The Fiji Rugby Union is expected to lose its seat on the World Rugby Council.

This means FRU loses its voting rights and RNZ Pacific reported that the decision was made in Dublin, Ireland, last night and a statement was expected later today.

However, FRU operations manager and acting chief executive Sale Sorovaki said that the suspension did not hinder Fiji’s chances at participating in World Rugby sanctioned tournaments such as the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.

• READ MORE: Fiji Rugby Union operating illegally

“There will be a media release by World Rugby stating their status on the issue,” said Sorovaki.

“If we lose our seat in the council, it does not stop us from participating at all World Rugby sanctioned tournaments, including the Rugby World Cup later this year and HSBC 7s series tournaments.”

RNZ Pacific reports that it was revealed last month that the FRU board had been operating illegally.

The FRU will not be able to vote on any world rugby issue until its governance and legality issues are dealt with.

Following revelations by the Suva Rugby Union last month that the FRU was not legally operating, the Fiji government — through the Minister of Justice Siromi Turaga — suspended all board members and cancelled the scheduled annual general meeting on April 19.

Filipe Marayawa is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.

The Blacks Ferns 41-17 win over the Wallaroos on the field at Auckland’s Eden Park last night was good, but the one off it was better.

There had been a lot of conjecture going into the Rugby World Cup about just how people would respond, given the team’s recent history and the fact that women’s rugby has never really been a priority for those running the game in Aotearoa New Zealand.

But it took a World Cup to finally get one thing right.

• READ MORE: Red Roses hot favourite to win 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup
• Black Ferns overcome horror start to beat Australia 41-17
• Favourites England hand Fiji 14-try mauling at World Cup
• France score six tries to win Rugby World Cup 2021 opener

The people in charge knew that the most important ones at a sporting event aren’t the players. They’re not the volunteers, or the entertainers, or even the guy cooking Fritz’s Wieners.

It’s the ones who are there for the first time ever, most usually children but occasionally adults who are giving something new a go.

They’re the most important because their entire experience could well mean they come back next time, and again and again until they call themselves true fans. They will bring their friends, their family and eventually their own children.

If the sporting event can get it right, they lock in that person for life.

Lacklustre experiences
It’s something rugby hasn’t been very good at lately. Lacklustre game day experiences have played a huge role in crowds for everything below (and sometimes including) the All Blacks gradually declining, to the point where NPC attendances are pretty much non-existent. There is nothing unique, very little that’s special.

Last night at Eden Park flipped that notion on its head. While there is a conversation to be had around just exactly how many fans were in attendance (43,000) and whether a clearly not full stadium can be described as “sold out”, in the end it didn’t really matter.

Looking around showed a different sight than an All Black test match, far more children and families. Groups of people who were clearly drawn to women’s rugby and its World Cup for reasons they’d arrived at themselves.

It was up to the day itself to carry them further.

If it was their first time at a rugby game, what they got most definitely ensured that they’d be coming back. The wave ridden by new fans of a fixture that, for a while there, the Black Ferns had no right to win, is a wonderful and unique experience of its own.

It was an evening of making sure the fan experience was paramount: from Rita Ora’s performance to affordable tickets to the Black Ferns making sure every single kid got a photo after the game – even if it meant they didn’t get into the sheds until well after 10pm.

The energy of the crowd was clearly different too to one usually found at Eden Park. For a start, there were no massive howls of protest at refereeing decisions. No one was getting rotten drunk either, despite it being Saturday night.

Happy and safe
The general feel was that this was an environment that you could feel happy and safe in, something that is less directly quantifiable than numbers but infinitely more valuable in the broader context.

Does it mean that every Black Ferns test can be assured of a big crowd if they are held in a big stadium? Probably not, as the World Cup factor plays a huge role in getting people along.

But it’s a new dawn for women’s rugby, this time with an actual professional NZ Rugby competition to follow it up and a commitment by World Rugby to continue the momentum in test matches. It is proof that if you do things right and invest properly, people will show up in numbers.

From an elite level perspective, this all makes sense as it should have all happened years ago. But there was a sign during the week that the penny had finally dropped in regard to what it will mean in the long term.

