A fly on the wall of the Samoa Rugby Union High Performance Program

The temporary Gym at Alafua

Samoa's locally-based RWC squad undergo conditioning training

Ahead of the Manu Samoa Pacific Nations Cup opener against Japan in Tokyo this weekend, let's take a look at the High Performance Program that produced the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series Champions and which is fine tuning the Manu Samoa team for the PNC, the test against the Wallabies, and of course Rugby World Cup.

The SRU High Performance Program was launched in 2006 with funding from the IRB Strategic Investment Initiative. The IRB's Strategic Investment Initiative (SII) is aimed at improving the competitiveness of world rugby through High Performance Programs, international competitions (such as the Pacific Nations Cup and the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup) and governance programs. In the Oceania region, Strategic Initiative funding is primarily directed towards Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Funding from the SII is derived from Rugby World Cup profits.

Samoa's Licensed Training Centre is located on the Alafua Campus of the University of the South Pacific (USP). In July it will move to its permanent home in Tuanaimato (refer to earlier posts). The temporary facility comprises a gym, offices, athlete accommodation and meeting rooms.

The SRU High Performance program services the SRU Scholarship athletes and all national teams including the Manu Samoa, men's and women's sevens teams, National U19 and National U20 teams and the Samoa A side which competes in the Pacific Rugby Cup. The scholarship recipients are broken up into 3 tiers:

Tier 1 (25 scholarships): elite players

Tier 2 (20 scholarships): Men's sevens

Tier 2 (20 scholarships) Women's sevens

Tier 3 (22 scholarships): U20 players.

Above and below, the SRU Gym at Alafua

The Program employs a number of fulltime staff including a High Performance Manager and other admin staff, the National team Head Coach, Academy coach, Strength and conditioning staff, video analyst, national elite referee manager and sports medicine staff.

Depending on the stage of the training cycle (and the assembly of national teams), scholarship athletes will train twice a day and all scholarship recipients are required to either be studying or working. An agreement with the University of the South Pacific delivers a world class athlete welfare program comprising 10 modules including basic computer literacy training and english language courses - all designed to prepare athletes for a professional rugby career and a life after rugby.

Despite the progress that the SRU Program has made in recent years (all but one of the victorious 2009/10 Sevens World Series team were products of the SRU HP Academy) there remain a number of challenges. Monitoring the vast number of overseas-based athletes remains difficult especially in the lead-up to international competitions such as the PNC, RWC and the Northern Hemisphere Tour in November. With the assistance of the IRB, the SRU is trialling some new software developed by an Australian company called Kinetic to address this problem. The Union has also commenced a visit program whereby the National Trainer, National Coach and the physiotherapist travel to the UK and France each year to meet with the players (and equally importantly, the clubs) to outline their plans for the international season, ascertain where the player is at physically and talk to the club about rehab and S&C programs tailored to the needs of the player. It is hoped that this more collaborative approach with the clubs will provide a better outcome for all parties. Certainly the indications for PNC and Rugby World Cup are promising - the SRU recently announcing a very strong squad for the PNC and RWC.