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MANCHESTER – The Rock has delivered a powerful pre-game rev-up to Samoa ahead of the World Cup final against Australia with the Hollywood star motivating the team with a video message, telling them to do their Pacific nation proud.
WATCH THE ROCK’S SPEECH IN THE VIDEO AT THE TOP OF THE STORY
The 50-year-old former wrestler also known as Dwayne Johnson, who played college football in America at the University of Miami in the late 1990s, said he would love to be out there on the field ripping into the Kangaroos but joked “I’d probably get my ass kicked”.
“I am delivering this message with boundless love and boundless reverence and respect, and boundless pride for my boys,” he said in a video posted on Instagram to his millions of followers.
“My usos, the Toa Samoa rugby team. They are going to the men’s final of the Rugby League World Cup. This is a big deal, they are making history in the world of sports, in the world of rugby, this is the first time that our island, our country, our culture of Samoa has ever gone to the finals for any sport. They are making history and I could not be more proud of them, we could not be more proud of them.
“I’ve got goosebumps right now.
“If I was there with you guys on Saturday I’d put on a Toa Samoa and I would take that field and be running that rock with you guys.
(Photo by Pablo Cuadra/WireImage)
“My usos, I love you, I’m so proud of you. Take that field, make history and win.”
He said the Samoans should embrace the underdogs tag.
“This Saturday is the big game … I know you have got so much on your mind right now, pressure,” he said.
“Pressure, the pressure to deliver, the pressure to perform. You have the world watching and you have so much on your shoulders. Right now you are proud grandsons, proud sons, proud husbands, proud fathers, proud teammates, proud brothers, proud usos.
“I understand what it’s like to have pressure, I understand what it’s like to do stuff where the world is watching so a few things I always think about when it comes to scenarios like this.
“It happened when I was playing football, it happened when I was wrestling for some of the biggest wrestlemanias of all time, it happened in this crazy world of Hollywood.
“I know you got a lot of stuff on your mind. Number one is grit, there’s a term that you guys know, it is called ‘Fa’a Samoa’ and when I was growing up my grandfather, my grandmother and even my mum, still today we talk about grit.
(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images for RLWC)
“That is one of the many Samoan terms that I always embody because to me, my grandfather always taught me, yes ‘Fa’a Samoa’ is being proud of who you are, where you come from, what’s in your blood, what’s in your DNA, what’s deep in here – your mana. That’s the thing that separates us from everyone else, it is the grit, the drive, that force that you operate as if your backs are up against the wall and there is nowhere to go but ahead, but forwards.”
He added that legacy was the other factor they need to think about because “you guys are defining your legacy right here, right now”.
“History is watching, our ancestors are always watching. So when you take that field in Manchester, you have that grit and our DNA is just full of that Samoan pride and culture,” he said. “You think about that legacy and the legacy you guys wanted to find because there’s two sides to legacy. Number one is the side you’ve already made history, you’ve arrived.
“But the other side of the legacy, this is the special side, is when you take that field in Manchester, you leave it all out on the field and you win.”
Samoan hooker Fa’amanu Brown has been ruled out of the team to play Australia after he clashed heads with teammate Oregon Kaufusi.
Dolphins-bound former Cowboys forward Connelly Lemuelu has been brought into the team.
Penrith forward Spencer Leniu has been cleared after carrying a shoulder injury.
Samoan team: 1 Joseph Suaali’i, 2 Taylan May, 4 Stephen Crichton, 5 Brian To’o, 6 Jarome Luai, 7 Anthony Milford, 8 Josh Papali’i, 10 Junior Paulo, 11 Ligi Sao, 12 Jaydn Su’A, 15 Royce Hunt, 16 Spencer Leniu, 17 Martin Taupau, 20 Chanel Harris-Tavita, 22 Kelma Tuilagi, 23 Oregon Kaufusi, 25 Tim Lafai, 26 Ken Sio, 27 Connelly Lemuelu
Kangaroos forward Angus Crichton has put the dampeners on the idea of an Indigenous team entering the Rugby League World Cup, declaring that the idea would be divisive for the sport in Australia.
The idea had been floated by incoming Indigenous All Stars coach Ronald Griffiths, but Crichton told Fox League that he wasn’t a fan.
“The way I see it, Indigenous Australia and white Australia – I don’t think we need to divide it,” he said. I want it to be integrated, I want everyone to get on as one,”
“If we’re having white Australia v black Australia then I feel like that’s just making the gap further apart. I love representing Australia with my indigenous brothers. So I feel like that would be a backward step in my opinion.”
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(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
The long-running saga over the rankings at the Rugby League World Cup could be at an end, with International Rugby League preparing to announce the latest update to the rankings.
Australia were aggrieved to lose their ownership of the top spot on the table, which they lost due to inactivity during the Covid-19 pandemic, but are likely to return to the top regardless of the result on Saturday afternoon (UK time) at Old Trafford.
New Zealand are currently top, by dint of performances in 2019’s international window and their midseason Test win over Tonga in Auckland.
The rankings are calculated on a rolling four-year basis, meaning that the results from the 2017 World Cup dropped off Australia’s record and caused a fall in their position. Now, with fixtures from the World Cup carrying the heaviest weight, it is likely that the Kangaroos will find themselves leapfrogging the Kiwis.
A potential issue might be that England, who did not face Australia or New Zealand, also defeated Samoa and played a 2021 Test against France that will have boosted their rankings.
The Jillaroos are likely to remain atop the Women’s rankings after going unbeaten through their tournament and have already defeated the Kiwi Ferns in the group stage, though a loss in the Final might make it close.