When asked about how the Black Ferns would inspire player numbers, coach Wayne Smith said that “the future generations will be inspired to play rugby, be fans and follow the game”.

That’s the nail on the head, because it’s not going to matter whether those future fans are girls or boys. They will grow up and fill the seats at Eden Park and other stadiums.

While the World Cup opener should rightfully be held up as a celebration of women’s rugby right now, years from now it will be remembered as an important day for the national game of New Zealand in general.

• In the first two games of the World Cup yesterday, France beat South Africa 40-5 and England crushed Fiji 84-19 at Eden Park. Today Italy beat USA 22-10, Canada overwhelmed Japan 41-5 and Wales beat Scotland 18-15 at Whangārei’s Northland Events Centre.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The world’s highest paid rugby player, Charles Piutau, is delighted he will be eligible to play for Tonga now that World Rugby has changed its eligibility rules last month.

In one of his rare New Zealand interviews, he told Pacific Media Network’s Tongan programme with Tangata Pasifika’s John Pulu he was surprised and relieved that world rugby had changed its eligibility rules.

The 30-year-old, who played 17 tests for the All Blacks and whose last test was in 2015, is currently playing for the Bristol Bears for a whopping 1 million pounds sterling (NZ$1.92 million) a year — along with South Africa’s Handre Pollard who earns the same amount for Montpellier.

• READ MORE: Other rugby reports

From next year players can change allegiances if they were born in the country they want to represent or have a parent or grandparent born there; they can switch only once and there is a stand-down period of three years from international rugby.

Charles (Salesi) Piutau always had the intention to play for Tonga but “in the past its been quite tough and there was a loophole (Olympic rugby sevens), but unfortunately I couldn’t go to those tournaments.”

However, recently former All Black Malakai Fekitoa exploited that loophole to play for Tonga in their Olympic qualifier.

“It then led to World Rugby to vote on this eligibility rule and all honesty I didn’t think it was going to pass because in the past when the vote came about it didn’t reach the 75 pecent [votes needed to pass the resolution] pass mark for it to be approved,” said the fullback.

Trainers were smiling
“In the past we’ve had the Pacific Welfare group led by Daniel Leo, who has voiced his opinions on this, but on the day at my club a few of the trainers and physios were there and they were smiling and I wasn’t sure what they were smiling about but they eventually told me that the law had been passed.

“At first I was really surprised but it sank in and I was very happy that it has happened for the Pacific Island teams,” Auckland-born Piutau said.

“Both my parents were born in Tonga and moved over to New Zealand for better opportunities for us kids and at home they spoke Tongan and see my brother (Siale) represent Tonga as well it has always been close to my heart and having this opportunity is the best of both worlds,” Piutau said.

“To put on the red jersey means a lot and speaking to my parents they are excited and very proud of this opportunity.”

Just like in the 2017 rugby league World Cup where Andrew Fifita (Australia) and Jason Taumalolo (New Zealand) switched allegiances to Tonga where they beat New Zealand, Samoa, and Scotland in front of a sea of red clad fans in Auckland the Tongan red and white-cross of St. George flag flew proudly.

Those scenes were re-enacted two years late when Tonga beat Australia 16-12 and now with the change to those rules in rugby union European-based former house-hold names like Piutau, Fekitoa, Ngani Laumape, Julian Savea, George Moala and Steven Luatua can be expected to play for Tonga at the next rugby World Cup in France in 2023.

Should Tonga qualify for the next World Cup they will go into a pool with South Africa, Ireland and Scotland.

Welcomed the change
Fijian Isa Nacewa, who played two minutes for Fiji in the 2003 World Cup and then tried to make himself available for the New Zealand sevens team has welcomed the change.

“It is ground-breaking isn’t it, I said it was the elephant in the room, but I’m overly stoked to be proven wrong that you know things have changed with time and the powers that be have actually in this case and listened and taken on all the words and all the feelings of everything around the world and around this issue,” said Nacewa.

“So, it’s absolutely phenomenal and it is literally a game changer. One for the little nations but just in rugby in general.”

Pacific rugby players welfare head Daniel Leo declared himself pleased with the result, but it was surprising, and he didn’t expect it to go the way it did.

