Lam: why I couldn’t pass up a spot at the World Cup
FAMILY — the word used by Samoa captain Jack Lam to describe the bond between a group that will take the field for the last time together in Fukuoka today.
With the coaching ticket out of contract, and a host of senior players expecting to be pulling on the blue jersey for a final time against Ireland, this is the end of the road for a proud side that at various points have felt stung by perceived unfair treatment at this World Cup.
Scheduling, inconsistent refereeing, key players banned and, of course, the infamous crooked-feed call that gave Japan the platform for their crucial, 84th-minute try on Sunday have all raised the ire of coach Steve Jackson, but his players have remained a tightly-knit unit.
“We’ve been together for about eight weeks so this has pretty much been our family for the last two months,” said captain Jack Lam yesterday as lively singing drifted up the stairs from their team room.
“Yeah, the word ‘family’ pretty much sums it up. We havehadourupsanddowns as any family would but we have managed to problem-solve everything within our family and we’re still tight.”
Like many families, chat inevitably turns to its prodigal sons. Cynically placed in an impossible position, Samoa have more than most.
Injuries notwithstanding, at this quadrennial peak of the international game, not even those inside the camp would proffer an argument that this is the best 31 players they have to offer.
The likes of Bundee Aki, who has been included by Joe Schmidt in today’s opposition, and England’s Manu Tuilagi are just two prominent stars who could have been in their number but chose a different path. However the real issue is not those who are here to represent a different nation but those who aren’t here at all. As is so often the case for Samoa, the root issue is money.
TV telethons were required to raise money for training camps this summer where wages equated to approximately £50 a day and some players were still left to pay their own airfare.
Even for their rare tussles with northern hemisphere sides, the contrast between rugby’s haves and have nots remains stark. In 2017, it was revealed that England players were raking in £22,000 a head for a November international in Twickenham, Samoa as the visiting opposition just £650.
It is against this backdrop that players have essentially been forced to put a price on representing their country.
World Rugby’s regulation 9 — that players must be released by their club for Test duty, including the World Cup — has long been flouted with Samoa and Tonga both confirming before this tournament that presumed members of their squads had