Pacific Cup Qualifier: Samoa vs Cook Islands

[DIEHARD]

Samoa vs Cook Islands

Samoa and the Cook Islands have announced their squads to play a SP Brewery Pacific Cup qualifying match in Cairns next Saturday, October 17.

A crowd up to 7,000 is expected to bring Barlow Park alive as the two Pacific nations face off for a spot in the RLIF?s newest international tournament alongside Fiji, Tonga and host nation Papua New Guinea.

Samoa coach Willie Poching has named a powerful squad featuring UK stars Kylie Leuluai, Francis Meli and Tony Puletua as well as youthful NRL talent in Masada Iosefa, Misi Taulapapa and Joseph Paulo.

Cook Islands coach David Fairleigh has called on young Broncos utility Alex Glenn to lead his new-look squad.

The SP Brewery Pacific Cup kicks off at Lloyd Robson Oval on the weekend of October 24, with teams set to arrive in Port Moresby from October 19.

But all the action next week will be in Cairns, with both Samoa and Cook Islands set to take part in a week of festivities starting with an intercultural social evening on Tuesday, October 13.

A Mayoral Reception will take place on Thursday, October 15 at the city?s Council Chambers, while on game day the Cairns District Junior Rugby League will be conducting fundraisers to aid the crisis response in Samoa.

Cairns will be alive with international Rugby League throughout the week thanks to concurrent carnivals - Far North Queensland Sporting and Cultural Carnival and the "Jack Albert Shield" featuring 25-30 senior men?s, women?s and under-18 teams ? involving an array of countries and cultures.

Both teams arrive in Cairns on Monday, October 12, and will train at Northern Pride Oval (Samoa) and Barlow Park (Cook Islands).

Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea continue their preparations for the inaugural SP Brewery Pacific Cup with their annual Origin fixture taking place this Saturday, October 10 in Mount Hagen.

Fiji has completed their internal trial and are set to name their tournament squad in the coming days while Tonga are busy preparing for a warm-up match against New Zealand in Rotorua on October 14 and are set to name a powerful line up prior to departing Australia on October 12.



Pacific Cup Qualifying Match

Samoa vs Cook Islands

BARLOW PARK - 17th OCTOBER

7.00 pm Cultural Entertainment 7.30 pm MAIN GAME

Gates Open 3pm - $12 Adults - $2 School Aged Children and Aged Pensioners

CURTAIN RAISER 5.30 PM Jack Ahmat Shield Qualifier

Jack Ahmat FNQ Sports & Cultural Carnival @ Jones Park 16/17/18th October

7.00 pm Cultural Entertainment 7.30 pm MAIN GAME

MAIN ENTRY SCOTT STREET GATES, 2ND ENTRANCE SPENCE STREET - CARPARKS SCOTT STREET & SHOWGROUNDS

SAMOA ? SP Pacific Cup qualifier squad

AH VAN Patrick - New Zealand Warriors
AFAMASAGA Jack - Cronulla Sharks
CHAN-TUNG Paul - Samoa
HANSEN Harrison - Wigan Warriors, UK
IOSEFA Masada - Penrith Panthers
LEULUAI Kylie - Leeds Rhinos, UK
LEULUAI Phillip - Salford Reds, UK
MATAUTIA Peter - Newcastle Knights
MELI Francis - St Helens, UK
PASENE Tanielu - Samoa
PULETUA Tony - St Helens, UK
PAULO Joseph - Penrith Panthers
ROPATI Tangi - Samoa
SEUSEU Terence - Cronulla Sharks
STANLEY Kyle - St George Illawarra Dragons
TALAPEAU Albert - Brisbane Easts
TAGATESE Sam - Gold Coast Titans
TAUALAGI Lepupa = Samoa
TAUFUA Mark - Newcastle Knights
TAULAPAPA Misi - Cronulla Sharks