“There was a 75 percent threshold to get this across the line, which always made it extremely difficult from the get-go. But, lobbying over a number of years, like ourselves and a lot of unions, Bill Beaumont (boss of World Rugby) and World Rugby… and credit to them because it was a really positive outcome.

“Every time it has been tabled in the past it was negative outcome, so I am amazed, you never get your hopes up but it is through and that’s the main thing,” Daniel Leo told the Devlin Radio Show (DRS).

Leo said the welfare was set-up seven years ago for exactly the same reason.

A lot of injustice
“This is one of the key aspects around when we set up the organisation, myself and a lot of Pacific Island players around the world came together and we said we feel like there’s a lot of injustice in the game.

“So, we needed an organisation that had a voice a credible voice that could put pressure on these sorts of decisions, and it’s been long journey since then,” he said.

Leo said it would make an immediate impact on the game and for Pacific Island nations.

“In the short term it’ll be massive, for me the goal has always been to make the Pacific Islands sustainable financially. Having superstars come back will have an impact on the results.

“Sponsorship, hopefully getting more tier one nation matches and more revenue that we can put into the grassroots so in a 10–15-year period we don’t need this regulation anymore because we’ll have all the resources that we need.

“It’s a short-term fix for our for a long term problem. But there’s still other issues that we need to address,” said Leo.

He was referring to the revenue share model where currently the hosts get to keep all the gate taking receipts.

No revenue share model
“There is still no revenue share model in place, so for example when Tonga plays England in front of a sell-out crowd Twickenham (capacity 82,000), there is no revenue share,

“Tonga get nothing for that and that needs to change.

“We need to be able to capitalise on this. There’s no reason why a team like Tonga that could have Malakai Fekitoa, Charles Piutau and Ngani Laumape should be playing for free in front of their audiences in England.

“So, there are still challenges. But this is a great step, and we’ll celebrate the victory but it’s a battle in a bigger war,” said Leo.

The Pacific rugby player welfare had to weigh-up long and hard before it went into battle for this rule change.

“It’s not about players coming back at the end of their careers and that is the negative spin on it. That you possibly be taking away from younger players who could make the team, but this is about the union’s injecting the resources that we’ve lacked years and years to be able to invest at the grassroots to make sure that we’re not relying on guys coming back to the end of their careers forever,” he said.

New Zealand was one of countries that backed the eligibility rule changes.

Before Ben Ryan (2016 Fiji gold medal winners at the Rio Olympics) there was George Simpkin, officially the technical director, but in fact Fiji coach at the 1987 rugby World Cup.

Last week he died aged 76 at his Waikato home, but that is not how I remember him.

The year 1987 was the time of the first Fiji military coup by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka who I interviewed two years ago and who repeatedly apologised for carrying out the coup – but I digress.

READ MORE: International rugby community farewells George Simkin

As the sports editor at The Fiji Times at the time – along with my Fiji Sun colleague Matai Akoula who once saved me from a “mob lynching” at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park after a Farebrother Sullivan Challenge Trophy match (akin to the Ranfurly Shield here in New Zealand) when Nadi lost to Suva – we both found George a warm, kind-hearted man.

However, he could bristle like a man standing before you with hand on slim hips with a hernia. He could look so pained at what you had written, like you had done him so wrong – all about rugby.

Many a time, he strode into the old Gordon Street wooden building of The Fiji Times to lean on my desk while he fired questions at me,”why…did you write that”. And the whys came thick and fast followed by the inevitable “what were you thinking of when you wrote that?”

To the stage where he asked me to attend a clinic at the Fiji Rugby Union where he explained the finer points of forward play.

Role of the hooker …
What the loosehead did, what the tighthead did and the role of the hooker; but much more than that …what was function of the first lock, second lock and the loose forwards.

“The number 7 is first at the breakdown, followed by the number 8 and then the number 6, with locks and the props coming after,” he explained then.

For a boy who had hopes of doing a football degree in Germany, and being an Indo-Fijian, rugby didn’t come naturally to me.

I finally understood rugby, and did I love it – and that is why I think Sir Michael Jones was peerless as a Number 7. Thanks to George Simpkin.

He was head coach of Waikato from 1976-1984, taking the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland, moving the province into first division. He would have loved to coach the All Blacks, and to me it was a mystery why he wasn’t selected.

