Manu Samoa squad prepare for game by going to Mass

Manu Samoa have prepared for their battle against the All Blacks with hymns and prayers at a service at Our Lady of The Rosary church on Sunday.

The magnificent Catholic church in Siusega, on the outskirts of Apia, is in the parish of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi.

After the team entered the church to the hymn How Great Thou Art, sung in Samoan by a choir, parish priest Ilalio Fulu gave a lively address to the players, asking them if they were ready for Wednesday’s historic match – the first time the All Blacks have played a test in the Islands.

The players assured him they were.

Fr Fulu also made mention of “our brothers from New Zealand”, but said it was the Manu Samoa players’ responsibility to celebrate their gifts fully on the field, and to play “tough, but not rough”.

Later he asked: “If God is with us, who can be against us?”

Manu Samoa manager Namulauulu Sami Leota responded with an address of his own in which his only words in English were: “Are we ready? We are more than ready.”

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News category: Asia Pacific, Top Story.

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