(PRESS SECRETARIAT); Today in a brief meeting, Prime Minister Tuilaepa and Chairman of the Samoa Rugby Union (SRU) welcomed Manu Samoa’s new Head Coach Steve Jackson in to his new role. Prime Minister Tuilaepa congratulated Coach Jackson on his appointment and reassured him of his support, as well as the support of the SRU board and management.
Jackson’s appointment was confirmed on the 20th of September following the SRU Board’s endorsement. The newly appointed coach is excited to take on the new role as he heads right into the Northern Hemisphere tour preparations for Manu Samoa.
“It’s an absolute privilege to meet the Prime Minister today; I am looking forward to the Northern Hemisphere tour. I’m looking forward to starting to get to meet all the players. I’ve had two weeks so far now in the job, and sort of hit the ground running pretty quick.”
Jackson also reiterated his vision for Manu Samoa heading into the Rugby World Cup next year.
“First and foremost we’ll give ourselves every opportunity to actually look to quarter finals. That’ll be a goal of ours. I’m not looking for anything less.
“We need to be in the top 10. There’s a lot of talk now around an international window now that there’s going to be 10 top teams in the world that’ll be playing against each other, so again, there’s another opportunity for us if we’re inside that top 10 to be playing against Tier 1 teams. We don’t want to be known as a Tier 2 nation, we want to be a Tier 1 nation and that’s what we’ll be striving to do.”
Coach Jackson was accompanied by SRU’s Chief Executive Officer Faleomavaega Vincent Fepuleai and Manu Samoa Team Manager Vaaelua Aloi Alesana.
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