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Samoa's World Cup stars welcomed as heroes at homecoming celebration

Published by IntRL
28 Dec 2022

Toa Samoa’s World Cup players and staff have been welcomed as heroes after arriving in the Pacific nation to celebrate their history making feats at the tournament with family and supporters.

Samoa coach Matt Parish and his squad were greeted by thousands of fans when they and their families arrived at Faleolo International Airport, in Apia, on separate flights on Wednesday – the first landing in the early hours of the morning.

After being officially welcomed to Samoa, the players – led by captain Junior Paulo and star playmaker Jarome Luai - performed a Siva Tau for waiting fans, who had sung the national anthem and waved flags as the team entered the arrivals hall of the airport.

Fans lined the streets for a parade on Thursday before Parish and Paulo were invited to address the crowd and both made reference to the nation's 685 country code, which has become a catch cry for Samoans around the world.

A song, 685, by artists Victor J Sefo featuring POETIK & BIGGs, quickly became the unofficial anthem of global parades before and after the World Cup final, while the number has become one of the most requested tattoos in Auckland.

“We’re very honoured and privileged to be here to celebrate with you guys," Parish said. "We took a lot of inspiration throughout the tournament from the love and support and the parades that were going on in this great nation.

"In the tough times we drew strength from you people. We are very proud and humbled by what we did. We also showed a lot of courage and resilience and a lot of teamwork – something that typifies Samoan people.

“I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for us to come back here for this celebration, particularly the Samoan Government for their ongoing support of Rugby League Samoa, the board of Rugby League Samoa and all of our fantastic sponsors.

“It has been a great end to 2022 for Samoa and I would just like to wish all Samoans around the world all the best for 2023 – 685 baby, the world knows where we are."

Paulo said: "Samoa, you are the reason why we are here today. We get to celebrate with you all and we see how much it means to you so we are so proud that we are here to celebrate with you all, with our families, with our friends, but most of all just our people.

"We are sorry you have had to wait a couple of weeks but we are finally here and ... we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world. Thank you to all. We all now know where Samoa is, because it is 685 to the world."

Samoa became the first tier two nation to qualify for a World Cup final after Panthers centre Stephen Crichton kicked an extra-time field goal to defeat England in the semi-final in London.

The historic win sparked world-wide celebrations and they continued despite Samoa’s 30-10 loss to Australia in the November 19 final at Old Trafford, with thousands of fans turning out at Sydney airport to greet the team when they returned from England.

Samoa Prime Minister Hon. Fiame Naomi Mata'afa travelled to Manchester for the World Cup final and the head of state hosted the players at a government reception.

After welcoming the New Year in Samoa, the players and their families will depart next Monday.

Samoa's World Cup performance, which included a 20-18 quarter-final triumph against Tonga, has seen the Pacific nation climb from seventh to third in the IRL World Rankings announced last week.

Australia has regained first place after their World Cup triumph, with New Zealand dropping to second. England is fourth and Tonga has fallen from second to fifth spot, ahead of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Lebanon.

Photos: NRL in Samoa, Rugby League Samoa
Videos: Samoa Media

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