The History of Manu Samoa

The Samoan Rugby Union has a deep and rich history of producing some of the world’s best players and enriching the world of rugby with endless talent. The name Manu Samoa comes from a famous Samoan warrior originally called Manusamoa Isamaeli. The two word abbreviation means bird of Samoa which is used by the Samoan rugby team. The Samoan rugby team also perform a traditional Samoan challenge or war dance called the Siva Tau, which used to be performed before battle in ancient times. The Manu Samoa Siva Tau was written before the 1991 World Cup & is now performed before every test match.

Rugby was introduced to Samoa in 1920, by the Marist brothers and soon after that in 1924, a governing body for the sport was formed & this was called ‘The Apia Rugby Union’. On August 18, 1924 Western Samoa played its first international against Fiji in the capital Apia, the visitors winning 6-0. The Western Samoa Rugby Football Union, joined the IRB in 1988 until Western Samoa amended its constitution to change the country’s name from Western Samoa to Samoa, the union also changed its name, and dropped the word football to become ‘The Samoa Rugby Union.