George grabbed opportunities to coach in Fiji then Hong Kong, China, Sri Lanka and Germany.

And he took to drinking yaqona like it was going out fashion, many a talanoa (chat) was had over a bilo (bowl) or three.

Fijian gait
As he explained to me at one such sitting, the Fijian gait was such that it was more suited to rucking than mauling because in the tropical climate Fijians tended to conserve their upper body energy.

So, he taught the Fijians the ruck-and-run game that worked so well at the first rugby World Cup and took them to the quarterfinals against France.

However, I did collaborate with him in getting Fiji to 1987 World Cup.

The book Real Men Drink Aftershave, by Alison Kervin, accurately describes this:

“… [B]ut the outside world still had no idea whether the Fijians would be in New Zealand. Sri Krishnamurthi, sports editor of The Fiji Times newspaper arrived at his desk only to be told by the editor that the rumours were circulating that Fiji were going to be replaced by Samoa….Krishnamurthi said he didn’t think so but would find out for definite. He headed down to the military base (where Fiji were training) and told Simpkin there were huge concerns in New Zealand. ‘We will be there,’ said Simpkin…’Leave it to me I’ll tell them’.”

“Krishnamurthi rushed back to phone his friend Dean McLachlan at Rugby News in Auckland but he couldn’t get a line out of the country. He dialled the operator and explained that he needed to get a message to New Zealand urgently to say the Fijian team would be at the World Cup, she opened the line and put him through to Auckland. Krishnamurthi duly spoke to McLachlan who passed the message to NZRFU that the Fijians were coming.”

And that’s how Fiji came to play in the first rugby World Cup in 1987 just a mere couple of weeks after the first military coup.

George Simpkin accumulated a wealth of achievements at school, club, provincial and international rugby level but on May 7, the 76-year-old husband and father lost his battle with cancer at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton.

Haere Ra George, Fiji will remember you with great fondness.

The pressure goes on re-elected World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont to investigate Fiji Rugby Union chief Francis Kean for allegedly using homophobic slurs in a recording during his role in charge of the Fiji Prison Service. 

The slurs emerged from an audio recording reportedly made during his prison job and revealed today by Rugby Pass following last month’s London Sunday Times investigation.

Kean was recently stood down as a candidate from the vote for World Rugby’s all-powerful executive committee over the allegation and it is understood to be at Beaumont’s request. 

READ MORE: Inquiry into Francis Kean, the convicted killer whose Fijian union is backing Bill Beaumont’s World Rugby bid

Overnight, the Pacific Rugby Players Welfare (PRPW) organisation, headed by former Samoan international Dan Leo sent a second letter calling for “urgent enquiries on the status of the investigation”. 

It could become an embarrassment for Beaumont if he does nothing after New Zealand Member of Parliament Louisa Wall, who represented New Zealand in netball (Silver Fern) and rugby (Black Fern), outlined to Pacific Media Watch that Beaumont had called for “diversity” in the game. 

“In 2015, World Rugby and International Gay Rugby (IGR) signed an agreement to progress strategies to keep homophobia and intolerance out of rugby,” Wall said. 

“It was an expression by World Rugby of its commitment through these alliances for rugby to live up to its stated values of integrity, respect, discipline, passion, and solidarity.” 

‘Proud of inclusivity’
She went on to say that World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont had said at the time: “We are proud of our partnership with International Gay Rugby to promote inclusivity, equality and friendship as rugby continues to reach out, engage and inspire.

“It’s important to us that rugby remains a sport for all, that it embraces diversity, celebrates difference and shuns intolerance.” 

Without pointing a finger at Kean, she had a word of advice for World Rugby. 

“For rugby to be able to fully embrace diversity and inclusion it should be a requirement that all council members and elected executive members commit to these stated values and be able to demonstrate commitment to these values.” 

“Eradicating homophobia, sexism and misogyny requires deliberate action and any person appointed or nominated to these positions should sign a code of conduct that includes a commitment to the stated values of World Rugby.  

