Samoan pair impress for Exiles

Sunday 19 October saw London Irish welcome Italian side Rovigo Delta in the European Rugby Challenge Cup. The game also saw Dan Leo and Ofisa Treviranus start for the Exiles, the pair having both been selected recently for the Samoa squad ahead of the autumn internationals.

The game, which saw London Irish run in 10 tries on their way to a final score of 70 – 14, was a return for Treviranus who picked up a rib injury forcing him out of the Exiles’ last three games. The game was also Dan Leo’s first start in recent weeks, with Brian Smith favouring Canadian Jebb Sinclair, also expected to feature in his nation’s squad, over the Samoan.

Both impressed against Rovigo. The Samoan pair proved instrumental in Irish’s first try of the day, a pick up from the base of the scrum from Treviranus providing the platform and a strong carry from Leo giving the momentum and sucking in defenders to allow Topsy Ojo to dive in at the corner. 

Treviranus, substituted at half-time, looked powerful on the ball, making inroads into the Rovigo defence and providing Irish with plenty of front-foot ball. Treviranus, who can play all across the back-row, was selected at eight for this game and his power and pace was clear to see - worrying signs for England come the autumn. 

Leo played the full 80 and the big second rower worked from minute one to when the clock turned red. A mix of strong carries, quick hands and powering the engine room at scrum time made Leo stand out. 

On the 74^th minute the Samoan second row topped off an impressive performance by grabbing a try of his own. In true second-row fashion it was a crash ball five meters out, in contrast to the James Short 50-metre sprint that followed moments later, from which Leo scored. 

The lock looked unstoppable from short range and from underneath a pile of bodies a big Samoan arm reached out and touched the ball down, a fine way to cap off his afternoons work.

Samoa face England, Scotland and Argentina before the year is up and with the likes of Leo and Treviranus making the hard yards up front this could be a great end of the year for Samoa. 

Having said that, with an Argentinian side that claimed a Wallaby scalp a matter of weeks ago and Scotland perhaps beginning to head in a more positive direction what better way to test Samoa a year out from the World Cup.