The Samoa Rugby Union says it can still take plenty of postives from the performance of its men's sevens team, despite failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
The Manu conceded a try on full-time against Spain to lose the final of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Monaco yesterday.
The SRU's General Manager of Rugby, Brian Hopley, said to come up short is disappointing but there is plenty for them to build on next season.
"We are disappointed and disappointed for the boys really. They've put in a lot of effort, they've had a big season and improved all through the season and this game was obviously the pinnacle of what they were trying to achieve and that was get to the Olympics. We're definitely disappointed but I guess that's the way sport goes some times and you can't deny the effort they've put in," he said.
Samoa Rugby's new general manager Brian Hopley. Photo: Rugby Southland / Twitter
"The goal, as we said, was to make the Olympics but that team...we've played a lot of young guys that are not experienced at this level and worked very hard and Damian (McGrath) I think has done a great job in developing that team and getting it to where it is currently," he said.
"If you look at the start of the season and where they are now there's been a huge improvement. Despite the disappointment, we've put a lot of things in place here that are really working well and you can see that throughout our programmes, and the sevens is obviously one of those...and there will be further improvement in that team going forward."
The Olympic hopes of Samoa's men's team may be over but the Manusina women's team will be among 16 countries, including Cook Islands, aiming to qualify for Rio at this weekend's repechage event in Dublin.
Samoa captain Faalemiga Selesele can't stop Ignacio Martin from crossing for the winning try. Photo: World Rugby / Martin Seras Lima