“Anyone who cannot commit to those values or has acted in contravention of these values should not be eligible for appointment,” Wall said 

“And, I am an advocate that board quality is dependent on board diversity. World Rugby does need a combination of skills and experience and this transcends gender and should include ethnicity, and a range of people passionate about rugby and who appreciate the value of sport to society.  

‘Need to meet future threats’
“We need World Rugby to be in the best position to embrace new approaches to meet future threats and opportunities” – wise words for Beaumont and his executive. 

The PRPW in the letter, quoted in the Rugby Pass publication, said World Rugby had a regulation that it could invoke. 

“While  World Rugby  have no fit-and-proper-person test for anyone standing as a union official, PRPW have identified World Rugby regulation 20.4 (c) in relation to misconduct which refers to ‘acts or statements that are discriminatory by reason of sexual orientation’.” 

In the letter following the  Sunday Times  story that broke the original controversy ahead of World Rugby’s vote, PRPW director Dan Leo wrote: “I note that, although it is more than two weeks since an investigation was first promised to the media, at the time of writing this letter no request has yet been received by the Sunday Times from WR (World Rugby) for a copy or transcript of the Kean recording or any other material generated in support of the April 19 report.” 

One of the PRPW board members is former Fiji international Josh Matavesi, who told  RugbyPass:  

“I don’t know what [Kean] adds to the FRU. I am embarrassed by his comments. As a Fijian, I know how hard the team has worked in the last decade to pride itself on the morals and values that it holds,” Matavesi said. 

More scathing words
Lord Robert Hayward who is secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group in the United Kingdom for rugby union had more scathing words about Kean’s actions. 

“The alleged comments attributed to Francis Kean are unacceptable. If World Rugby are to stand by the game’s values and moreover their own regulations, we need more clarity about the undertaking of their investigation and any subsequent steps,” he told Rugby Pass. 

“Taking swift and appropriate action against anti-LGBT remarks is what everyone in rugby should expect of those in the highest office of the game,” Lord Hayward said. 

Kean was convicted of manslaughter in 2007 after he punched and killed John Whippy at a wedding in Suva. 

He is also the brother-in-law of Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. 

Pacific Nations could hold sway this weekend as the World Rugby vote for a chairman takes place between England’s Bill Beaumont and Agustín Pichot of Argentina, setting the tone for future development.

However, the vote has not been without controversy, especially where Fiji is concerned.

Fiji has been at the centre of attention after being forced to withdraw their nomination, Francis Kean, from World Rugby’s all-powerful executive committee.

READ MORE: Trad turkeys of World Rugby unlikely to vote for Christmas on election day

His manslaughter conviction, allegations of homophobia while he was head of Fiji’s prison service, and discrimination were laid bare in The Sunday Times in the United Kingdom and by Pacific Rugby Players Welfare head Dan Leo, who wrote a scathing press release condemning his nomination.

Confirming Kean’s withdrawal this week, World Rugby said in a statement: “While it is important to stress that any allegations must be validated, following dialogue with World Rugby, the Fiji Rugby Union recognises the seriousness of the allegations made and the need for them to be fully investigated, and that it is in the best interests of the sport that Mr Kean steps down from the council and his executive committee candidature be withdrawn.”

However, Kean, who is Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s brother-in-law remains chairman of the Fiji Rugby Union.

“The Pacific nations are in a position now where they can use the situation for a bit of leverage, if it is okay for the incumbents to start offering out incentives or dangling carrots, whatever you want to call it,” SkyTV rugby commentator Tony Johnson, who has covered a lot of Pacific rugby, told Pacific Media Watch.

Possible kingmakers
“So, they are suddenly in a situation where they can be kingmaker.

“It is an intriguing situation that has arisen. The Kean situation has perhaps made changes a little bit possible.

“Given that his vote was going to support the status quo [Bill Beaumont and Bernard Laporte], and I’m not sure why they would do that.

“But it maybe opens it up again, it is a unique situation. The battle lines between north and south have been drawn so you have the six nations driven very much by England and France with everyone else falling into line behind them.

“And then you’ve got the SANZAR [South Africa, New Zealand and Australia] nations on the other side, so for me it is going to be the unions who are so often referred to as the ‘smaller nations’. it’s not a name that reflects their contribution to the game but that’s what people tend to call them,” he said.

The powers in rugby get two votes and the lesser nations one vote.

