Manusina have kicked off their Oceania Womens Championship campaign with a 69-5 thrashing of Tonga.
The first half saw Samoa dominate in all aspects of the match from the kicking game to the set piece.
This was reflected in the halftime score of 47 points to nil, with Samoa having scored seven tries and six conversions.
The Samoan forward pack won all their scrums and lineouts which set a solid platform for their ellusive backs to show some razzle dazzle.
Debutant fullback Hasting Leiataua scored herself a first half double while left winger Linda Fiafia crossed over for a try of her own.
Fiafia is one of the few Samoan-based Manusina players.
Second-five Makayla Eli also crossed over to add to Samoa’s first half try fest.
It wasn’t just the backs who scored tries in the first 40 minutes. Powerful No. 8 Utumalama Antonio also scored a double before the break.
First-five Cassie Siataga steered her troops around the field with excellent precision and had the ball on a string with her boot.
Siataga converted 6 of 7 tries in the first half and even kicked a 50/22 which led to one of Manusina’s tries.
Tonga scored first in the second half to steal the momentum as they attempted to launch a comeback.
However, this lasted only a few minutes until Samoa got possession of the ball again which allowed Leiataua to seal a hat-trick and put a halt to Tonga’s second half ambush attempt.
Samoa would go on to add two more tries via their reserve props Ana Mamea and debutant Glory Aiono, who is sister of starting prop Jacque Aiono.
With 10 minutes remaining Samoa led 62-5 and would have extended their lead further if not for a period of errors.
Tonga were gifted with a lot of possession but were unable to convert that into points which is also testament to Samoa’s brick-wall defense.
In the dying minutes of the match Cassie Siataga scored a well deserved try to top off a complete performance from her.
It came after a well put together lineout that put Atonio through a massive hole and with a simple offload gave Siataga her try.
Throughout the match Manusina’s passing was first class – with offloads, back door flicks, inside passes and several Carlos Spencer no-need to look passes.
Manusina played with structure and confidence and in the words of Cassie Siataga during her halftime interview, “We just trusted the process and executed what our head coach had laid out.”
Manusina is coached by long serving Head Coach Ramsey Tomokino, and his side looks set to head into the second round of matches with a lot momentum.
Samoa’s next match will be against Papua New Guinea on Tuesday 30th May at 8:30pm Samoan time. PNG will be looking to redeem themselves after a 77-0 first round loss to Fiji.
The Manusina’s final match will be against Fiji on Sunday 4th June kicking off at 7pm Samoan Time.
