More than half of the players chosen to represent Samoa in a rugby Test against South Africa here on Saturday have a cold or the flu writes Michael Green for Beeld .
Samoan captain Semo Sititi said on Thursday “eight or nine” players were trying to recover in time to take on the Springboks.
“I have also picked up the virus,” Sititi said. “I feel rather weak but we are being treated and we are still training for the match.”
The team’s coach, Michael Jones, had referred to the toughness of the players soon after their arrival on Tuesday.
“No one has tried to poison us,” he responded to a question whether the players were all well.
“Maybe we’re not important enough,” he joked, no doubt referring to a controversy involving the All Blacks in Johannesburg during his time as a member of New Zealand’s team.
He added that the Samoan players, in any case, never became ill when they had something “strange” to eat because they were “used to eating anything on the islands”.
Jokes aside, colds and the flu have hit the Samoans hard since they began training here in cold, rainy weather.
Jones will have his fingers crossed that they beat the bugs before they try to beat the Boks.
“We have played in Samoa and Australia for the past three weeks. Maybe the journey to South Africa and the time change have caught up with us,” Sititi said.
Is the bug the same as the England team experienced? Are the Samoan’s bed ridden and likely to come to the game dehydrated etc, or is it just a Flu/Cold situation, and are they likely to be recovered in time to play to 100% of their ability.
Looks like the same story as England. The long journey seems to leave touring teams weak then they pick up the virus. Hopefully they’ll be ok. I wonder how many replacements they’ve brought over – probably not many…
This is what they said on Tuesday: “They are also not too worried about the stomach bug that affected England or the infamous Suzy, who allegedly troubled the All Blacks in 1995. “The thing with growing up on the islands is… it does not matter what we eat. We can handle anything, we have cast iron stomachs,” said Jones.
Famous.Last.Words…