Samoa get mouthy

Samoa and mouthguards have a chequered past at the Rugby World Cup. This time they’ve avoided the wrath of World Rugby to become the first nation to have their country’s emblem printed on the teeth protector. Four years ago Samoan wing Alesana Tuilagi copped a hefty $10,000 fine and found himself at the centre of an outcry after wearing a branded mouthgurad at the World Cup in New Zealand. This time Hurricanes hooker Motu Matu’u tweeted asking for a new mouthguard. Small Brighton-based company GuardianPro came back to him and offered to insert the Manu Samoa team logo on the mouthguard. Even then, Samoa were forced to seek approval from the stringent World Cup regulations committee. ‘‘I didn’t want to get into any mischief and clearly didn’t want to pay a $10,000 fine,’’ Matu’u said. ‘‘That would be my whole salary gone.’’ GuardianPro have since outfitted the whole team for free.