It is difficult to even write this article without being overwhelmed by the emotion that Pacific Island rugby supporters are feeling at the moment.
It is the same old story. Euphoria and anticipation kicks in at the beginning of the tournament, but by the end of the pool stages Pacific Islanders (and other minnow nations) look at each other and say, ‘Oh well, we tried’.
In recent years, we have heard the voices (both sanctioned and non-sanctioned) in the margins trying to find blame, lay the blame, create blame and pursue other forms of blame, to explain the failures of the Pacific Island nations at the World Cup.
However, I am intrigued, because the battle between the haves and the have-nots has continued post-1995, where money dictates play, not the man with the whistle. In fact, being of Pacific Island heritage, I truly believed that colonialism was a thing of the past, yet despite our independence this ugly part of Pacific history is being revisited at this World Cup.
I feel for the likes of Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu because he is sounding like a broken record, and to some of the Pacific Island community he can be annoying. But it is perhaps more annoying that we find fault in someone daring to speak up.
Historically, Pacific Islanders are not afraid to speak up, although they can suffer some life-threatening consequences. In Colonial times, speaking up led to being reprimanded, sanctioned, cast away and even killed. Samoan Mau movement leader Namulauulu Lauaki was cast away to Saipan (near Guam) for speaking up against German colonial powers in 1909. Mau movement high chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III was shot dead by New Zealand police in Apia, while he was trying to restrain a crowd and bring peace.
It is rather sad then for us of Polynesian heritage, that the feeling of being colonised is also eminent during the World Cup.
From having one seat on the World Rugby board shared by the three ‘Pacific Powers’ to the farcical nature of the scheduling (poor Tonga and Fiji), to ridiculous suspensions being dished out for a big man running over a little man. From being scrutinised differently in contrast to tier one nations (if you’re English, it is perfectly fine to high-tackle another player, if you’re Fijian, tough luck).
Even with the common knock-on, we see the TV officials playing their part in maintaining the status quo.
Scenario one: Fijian halfback Nikola Matawalu, in the opening game, scores a try, which is awarded. TV officials spot a knock-on and replay it on the big screen much to the referee’s embarrassment. He must reverse the decision.
It was a huge let-off for England, and the Fijian momentum is stymied. Who knows? Had that crucial try been awarded, Fiji could have gone on to win the game.
Scenario two: in the lead-up to Greig Laidlaw’s match-winning try against Samoa, he knocks on at the scrum-base, but TV officials decide to replay the shot of Laidlaw planting the ball, and then move on quickly. Try still stands. Scotland wins. Game over.
What about the money? The tier two nations will get nothing. It’s like inviting a person to work for you, and then sending them off with nothing. Oh wait, we gave you an ugly-looking cap, remember?
These incidents during the current World Cup have placed Pacific Islanders in a spot of delusion, where the emotions of being colonised and oppressed are being dug up from the fanua/whenua/fonua/vanua (earth) we sought to bury in the 1960s and ’70s.
Perhaps now, one can see how this all seems a bit inhumane. It might sound radical, but hear me out.
Since the game went professional, Fiji has managed to be the sole Pacific Island nation to make it to the quarter-finals. But why is this?
The Pacific Islands rugby organisations have no doubt suffered internal corruption and administration inefficiencies throughout the years, and this has undoubtedly affected on-field performances. In saying that, rugby players and coaches have sought to punch above their weight and focus on the rugby. So with all that drama, do the Pacific Islands need any more? According to World Rugby they do.
Those colonial powers, drinking their fancy scotch and perching themselves on corporate leather chairs barking out orders.
‘Let them play three Tests in 13 days! Who cares if they don’t have the depth, we can’t let them beat Wales or England.”
‘High tackle, what team? Tonga? Suspend them! Running over a player? How dare he!
‘Jonah Lomu embarrassed us enough for all those years but he was playing for New Zealand. We can get away with this one. He terrorised Scotland in 2013, we can’t have him playing again. Give him five weeks, in case Samoa make the final.’
Is there a resolution? How long must the Pacific Islands and minnow rugby nations suffer? Why are we even called ‘minnow’ nations?
