Bella Milo was a Samoa international in 15-a-side and sevens rugby, but her time on the Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA) has given her a very different, and valuable perspective of life with the Samoa team.
Bella was previously on the GHPA WXV 2024 programme, as part of Samoa’s coaching team, working closely with head coach, Mata’afa Ramsey Tomokino, whose advice and experience has helped shape her own coaching ethos.
“For me, trying to be proactive and get ahead of planning was the key part of my growth, as well as being able to have conversations with Ramsey, where I could. That meant we could both be on the same page when presenting to the team,” Bella told World Rugby.
“This was a great way for me to gain feedback from players and coaches that I've worked with, and continue to do so for the GHPA RWC 2025. Being able to continuously revert back to this, and work on it with the GHPA, is a huge part for me.
“I needed to develop the ability to evaluate the effectiveness on plans, training and competition programmes based on observation, analysis and feedback from a variety of sources.
“I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work on this, and be able to provide this in training and in video analysis with the Samoa team.
“They say ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’. This has taught me a lot around campaign planning, training, recovery, meals, times, being adaptable to change, and knowing that every day on tour is not the same with its own problems, delays etc.
“So, for me, I plan my block of training and what I need, who is training, the language I use at trainings, and how I could adapt to changes, timings or the players available.”
From her time with Samoa and the GPHA, Bella also gained an understanding of the importance of a coach’s backroom team. The experience taught her how to handle difficult situations that inevitably arise in any high performance sports environment, which she will take into GHPA RWC 2025.
“There were two big impacts that I took away from the GHPA WXV 2024,” Bella said.
“One was being able to build my backroom staff, ensuring that I have a team full of different people who will push, challenge, inspire and keep me on the right track.
“My goal is to ensure that I'm keeping these relationships and reach out to them where needed.
“Being able to complete this task gave me a good understanding of where I'm at, who are my biggest supporters and who are those that can push me to be better.
“The other impact for me was having courageous conversations. This was an important area for me to develop and improve.
“I'm often someone who takes hard conversations personally, but going through the process, being able to role play and gain feedback, has really helped my confidence to have these conversations, and be brave enough to start them.”
“The Academy has given me confidence to take the space and strive for more in my coaching career.”
Bella first started playing rugby as a four year-old in her native New Zealand, but it was during an enforced break from playing, while she was recovering from a knee injury as a teenager, that she first started coaching at the Auckland Marist club.
The injury healed and Bella went on to play in two Women’s Rugby World Cups – 2006 and 2014 – before going to the 2017 tournament as Hong Kong’s assistant coach, having moved there in 2015 to become player/coach and general manager of the Valley club.
Bella has enjoyed plenty of individual success on both sides of the touchline, but she is a firm believer that the interests of the team always come first.
“Rugby is a team sport – whether you are a coach, player, physio or manager,” she said.
“It’s not about me; it’s about the team and keeping that at the forefront of everything is important.
“You have to understand everyone’s ‘whys’. The team has to buy-in to the same goals and take accountability for each other. You’ve also got to have fun doing it, both on and off the pitch, through social challenges and hard work.”
