16 Feb 2015

Sport: Samoa Rugby boss wants to open 'fresh chapter'

12:32 pm on 16 February 2015

The new head of the Samoa Rugby Union admits the administration has made mistakes but wants to open a fresh chapter.

The SRU has never been far from the headlines in recent years, with officials accused of mismanaging funds at the last World Cup and players threatening to boycott a test match against England in November.

The Chair of the rugby union, Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, has claimed the dispute with players has been resolved but staff remain in discussions with player respresentatives and World Rugby.

The Former Manu Samoa international Faleomavaega Vincent Fepulea'i was appointed Interim CEO last week, after the resignation of Fred Amoa, while Namulauulu Alama Ieremia has replaced the outgoing Tuala Mathew Vaea ashead of the Union's High Performance Unit.

Faleomavaega says they will deal with each issue as it comes.

"The issues I'm talking about - the lessons learned from what's been happening in the past - we will try and resolve it through as we move forward. The matter has been dealt with in the past [but] I'm somebody new into the Union and I would like to see there are more obstacles facing me forward than looking back. The lessons that I've learned looking from the outside I will try and address them as we go along and I'm not totally forgetting the lapses that we've had in the past to try and correct them".

Faleomavaega says a committee has been set-up by the Union to review all issues from last year's end of season tour and how matters were handled.