These are the questions of the colonised, which are asked in the spirit of post-colonialism. The cultural legacies of colonialism should be dispelled if World Rugby is to be a truly ‘world’ organisation.
Sadly, because World Rugby is primarily a business, the tier two nations will still be second-rate, and in maintaining the status quo, will always struggle to make it to the business end of the tournament.
The only option left is to boycott, only then will the suffering truly end for the Pacific Islands. Let the nations who have money play on, and let our Pacific Island talent be dispersed to the other football codes, such as the NRL and NFL. What a shame that would be for rugby.
For those who are not Pacific Islander, this may be a case of absurd journalism. But it would be nice if you could put yourselves in our position once in a while, wear our lavalava, our sulu, and ta’ovala, and see from the perspective of those who survived colonialism. A people who can no longer put up with flotsam and jetsam of the colonisers.
Tevita M Lolohea
Guest
Don't blame the RWC schedule. Its been like that since RWC1. Samoa and Fiji has been to the QTR Finals. Tonga should have been in the last RWC and this one but did not take their chances. The way forward is for the PI to be smart approaching the game from now on here are some steps to take first: 1. Clean up the local Union and put in some smart people in, even have the government take over the Union and build up manpower and administrators for the future.. All three islands have very smart people and lots of smart people from overseas to help. 2. Band together to get tractions on world stage. We cannot do it alone we are just too small and we have no resources. The quicker we understand this predicament the better. Stop kidding ourselves that we can individually do it alone. The Pacific Islanders concept should be seriously look at again because it makes sense. 3. get rid of the WR office in Canberra and strengthen FORU as the regional body for the PI rugby with NZ and Aus on observer status. 4. The USA, Canada, Japan tests are just window dressing. The PI should play in The Championships and Super 16. Look at Italy, Argentina and soon Japan will be hard to beat. 5. The three government to put $5m each to the PI team and let WR put money into development and test rugby (8 millions pound each). No amount of boycott will solved the PI problem. We have the answers in the PI but we abandoned the team approach on some flimsy idea that we can go it alone. Cheers
Vili N
Guest
One of the first things that needs sorting is the World Rugby voting bloc membership. At present The PI have one voting member together representing their interest. World Rugby needs to give them a vote each.
Lancaster Bomber
Guest
Dublin Dave I wrote a long winded reply saying what a great idea you have suggested. Unfortunately it got wiped before I could post it. Basically I see it as a great festival of rugby (6 weeks of rugby with hardly a day off) that would help develop the game in less traditional countries and increase audience and sponsorship. My little addition would be that the winner of the secondary comp gains automatic promotion to the major competition at the next tournament. Also the tournament should really be inclusive and be held in countries outside of the usual England/NZ. As for your son - "tell him he's dreaming"
Lancaster Bomber
Guest
R
Lancaster Bomber
Guest
Both NZ and Wallabies had shorter turnaround than Fiji in their pool games. The argument being that Fiji had to play harder teams whereas AB and WB had easier games. But since the pool matches involved seeded teams, the top teams only ever play easier teams. Of course Pool A included harder teams than normal due to the timing of the ranking along with significant improvement by lower ranked teams. Racially based schedule - I don't think so. Although past tournaments I would say were unfair to tier 2 nations. As far as the citing and suspensions go they have definitely been inconsistent. However, I have seen the photo of the high knee lift against the Japanese player but not the actual video footage. High knee lift is a great way to break out of a low, round the ankles tackle. But around the waist front on tackles, if you lift your knee, the only purpose is to strike the opponent. Unfortunately many players over the years have made a habit of this type of knee lift. Just like for many years, other teams/players had reputations as fearless ruckers, that is they didn't fear who or what body part they could get to, if it was there to be shredded it would be. I still remember being at North Sydney oval the day Cheika got scalped as mentioned in another recent article. But we have moved away from those days and stepping out of a tackle is different from raising a knee to step into a tackle. Happy for citings and suspensions as long as they are consistent and should also punish cynical play like deliberate baiting or holding back players causing a reaction.
