Blue, the flag, and the number. That is the whole Samoan supporter uniform and it has been for years. Manu Samoa is the rugby union side, Toa Samoa is the rugby league side, and the crowd dresses almost identically for both. What changes is the volume. What follows is what people actually wear, why 685 is on half of it, and how to put a kit together that works in a stadium and still works on the Monday.
In this article
What is the difference between Manu Samoa and Toa Samoa?
Manu Samoa is the national rugby union team. Toa Samoa is the national rugby league team. Manu means bird or beast, Toa means warrior. Both play in blue.
Toa Samoa's reach grew enormously after their run to the 2022 Rugby League World Cup final, which put Samoan league in front of an audience that had never watched it before. The practical effect for supporters is that a Samoan crowd is now a league crowd as often as a union one, and the merchandise has stopped distinguishing between the two.
What do Samoan fans actually wear to a game?
Four layers, and almost nobody wears the official jersey.
| Layer | What people wear | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Base | A blue tee, usually with a word or a number on it | The jersey is expensive and only works at the game. A tee works all week |
| Over the top | A hoodie or heavy sweatshirt | Night games are cold and the stadium is open |
| The flag | An actual flag, worn as a cape | The single most common thing in a Samoan stand |
| The head | A snapback, usually 685 or USA USO | Sun in the day, identity at night |
The reason the jersey is rare is worth saying plainly. An official jersey is the most expensive item in the wardrobe and it can be worn to exactly one kind of event. A blue tee with 685 across it does the same job in the stand and then goes to work on Tuesday.
A tee and a hoodie in the same print, sold together for less than the two separately. Cover the base and the layer in one go.
See the Game Day shelf →Why is 685 on everything?
685 is Samoa's international calling code. It became shorthand for the country in the diaspora because it is instantly readable to another Samoan and invisible to everybody else, which is exactly what you want from an identity marker.
It works the way an area code works in American hip hop. You are not explaining where you are from, you are stating it in a way that only the people who need to know will decode. That is why it outsells almost every other graphic in the range, and why it is on the caps as well as the shirts.
What do you put the kids in?
Whatever they can spill on. A stadium is four hours of chips, sauce and a dropped drink, and a white anything is a mistake you make once.
Beyond that, put them in the same thing you are wearing. A family in matching blue is the entire visual of a Samoan stand and it is most of why kids remember these games. The Game Day shelf runs the same prints in youth and adult sizing for that reason.
What is the siva tau and what do you do while it happens?
The siva tau is the Samoan war dance performed by the team before kick off. It is not a warm up and it is not entertainment. It is a challenge, delivered to the opposition, and the words are specific rather than generic.
What you do in the crowd is stand and be loud after it, not during it. The stadium generally goes quiet for the delivery and then erupts at the end, and that is the correct shape. Filming it is normal and nobody minds.
Manu Samoa and Toa Samoa perform different versions, and both have been rewritten over the years, so the one you remember from a decade ago may not be the one you hear. If you have children with you it is worth telling them what it is before it starts, because a challenge delivered by twenty large men is a lot for a five year old with no context.
There is more on how the jersey and the ceremony fit together in more than a uniform.
Nothing here is sitting in a warehouse. Each piece is printed and sewn after the order is placed, which has two consequences worth planning around. The good one is that there is no dead stock, so a print does not get discounted into landfill at the end of a season and sizes that sell slowly still exist. The inconvenient one is the production window: there are several days between you paying and anything being handed to a courier.
The practical rule is three weeks from order to door for Australia and New Zealand, and closer to four if it is crossing an ocean. Work backwards from the date you need it, not forwards from today. There is more on why the model works this way in why made to order is the future of sustainable fashion.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Manu Samoa and Toa Samoa?
Manu Samoa is Samoa's rugby union team and Toa Samoa is the rugby league team. Both play in blue and the supporter kit is effectively the same for either.
What colour do Samoa play in?
Blue, with the red, white and blue of the Samoan flag carried through supporter gear.
What does 685 mean?
685 is Samoa's international dialling code. It is used across the diaspora as shorthand for the country, readable instantly to other Samoans.
Do Samoan fans wear the official jersey?
Most do not. A jersey is expensive and only suits the game itself, so the common kit is a blue tee with a word or number on it under a hoodie, plus a flag and a cap.
Blue, the flag, the number
What you wear to watch Manu Samoa and Toa Samoa, in sizes for the whole row.
Shop the Game Day shelf →Made to order. Order three weeks before kick off.
Read next: More Than a Uniform: The Samoan Jersey · The Samoan Physique
