Seeing Samoans dancing in the streets made Deasy a happy man

While most Irish eyes were fixed on the Aviva Stadium on Saturday as Declan Kidney’s side hammered Argentina, one Cork man’s focus was solely on Paris and Samoa’s bid to topple France.

Michael Deasy was not being unpatriotic, merely professional, given his role as a strength and conditioning coach at the Samoan Rugby Union and head S&C coach at the SRU Academy.

Aged 24, from Kilbrittain, Co Cork, Deasy has been based in the Samoan capital, Apia, for two and half years, having joined the SRU following his graduation with a sports science degree from UL. He’s loving every minute of it and happily witnessed the outpouring of joy that followed Samoa’s upset of Six Nations Grand Slam champions Wales in Cardiff recently.