16 Jul 2011

Fotuali'i the least travelled for Samoa

1:33 pm on 16 July 2011

In a season of gruelling travel, Samoa halfback Kahn Fotuali'i has ironically covered less ground than any of his far flung team mates to make it to Sunday's rugby Test against the Wallabies.

Samoa's run-on side, comprised totally of overseas-based players, contains men who ply their trade in England, New Zealand, Japan, France and Wales.

Fotuali'i was part of the globetrotting and nomadic Crusaders side that spent their entire Super Rugby campaign on the road due to the devastating earthquakes that rocked their region.

While two injuries reduced his workload to 10 games, he still travelled to South Africa, England and twice to Australia.

This week however he only had to travel to Sydney from Brisbane, where he was part of the Crusaders' squad that lost the Super Rugby final to Queensland.

He stayed in Brisbane until Monday evening, when he hooked up with his Samoa team mates in Sydney.

Although he makes the step up from Super to Test rugby this weekend, Fotuali'i can expect to play in front of a much smaller crowd at ANZ Stadium, than the 52,000-plus that packed into Suncorp Stadium last Saturday.

Fotuali'i hinted Samoa wouldn't deviate too much from their traditional hard running, tough tackling style in Sunday's Test.