $1.8 million". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019.
3. "Manuma". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
4. Gillespie, Rosemary (2009). Encyclopedia of islands. p. 800. ISBN 9780520256491.
5. "Fijian Latui set for elite international competition". Fiji Sun. 1 March 2019. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019.
6. ^ "Kagifa Samoa Squad". Kagifa Samoa Facebook. 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
7. Airey, Thomas (15 May 2019). "Kagifa Samoa making debut this week". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019.
8. "Global Rapid Rugby". Rugby Asia 24/7. 1 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019.
9. "Five challengers for Rapid Rugby title". Western Force. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019.
10. ^ Manukia, Matt (9 April 2019). "Samoan franchise given green light for breakaway rugby tournament". One News.
11. Tautua-Fanene, Deidre (19 September 2018). "Contract awarded for Apia Park, Aquatic Center". Samoa Observer. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019.
12. "Rapid Rugby 2019 Schedule on show" (PDF) (Press release). Global Rapid Rugby. 1 March 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2019.
13. "Manuma Samoa". Rapid Rugby. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
14. "Dress rehearsal done". Rapid Rugby. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019.

External links

• Invest Samoa Manuma page
• Manu Samoa website of the Samoa Rugby Union

Archives

• Former Kagifa Samoa page at the Wayback Machine (archived 15 November 2019)
• Former Kagifa Samoa Rugby fan page at the Wayback Machine (archived 15 November 2019)

• Rugby union teams in Samoa
• Global Rapid Rugby teams
• Rugby clubs established in 2019
• Rugby union clubs disestablished in 2020
• 2020 disestablishments in Oceania