After his announcement to switch his international allegiance from Australia to Samoa was made in August, sparking even more excitement around the international game, Haas said the feeling of playing for his family and heritage, especially in front of a 40, 000 plus strong crowd was “something special”.
It also held meaning for him closer to home.
“It means the world to play for Samoa,” Haas said.
“It was something I wanted to do growing up and to get a win in the Samoan colours, it’s very special … the crowd were very special.
“It’s something you dream about and something you want to be part of and to get a win like that in front of everyone was pretty cool.
“(My family) – they love it, obviously my daughter and my brothers … and to be around all of this, our culture, has been pretty cool.”
While Haas often claims the headlines for his performances, in this, their first international win in their past seven outings, it was Samoa’s co-captains that stood up.
Junior Paulo claimed player of the match honours for his game, leading from the front with an inspiring effort, while Haas said his fellow skipper Jarome Luai – who he has played State of Origin with – was also a key figure in keeping the team focused, especially during the 95-minute lightning delay at Suncorp Stadium.
“He’s a great leader,” Haas said.
Two games into his tenure with Toa Samoa, forward Payne Haas is eyeing off some silverware for his small island nation, with the Pacific Championships Cup the target.
Scoring his first try for Samoa as they out-enthused and outmuscled a vaunted Tongan pack to post a 34-6 win in a historic – and storm-affected – Test triumph at Suncorp Stadium, Haas said he and his team had taken a lot out of their close opening round loss to New Zealand to apply to their must-win game against their Island rivals.
“We took a lot of learnings out of last week,” Haas said of their 24-18 loss to the Kiwis in the opening week.
“I thought we had a lot of opportunities last week to get the win, but we just couldn’t get it done.
“We spoke about we were good last week, but we wanted to be great this week, so I thought we did that.
“We’re off to the final now and we want to be great again.”
“He’s come from that Panther system, winning four premierships does a world of good for you, so when he talks, everyone listens.
“He’s a very calming influence in the sheds and told us ‘let’s go after it’.”
Samoa now wait to see who their opponents in the final, being played at CommBank on November 9 will be, with Tonga needing to defeat the Kiwis by 17 points this Sunday to earn a place in the deciding game of the Pacific Championships.
