Reinforcing their reputation as the sporting giants of the South Pacific, Samoa welcomed All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry with All Black star and RWC 2011 squad memberVictor Vito on 23 July with the Webb Ellis Cup to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship between New Zealand and Samoa.

It’s a pleasure to welcome Sir Graham Henry, Victor Vito and ‘Bill’ to Samoa. In their honor there will be a parade by the Samoa Police Band and a keynote address by the Prime Minister and Chairman of Samoa Rugby Union Hon. Tuilaepa Fatialofa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi.

Sir Henry and Vito will lead training sessions with coaches and students from Apia colleges and national provincial clubs. The Cup will also travel to the island of Savai’i.

Having beenrecently named the 2012 IRB Pacific Nations Cup champions, Samoa is the only unbeaten team in this year’s round of competitions, retaining their title as sporting giants of the South Pacific.

Considered the mightiest team in the South Pacific, Manu Samoa came back with the coveted title after beating the home team at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo in a nail-biting finale that saw the mighty Manu beat Japan 27-26.

The team took on the nickname ‘Manu’ – meaning warrior in Samoan, after hitting the international stage in the lead up to their maiden World Cup voyage.

Much has been invested in the development of the area of sport in Samoa, the biggest of which are the world class sporting facilities, considered one of the best in the South Pacific.  Built or improved upon for the 2007 South Pacific Games, Samoa has amazing state of the art facilities formany sports including rugby, swimming, volleyball and weight lifting.

The facilities provide the perfect off-season training site for many sporting teams in the off-season