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Manuma Samoa: Rugby team that set off 104 days ago still not home
Jun 5, 2020
A professional rugby union team that set off for an away match on 23 February have still not made it home.
Manuma Samoa left their Pacific island for an away match in Perth, Australia, more than 100 days ago.
But on their way home they were forced to quarantine in New Zealand - and were then stuck when their home country closed its borders entirely.
In Auckland, the squad lived in a church compound for two months, with 20 players sharing one room.
Although they are now back in Samoa, they are half-way through another two-week quarantine - and players still haven't seen their families.
"When we arrived in New Zealand it was summer," the team's video analyst Hari Junior Narayan tells the BBC. "When we left it was winter."
Manuma Samoa's first game of the Global Rapid Rugby season was on 14 March, so the team left Samoa on 23 February.
They had a two-week training camp in Auckland, played the game in Perth, then planned to fly home via Auckland, in time to prepare for a home match in Apia on 21 March.
But while the team were playing in Perth, the Samoan government made an announcement.
From 08:00 on 15 March, the government said , anyone travelling to Samoa from one of 33 countries must spend two weeks in self-quarantine before setting off.
Australia was country 33 on the list.
The squad were allowed to enter New Zealand, and the Auckland compound where they held their pre-match training camp was still available. But that's where their good luck ended.
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