Samoa’s Leo doubts benefit of tour

DANIEL LEO makes no qualms about it. He would prefer to be in Dublin as a member of the Samoan national team but the Pacific Islanders concept is, he admits, the next best thing.

The World Cup is less than a year away and, in an ideal scenario, the 24-year old London Wasps backrow-cum-lock would dearly love to be adding to his dozen Samoan caps on this European tour.

His Islanders coach Pat Lam is confident that Samoa, Tonga and Fiji will see real and tangible rewards from this month’s tour of Ireland, Scotland and Wales when they compete individually in France.

Leo isn’t so sure.

“I don’t think Samoan, Fijian and Tongan rugby, apart from the exposure and financial gains will get from this tour,” he explains. “The tour has been set up to advertise more the type of rugby that we are capable of. It’s not so much about helping us individually or for the World Cup which is a shame.

“I can only speak for the Samoan team but they would benefit more from having individual test matches being this close to the World Cup. In saying that, the Pacific Island concept is a good one as well. It gives us a bigger pool of players to choose from and obviously a stronger team more capable of competing with the top sides. So, there’s pros and cons. It’s about finding a happy medium.”

Despite his reservations, that is exactly what he has found on this tour. Asked what it was like to be a member of the Islanders touring party on the team website, his answer is: ‘fun, good times, always singing and laughing”.

Two weeks ago, most of his teammates were strangers but the communal nature of such trips has resulted in making friends for life. The laidback culture common to all three nations has seen to that.

“It’s a different story when we play against each other,” Leo adds. “Island rugby is like war. It’s probably up there with the likes of Ireland and England. If you look at them though, when they come together for the Lions they gel really well and we’re no different.

“The difference with us is that we don’t get those warm-up games. The Lions have maybe five or six games before the first test when they are on tour. That makes it tough on us but that’s just another of the obstacles that Islands rugby has faced since the game went professional.”

That lack of preparation has been apparent in both the Millennium Stadium and Murrayfield where both Wales and Scotland profited from their opponent’s lack of cohesiveness and understanding.

He agrees: “Last week was more disappointing. The first half against Wales was hard as well but it was the first time that everyone had played together. That wasn’t the case last week. We thought we should have done better but we just didn’t turn up. We’ve got to pick ourselves up from that and make sure things happen from the first whistle tomorrow. Our second-halves have been good but as Pat said this week there’s no team is going to come back from 31 points down. It doesn’t matter how good you are that’s game over at international rugby.”

With three weeks in camp behind them, they should have been able to tighten a few more nuts and in bolts in time for tomorrow’s clash against the Irish who they regard as their toughest opponent of the tour.

With the likes of Eoin Reddan, Jeremy Manning and Peter Bracken sharing a dressing room with him at Wasps, Leo has been looking forward to the third chapter of the trip more than any other.

Though Bracken texted on good luck messages before the last two tests, he has understandably failed to follow suit this week and Leo’s only disappointment is that he won’t be facing one of his Irish mates

Ireland have proven themselves to be adept at both the expansive and more controlled brands of rugby in their defeats of South Africa and Australia in the last few weeks and Leo fully expects Eddie O’Sullivan’s side to use their full bag of tricks tomorrow.

“We’re under no illusions as to what to expect. I think they’ll mix it up a bit. Theoretically, they could go back to their strengths in the forwards if they want as well. We’ll have to step up to the mark in that respect as well. What we liked about the Scottish match is that they matched us in throwing the ball around and hopefully it will be a good game in that regard as well.”