COACH: Willie Poching

COOK ISLANDS ? SP Pacific Cup qualifier squad

ARONA Tinirau - Penrith Panthers
BRUNTON Sam - Sydney Roosters
DANIELA Geoff - Panthers/Tigers
FEPULEAI Daniel - Shellharbour Dragons
FORD John - Newcastle Knights
GELLING Anthony - Sydney Roosters
GLASSIE Terry - Newtown Jets
GLENN Alex - Brisbane Broncos
LULIA Keith - Newcastle Knights
MAKIMARE Fred - Melbourne Storm
MATAPUKU Joseph - Bulldogs
NGARO Vinnie - North Sydney Bears
PANAPA Leon - Cook Islands
PEROUX Dominique - Gold Coast Titans
TAKIRANGI Brad - Cook Islands
TETEVANO Zane - Newcastle Knights
TIKINAU Manikura - Wests Tigers
VAEAU Ben - Brisbane Easts
VIIGA John - Cook Islands

COACH: David Fairleigh

www.fijilive.com

[DIEHARD]

Fantastic to see legitimate international footy, especially for a qualifier for the Pacific Cup. Good luck to our Sam!

[shamus]

WOW.....Great result for Cook Islands....

Cook Islands sprung a major upset by defeating highly-fancied Samoa 22-20 in Cairns to secure a place in next week's inaugural Pacific Cup in Port Moresby.

http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbylea...L_Pacific.html

Oh....So we will need to now cheer for Dominique Peyroux our other Titan ..

P.S. I have no idea who Dominique is but the very best of luck to him...

[DIEHARD]

I feel the same, I'm blown away with Cook Islands beating Samoa! What a massive upset! I have had an affection for Cook Islands ever since I saw them play in the Orara Valley 7s in 2006.

Now they are in the Pacific Cup fully fledged and Saomoa aren't.

And all Titans fans attention and support is behind Dominique Peyroux.

We can watch this LIVE on nrl.com and NINE will be putting together a highlights package, so we should see him play.

[DIEHARD]

Cook Islands progress to Pacific Cup

The Cook Islands have sprung the international upset of the year by defeating Samoa 22-20 in Cairns tonight to book themselves a ticket to Port Moresby for the inaugural SP Brewery Pacific Cup.

The young Cook Islands side shocked their highly fancied opponents with two tries inside the first 10 minutes and survived repeat sets on their line in the dying seconds to secure a memorable victory.

The full time whistle was met with ecstatic celebrations with the Cook Islands performing a repeat rendition of their war cry in front of the vocal Barlow Park fans.

Cook Islands coach and former Australian Test player David Fairleigh said the upset victory was ?a great result for international Rugby League.?

?It?s a massive, massive day for Cook Islands Rugby League,? Fairleigh said.

?There?s a lot of spirit and emotion [in this team] and I had a great feeling at training.

?It was tremendous atmosphere - Cairns have turned on a massive Rugby League weekend for everyone here, it?s been enormous.

?No one gave us a hope in hell to get here and there was a lot of things said during the week [about our chances] that really got under the guys? skin.

?We just did what we had to do, we had a really basic game plan and they executed that really well.?

The match was preceded by a range of ceremonies and performances from local Cook Islands and Samoan community groups.

SP Brewery Pacific Cup Tournament Director Brian Canavan said it was the perfect build-up to the tournament proper kickoff on October 24 at Lloyd Robson Oval.

?The people of Cairns really got behind this match and in return they got an absolutely terrific game of Rugby League,? Canavan said.

?The spirit in which it was played and the atmosphere all night was something to remember.

?We are all set now for the SP Brewery Pacific Cup and all the teams are excited at the prospect of winning a spot in next year?s Four Nations.

?But more than anything I think all the players are just really proud to be representing their nations, which is great to see.

The win sees Cook Islands join Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea in the tournament proper which kicks off at Lloyd Robson Oval in PNG on October 24.

Teams arrive in Port Moresby on Monday, October 19, in readiness for a two-week stay in which they will participate in various community activities.

The SP Brewery Pacific Cup final will be played on Sunday, November 1, to determine which Pacific nation will join Australia, New Zealand and England in the 2010 Four Nations tournament.

COOK ISLANDS 22
Tries: Fred Makimare 2, Vincent Ngaro, Daniel Fepuleai
Goals: Brad Takarangi 3
DEFEATED TOA SAMOA 20
Tries: Misi Taulapapa, Patrick Ah Van 2, Harrison Hansen
Goals: Peter Mata?utia 2
at Barlow Park, Cairns.

Crowd: 4261

Source: RLIF