19 Jul 2011

Sport: IRB praises Manu Samoa victory

11:12 am on 19 July 2011

The International Rugby Board says Samoa's stunning win against Australia shows it's investment in the Pacific region is paying off.

The Wallabies have been roundly criticised following Sunday's 32-23 in Sydney, with coach Robbie Deans insisting his team weren't complacent but simply didn't play well.

The IRB's Regional General Manager for Oceania, William Glenwright, says the Samoan team will only get better with another month and a half together leading into Rugby World Cup.

"It's a huge result for Pacific rugby, it's a huge result for Samoan rugby and I think it just shows what the potential of these countries are and if we can continue to work on their high performance programmes and provide the competition structure that the IRB's been working so hard on for the past five years, then I think the future is very bright, not only Samoa but Fiji, Tonga and the broader Pacific region."