the french
Roar Rookie
BK a hesrtfelt article and why not expressing those ideas and opinions. The roar is the perfect platform for it. I am saddened to read that you wrote that PI nations were part of the tier two group of nations. How many PI players are playing in the top leagues? More than any other so i could say in a tongue and cheek way that PI players are now colonizing the top leagues..... And certainly the grass roots clubs too in Australia. IMO PI nations are top tier Rugby nations but have not yet demonstrated an asertive behaviour towards other nations and the IRB. Perhaps stop thinking you are a tier two nation group. Start behaving like a top 5 nation and the best example to draw inspiration from would be Argentina. Think big about the future of PI rugby and raise the bar in your expectations at all level and deliver on it. I am afraid it has to start on the field, that is where the Argies kept their head high and terrorised everyone and getting to the semis. Whilst you have highlighted ref issues i could say that i was more disappointed by the Fijian and Samoan players making the wrong choices too many times and making too many errors and bad passages of play. These errors are what cost Fiji and Samoa victories. If the PI teams had got their discipline right then win games then go deep in RWC everything will naturally flow. You guys should be lobbying for organizing the RWC collectively, have a super rugby team, schools (instead of having clermont and Toulon do it for you which will further drain the PI national teams from thebest talents) think about how you will win the next RWC, plan for success and stand your ground in the execution of it.
The Fixers
Guest
That's nothing compared to how whites treat the Aborigines.
AndyS
Guest
I agree with Pothale, the term colonial is confusing. Brian has a lot of reasonable points, but they are about being discriminated against or ignored. Colonists take over and assume control to make somewhere a reflection of their own culture. The complaint seems to be that the Islands are being left to their own devices and allowed to languish - frankly, it sounds more like a plea for someone to come and take a colonial interest.
Francois
Guest
Thank you Brian for high-lighting unfair treatment to the Pacific Islanders. I too thought that the wrong side won the Scotland v. Samoa encounter. The referee Jaco PEYPER was strict on the Samoans and lax on the Scots, as evidenced by the Australian citing officer having to report 2 tip tackles by 2 Scottish forwards. PEYPER did nothing about the deliberate knock-on by Stuart HODGE, half-way through the second half, to stop a very promising Samoan attack. Why did PEYPER disallow the Samoan "try" just before half-time and award a penalty to Samoa instead.
NickSA
Guest
Hi Jamie Bruce Thank you for informing me, I have not researched on the stats but I had picked up quite a few players especially from Samoa had been developed in New Zealand. I thought Fiji was the one PI team that really improved, had they been in pool B I reckon they would in the quarter finals.
Lachy
Roar Rookie
Brian enjoyed your article. Although I did not agree with all your sentiments on colonialism, it was refreshing to hear your point of view. Like a lot of the roarers I agree that the smaller nations get a much tougher time from the refs. I am based in Ireland so was lucky enough to be able to knock off work a little early and catch a lot of the mid-week pool games first hand. To put it mildly I can understand your frustration about the treatment of Fiji, as I don’t think the refs did you any favours against England, Australia but particularly against Wales. Fiji looks the real deal these days, very professional with an excellent scrum, something that has been missing in the past from the better islander teams. Something needs to be done by future tournament organisers to sort out the fairness of the playing schedule throughout the tournament. This has been a big talking point up my neck of the woods. If world rankings post world cup is the main criteria used to determine the playing schedule then it’s not good enough. The smaller nations are unlikely to creep up the totem pole of world rankings post world cup as their best players become unavailable when they then go back to play overseas.
Jamie Bruce
Guest
Nick, 'The sad thing most of the development of PI players is done in New Zealand, the players that can’t make the all black go back to represent their respective countries,' This is certainly not the case with FIJI. Very few of the team did not learn their rugby in Fiji, however this is not the case with Samoa and Tonga.