“Well, it’s always been lopsided. You’ve got to hope whether there is a change in thinking brought about by this current vote, then the voice will be greater,” Johnson said.

“The big question now is what happens with Fiji’s vote. I have no idea why, but Fiji was going to vote for the Bill Beaumont and Bernard Laporte ticket.

“He [Kean] was going to sit on the world rugby executive, I’m not sure what is going to happen now.

“Whether they reassess their position, who they are going to vote for, I think that is going to be quite important.”

Status quo favourites
According to him the status quo looked odds on favourite at the moment.

“If it were a presidential race then I would say Beaumont is ahead, but that can change,” he said before adding, “i’ve got too much respect for the Pacific nations to tell them who to vote for, they should vote for whatever is good for them.

“As I say, they can use this situation for some leverage, to win some concessions.

“Then I think it’s okay for those countries whose votes they are going to need to start laying out a few conditions.

“They’ve been plenty of promises broken in the past.”

Asked how he thought SANZAR would vote, he said: “You would think they [SANZAR nations] would vote for Pichot, I don’t think there is anything to be gained from backing the status quo.

“The worry I have is that SANZAR doesn’t always present a united front. They always say they will, but it hasn’t always worked that way.

‘Pichot is the guy’
“If we genuinely want to change the landscape of the game and make it more equitable, level the playing field, then personally I think Pichot is the guy.”

But whatever happened, both Pichot and Beaumont had rugby politics to contend with, he said.

“Don’t get me wrong, Bill Beaumont is a very nice guy but he has been hamstrung in what he would like to do by rugby politics,” Johnson added.

The vote is to take place on Sunday.

Nominated for chairman: Beaumont and Pichot

Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont is standing for a second term and has been nominated and proposed by the Fédération Française de Rugby and seconded by the Fiji Rugby Union.

Vice-Chairman Agustín Pichot (Union Argentina de Rugby) was nominated and proposed by Unión Argentina de Rugby and seconded by Rugby Australia and Sudamérica Rugby.

Nominated for vice-chairman: Bernard Laporte

Fédération Française de Rugby President Bernard Laporte has been nominated and proposed by the Rugby Football Union and seconded by Federația Română de Rugby.

Where contested, chairman and vice-chairman candidates must achieve a simple majority of the votes held by the members of council present, in line with the electoral process set out under the bylaw. The vote numbers will be published.

Executive committee nominations:

Eight nominations (now seven) have been received for the seven available positions on the World Rugby Executive Committee

Mark Alexander (South African Rugby Union), nominated and proposed by Rugby Africa and the South African Rugby Union and seconded by New Zealand Rugby and the South African Rugby Union.

Khaled Babbou (Rugby Africa), nominated and proposed by Rugby Africa and seconded by the South African Rugby Union and the Fédération Française de Rugby.

Bart Campbell (New Zealand Rugby), nominated and proposed by New Zealand Rugby and seconded by the South African Rugby Union.

Gareth Davies (Welsh Rugby Union), nominated and proposed by the Scottish Rugby Union and seconded by the Welsh Rugby Union.

John Jeffrey (Scottish Rugby Union), nominated and proposed by the Welsh Rugby Union and seconded by the Irish Rugby Football Union.

*Ratu Vilikesa Bulewa Francis Kean (Fiji Rugby Union), nominated and proposed by the Fiji Rugby Union and seconded by the Fédération Française de Rugby. (Now withdrawn)

Bob Latham (USA Rugby), nominated and proposed by USA Rugby and seconded by Rugby Americas North.

Brett Robinson (Rugby Australia), proposed and nominated by Rugby Australia and seconded by the Unión Argentina de Rugby.

*Ratu Vilikesa Bulewa Francis Kean (Fiji Rugby Union), nominated and proposed by the Fiji Rugby Union and seconded by the Fédération Française de Rugby – but now withdrawn after The Sunday Times report.

To be elected, executive committee nominees need to be one of the seven candidates who win the highest number of votes.

The chairman, vice-chairman and executive committee will be elected for a period of four years commencing immediately after the results are announced by the auditor to council on May 12.

