Samoa

Interim head coach Naca Cawanibuka ‏described it as a "tough day at the office" while Captain Osea Kolinisau tweeted that he was "Proud of the boys. A good start to the season and we will come out stronger next week."

Fiji still had the most players named in the tournament dream team, with newcomer Setareki Bituniyata joining Kolinisau and Jerry Tuwai.

Fiji have been drawn in Pool B in Cape Town, alongside France, Kenya and Japan.

The pageant week begins with a church service and over the course of the week will assess each contestants through various activities planned.

Contestants representing eight Pacific Islands - American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga have all gathered in Apia, Samoa.

Contestants and their teams started arriving in Samoa last week for the 30^th anniversary of the Miss Pacific Islands.

The team of more than 10 departed the country at 1:51pm on Virgin Air.

They will fly through Brisbane and then Auckland, New Zealand where they will spend at least 8 hours before continuing to their destination.

They are expected to touch down at the Faleolo International Airport at about 13:55pm tomorrow, Samoan time (9:00 am PNG time).

Miss PNG, Kellyanne Limbiye and Miss Pacific Abigail Havora will be stepping out fully dressed with their crowns and sash.

“I am super excited, nervous, just full of emotions right now,” Limbiye said.

The pageant will be staged from Sunday 27 November to Friday 2 December with theme, ‘Celebrating our History and Embracing our Future’.

Eight beautiful contestants are vying for the crown, with the pageant night to beheld on Friday, December 2 at 7pm at Gymn 1 in Tuanaimato.

Competing this year are contestants from the Pacific Islands of American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

The eight Pacific Island beauties are:

Better known as the Mitre 10 Mega man, Levi Vaoga spent a decade pulling trucks and flipping tractor tyres for the hardware franchise promoting the message "big is good."

But as the New Zealand-born Cook Islands filmmaker Jamie Aureka Maoate Dunn discovers in "The Life I've Lived," there is more to Levi Vaoga than meets the eye.

Levi Vaoga's journey from farmhand to competitor in eleven world strongman tournaments is an honest first-hand account and Jamie Dunn hopes it strikes a chord with young people.

The 60-year-old, who stepped down last month after 23 years in charge of the New Zealand men's sevens side, and following their quarter-final exit at the Rio Olympics, has been appointed Samoa's new coach.

Tietjens, who led New Zealand to two World Cups, four Commonwealth Games gold medals and 12 World Series crowns, will have former Manu Samoa coach Stephen Betham as his assistant.

"Samoa has huge amount of potential to start progressing in the World Series," he said.

Tests are scheduled in Samoa and Tonga in June, but the games could be moved to New Zealand.

RNZ reports the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) say they want to play on the islands, but will pursue alternatives if guarantees over player welfare are not met.

The sport's governing body, World Rugby, helps tier two countries meet costs of hosting tier one nations.

World Rugby helped with appropriate medical cover when New Zealand played Samoa in Apia in 2015.

BIMA, a world-leading mobile micro-insurance provider, and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) have launched their second major joint initiative that will provide microinsurance products to underserved communities across five Pacific Island Countries.

PFIP has provided a grant to BIMA to bring simple, affordable microinsurance products to low-income, rural and underserved communities in Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa and Nauru.

Having lost their opening two matches of the tournament, Samoa won three straight to join Fiji and the Cook Islands as the top three teams in the Pacific.

Wests Tigers speedster Kevin Naiqama is set to play his 10th test for the Bati after missing the Melanesian Cup defeat to Papua New Guinea in May.

Manly hooker Apoisai Koroisau and Knights forward Korbin Sims are also poised to pull on the Fiji jersey for the first time in 2016, while Lautoka-born Panthers centre Waqa Blake is in line to make his test debut at Apia Park.

Etuate Qionimacawa, who starred with a hat-trick in the May test against the Kumuls, is absent from the 18-strong squad, with Pio Seci and Saimoni Lomaloma are the only locally based players included.