Rugby: Former All Black Alama Ieremia resigns as Samoa coach

Alama Ieremia. Photo / Getty

Samoan rugby has been rocked by the sudden resignation of head coach Alama Ieremia.

The former All Black, who was appointed head coach in late 2015 after a stint as Samoa Rugby's high performance director, had been contracted through to the 2019 World Cup.

But Samoa have struggled in 2017 after a mediocre 2016. They were hammered by the All Blacks in June and then failed to win one of the two automatic World Cup qualifying spots that were up for grabs at the recent Pacific Nations Cup.

Samoa's route to the 2019 tournament is now through the repechage and because of that, the Samoan Rugby Union opted to review Ieremia's work.

Seeing rivals Fiji and Tonga secure their place in Japan 2019 sharpened the knives for Ieremia and it is believed that a number of influential figures external to the team, were keen to instigate a change of coach.

While Ieremia felt he had a remit to cater for the longer term development of the team and build towards 2019, concerns about the shorter term were hard to keep at bay given performances.

Aware that there was pressure being applied on the board, Ieremia is understood to have decided the best thing for the team, would be for him to step aside.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I have decided to stand down as head coach of Manu Samoa, Ieremia said in a statement. "I took on this role knowing the challenging circumstances and the changing profile and landscape of international rugby for Manu Samoa.

"Although the goal was to win and build towards the World Cup in Japan, the losses of this campaign have proven too costly for everyone," he added.

"I feel I still have much to give this role so I'm hugely disappointed with this outcome, but as head coach, I alone must take full responsibility for our results. I believe my decision today is the best one for our beloved Manu Samoa team.

"I'm immensely proud of the development of this team and I know there is a strong foundation for them to move forward for greater things in the near future.

"It is always tough to get the right quality mix of new and experienced players, but I believe there is now a core nucleus that can move forward from here."

"I am grateful to the Samoa Rugby Union and the board for their support of me and our management team. They have borne a lot of criticism for the results we delivered but I have never doubted their belief in the Manu Samoa," Ieremia said.

There will be significant angst among the players that Ieremia has stood down as he commanded respect and his longer term vision was one which engaged the team.

There will also be a sense of nervousness about where to next as the arrival of Ieremia in Samoa ushered in a new era of hope and confidence that a number of systemic, institutional failings were being fixed and that a genuine, high performance culture would be bedded in to support the obvious talent of the available players.

And while the results of the national team may not have suggested it, the consensus was that Samoan rugby was becoming more professional and more organised on Ieremia's watch and that foundations were being laid to safeguard the future of the sport.

Former Samoan international No 8 Semo Sititi is one of the favoured candidates to replace Ieremia as head coach.