Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 51

When you are an islander, chances are you will have a middle name that is a challenge for most people to pronounce - so check out the boys from the Jacksonville Jaguars having a go!

Jaguars defensive lineman Tyson Alualu and his wife named their son Tyten Fa'apaleleali'iiviiga Alualu to tribute their Samoan heritage. His teammates tried to pronounce the newest Alualu's name.

Check out this beauty of an ad, for Rip Curl in Samoa.

Explore the beautiful colours and prints of the My Bikini Collection, as worn by Alana, Gigi and Gabby in the paradisian waters and sun-kissed white-sand coastlines of Samoa.

Music: Hypersleep
Track: Emigre

Director/DOP - Andrew Buckley
Post Production - Short Films AU

A moving hymn performed by members of the Samoan rugby team for terminally ill Springboks legend Joost van der Westhuizen during their 2015 World Cup campaign in England.

Manu Samoa posted on their Facebook page a video of the team singing the hymn "Fa'afetai i le Atua" (Thank you, God, our Creator) sung in Brighton, England.  The video shows the players dressed in blue training gear standing and singing to van der Westhuizen who sits in a wheelchair dressed in a Springboks hoodie. 

Van der Westhuizen was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2011 and given between two and five years to live.
The hymn is well-known in the Samoan community. The chorus says: "Sing hallelujah, thank you, hallelujah" and the second verse includes the sentence, "Thank you to your son Jesus, who came down from above. The one who is our refuge."

In the Facebook post, Manu Samoa wrote: "Totally humbling experience to meet Springboks legend Joost Van Der Westhuizen in Brighton today.…more

This isn't your typical drumline. This Mater Dei High School football player carries his Samoan heritage with him on the field every week through his family and their music.

Tupua Productions is a Polynesian entertainment company and they share their pacific muscial styling at events like High School Football games which entertain thousands of spectators

-Los Angeles Times

Watch SBW receive his replacement medal! A true role model of international rugby!!!

One of the true gentlemen of world rugby, Keven Mealamu is New Zealand’s most-capped Super Rugby player of all time. 

The RWC final between NZ and Australia will be the last game for All Black - Keven Mealamu.

Check out these 12 facts you may or may not have known...

1. He was a standout performer in the All Blacks RWC 2011 success, turning out in six matches in the Tournament and captaining the side against Japan. 

2. Keven has been wearing the black jersey since 1995, when he turned out for New Zealand Under 16. Despite the long career his passion for rugby and the respect with which he is regarded by teammates and opponents remains undimmed.

3. Mealamu took on a new leadership role in 2006, captaining the Blues through a challenging Rebel Sport Super 14 campaign.…more

When the great Richie McCaw plays his final game for New Zealand on Saturday, the debate over his standing in the pantheon of All Blacks greats will intensify. The current All Blacks coach, Steve Hansen, has already put him on a pedestal, but John Hart, coach of the 1987 Rugby World Cup-winning side, had a different answer when asked in 2013 whom he believed was the greatest player ever to pull on the famous black jersey.

"To me, clearly, Michael Jones," Hart said. "Without peer, a man who played all three loose forward positions, and with the skills to play in the midfield. A freak on the field, and a gentleman off it."

Talking to Jones is an unexpected experience: His calm voice and gleeful persona seem at odds with the notorious physicality of his playing days. When he stood in the All Blacks back row, he had the nickname Iceman, partly due to the brutal injuries he sustained but also due to his cold demeanour.

Like McCaw, he never really put fist to face.…more

The Pacific Islanders treated us to some breathtaking rugby and won a lot of plaudits for their attacking play during the tournament. Here are some of their best bits.

Rest in peace legend. Parra's #1 fan @tufftimmy8 battled through the hard times with a smile. As his body lay to rest n spirit makes it way to heaven I want to send my love and prayers to the Jelacic family @nicolejelacic you and your husbands strength for your little man is courageous. Was a blessing to do what we could for the little man n to help with his bucketlist along with @tim_cahill @chriscahill_ @tim_mannah @theparraeels love n prays from America

Former NRL star and San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne has paid tribute to “Tough Timmy” Jelacic, a young Parramatta Eels fan who died this week after battling cancer.

The eight-year-old was diagnosed with epenymoma cancer when he was just two years old and spent much of his young life in and out of hospital for surgery and radiation as tumours continued to grow in his brain.

Timothy shared a birthday with Hayne and Eels veteran Tim Mannah, and was a huge Parramatta fan