Samoa have gone to ground after their humbling Rugby League World Cup defeat to England, keeping a low profile in the media and freezing former national team captain Willie Poching out of training.
Poching, who skippered Samoa at the 2000 World Cup, was invited into camp by Rugby League Samoa chairman Tagaloa Faafouina Su'a to lift spirits after their first game of the tournament where Matt Parish's heavily-fancied squad was obliterated 60-6.
The six-cap Samoan international, who coached Wakefield in the Super League this year and had a glittering career in the English game, was asked by Su'a to present jerseys to the star-studded Samoan side.
But when he arrived at their training base in Doncaster earlier this week ahead of Sunday's (Monday AEDT) game with Greece, Poching was turned away.
He said it was communicated to him by a third party that he was no longer wanted in camp.
Poching's late father Eddie was the team manager of the inaugural Samoan team in 1986.
"I came away pretty upset, I feel like I'd done a lot for Samoa and the jersey," Poching told AAP.
"It is emotional for me and I said to my son who came with me 'your grandfather would be really disappointed'.
"Dad was one of the blokes who started the team ... There is no Toa Samoa right now as we know it."
Head coach Parish later reached out to Poching on Saturday local time to apologise and the pair smoothed over their differences.
The Samoan team has kept a low profile in the media in England this week, only opting to open up for their mandatory captain's run session with Parish and prop forward Josh Papalii the day before the Greece game.
Poching said he wanted to support the Samoan team and reiterate the Samoan community had the players' backs following their humbling defeat.
"I'm still going to support them, that's my duty to my country ... but it does hurt," he said.
"Those boys who walked off the field last week were disappointed.
"I wanted to show them support and that Samoans here still love them and that they can do well in this tournament."