World Rugby must adopt a “one country one national team” in world competitions as it is done in the Olympics and all the other world sports, says the prime minister of Samoa who is also his nation’s rugby chairman.

This means the United Kingdom must have one rugby team to incorporate England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the future.

Samoa Rugby Union chairman, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, says this in response to the controversial League of 12 competition proposed by World Rugby that will ultimately marginalise Pacific teams and poorer rugby unions.

READ MORE: World Rugby reveals plans for nations championship

“We have perpetuated this absolute nonsense – of four national teams by the United Kingdom – for so long and the worst part is the silence from the older unions like South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the Southern Hemisphere. Their silence speaks volumes,” said Tuilaepa, who will attend his first World Rugby Council meeting in Dublin in a few weeks.

“Rugby is a 20th century sport, where the colonial mindset is a thing of the past. So as long as this abnormality continues in World Rugby, with four national teams for the United Kingdom alone, the voting power will always be skewed in favour of the kind of decision-making that is not inclusive and is harmful to the best interests of the sport internationally.”

Tuilaepa said the new league means that not only are Pacific teams excluded, but all other rugby playing nations will be relegated to second class status.

“Which is contrary to the often-proclaimed world rugby objectives of growing the sport internationally; and to care for the welfare of our 9 million rugby players; and sustain the interest of over 300 million rugby fans worldwide,” he said.

‘Breeding farms’
“This new concept will treat Tier 2 Unions as mere breeding farms for the Rich 12 to pick and choose players from.

“Then on top of that, players aged 20 years in 2022, at the height of their careers in the island teams will be denied the opportunity to play top rugby for the whole period of 12 years.”

A “one nation one national team” policy is one of three major changes Tuilaepa wants to raise the quality and incorporate fairness in to competitions, for the sportsmen and sportswomen as well as the unions themselves.

Firstly, the eligibility rules should be more liberal. Like those adopted by World Rugby League.

The best approach for Tier 2 nations is for member unions to pick the best players for their test matches then allow unselected players to play for the country of their roots. In this way, competitiveness is maintained and the competition becomes more exciting for the fans worldwide.

Secondly, the gate-sharing of the amateur days of rugby, in which the host union takes all, should be replaced with a more professional sharing ratio of 50/50 for the visitors and host team, for any competition.

“This will ensure a more balanced distribution of the gate takings for games held in rich or poor nations.

Gate sharing
“If this gate sharing is modernised to a sharing ratio that appropriately reflects the professional era we have long been in, the revenue derived from the sweat of our island players when touring the super-rich venues of England is enough to meet our yearly budget for every annual tournament we participate in, every year in the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.

“Then Tier 2 nations should never have to resort to or be branded as beggars, depending on handouts.

“The current annual tours by Tier 2 nations only serve to fill the pockets and replenish the already fat bank accounts of the Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh, French and Italians every year and our small Tier 2 Unions continue to struggle, year in and year out, with huge bank overdrafts.”

Tuilaepa also suggested establishing a Tribunal “by law to adjudicate on complaints” raised by affected members.

“Perhaps it is time for a world tribunal, established especially in a neutral venue like “The Hague”, to adjudicate on contentious issues that are so blatantly wrong and which destroy the spirit of sportsmanship for millions of the world’s rugby youths of today that will become world leaders of tomorrow.

“Their hypocrisy is very clear. We can see it’s just lip service when there is talk of development for Tier 2 Nations.

“The ‘do as I say and not as I do’ syndrome is alive and well in this popular sport of world rugby.

‘Greed and selfishness’
“The inclusion of Italy and the United States, [which] are not in the top 12 world rankings, clearly points to greed and selfishness.”

“A better alternative to consider would be to stage two competitions – a Tier 1 competition to include the top 12 ranked teams in the world and a Tier 2 competition to include the next 12 teams, chosen on the basis of their ranking.

“At the end of the season the worst performing four Teams in the Tier 1 competition move down from Tier 1 and the best performing four Teams from Tier 2 move up to Tier 1.
He also suggested that all participating unions must receive broadcast (rights) compensation payments, plus gate sharing.

“This is a more positive pathway for Tier II rugby nations to move up the ladder in world rugby.”

This article by Talamua chief editor Lance Polu is republished by the Pacific Media Centre with permission.