Sione Makapinkie
Guest
true lots of theories and facts that are unfair but at least against all the odds Tonga Samoa and Fiji made it. Many rugby nations didn't. Money isn't everything it's what you do with it that matters. Tonga as mentioned above was never a colony. They did however embrace a game that arrived by a nation that prided itself on promoting a spirit of fair play. England did better than any other colonizer in promoting its sports to the colonies which often played better than they did. For those that haven't noticed the first colonies of England those being Ireland and Wales are through and England are left to watch this as a social event. So there have been positives in colonial history not all negative. Systems move on and so should rugby. World Rugby is headed up by an Aussie. Our gripe is that World Rugby abused babies in RWC 2915 by forcing them to have tickets often when adult tickets were not available. An duly seat in. Different part of the stadium often said baby would even use it. And stop the health and safety argument or just sell a $10 ticket so you have a head count. For those that criticized babies should not attend forget they are the future and the past is that rugby is a family sport. Don't knock it too much though. Hopefully this event billed as the most profitable RWC to date and some say most profitable sports event ever due to CEO World Rugbys comments that it's a low cost high profit event (little infrastructure investment unlike the Olympics) will distribute the funds more equitably to all Rugby nations and may Unions worldwide allow players to choose to play for Tonga on equal terms without employee penalties. Release those players on the same terms as other rugby players. Daily Telegraph UK did a great feature on this in relation to Tier 2 nations where PI players do it for their love of country and potentially jeopardize their rugby contracts. Nice to see support from Tuer 1 teams especially last RWC with Samoa almost going on strike. Let's not forget the love of this great game. The best fraternity there is. Let's hope the World Rugby board now with PI influence on the board makes it right and not gloat on revenue streams like FIFA and the IOC. Talking of which 7 s developed by Scotland that was also never a colony for those without depth is up next year at the Brazil Olympics. US the defending Gold medalists may just finally wake up on that one. They did in London earlier this year. Ofa atu Rugby Kāinga Sione
Geoff Parkes
Expert
Brian, I missed this yesterday but belated thanks for a really well written and thoughtful article. I don't agree with all of it (including the Matawalu no-try does nothing to support your argument because it was the right outcome and had nothing to do with which sides were involved anyway), but your basic premise is sound and should be of concern to all rugby followers. Some of the problems are internal and relate to governance and administration within the islands as much as it is to do with the treatment of the players, but there is no doubt that the bigger rugby nations could do a lot more to assist PI rugby and level the playing field.
NickSA
Guest
I have to disagree with you, this is professional sport. Teams that perform better get the rewards, eg New Zealand finished top of their group therefore they get to pick the strip they want to wear. France came second, tough luck. I understand were you are coming from, the tier two nations are weaker than their counterparts and now have to play with a disadvantage but you can't punish a team for being a higher seed. It defeats the whole purpose of competition. Maybe the IRB can redo the schedule but to imply that is done to screw over the tier two nations specifically PI nations is a tad ludicrous. With regards to the refereeing, there has been some bad calls but that is the nature of our game as the rules are open to interpretation. Remember the absolute joke displays of refereeing 2007 NZ and 2011 South Africa, it doesn't happen just to tier two nations. This is an issue of empowerment, Japan has the money and is developing a rugby country. Soon they might not need to face these tough schedules. The PI nations don't have the population nor the money to empower themselves into world class teams which will give them the benefits of top seeds. The sad thing most of the development of PI players is done in New Zealand, the players that can't make the all black go back to represent their respective countries, this just shows the game is not developing at all in the PI.
Akari
Roar Rookie
Great post, Tissot Time, and the PI nations must certainly rise above the difficulties they inherently are continuing to face in World Rugby today and overcome them. I fear that World Rugby will continue to pay scant regard to these difficulties until PI's consistently beat tier 1 nations during RWCs and eventually win the tournament in the not too distant future (hopefully, in my lifetime)
Mo
Guest
Tonga was never colonised!
lassitude
Guest
Something's not quite right with Tonga at the moment - on and off the field. They were poor in the Pacific Island championship as well.
lassitude
Guest
Actually it pretty much is one way. It's just that it's the opposite direction - most of the PI teams are from those developed (and most often born these days) overseas. Still they do seem to have got a bad rap from the judiciary (Tuilagi's 5 weeks for a power step into the tackler ? what's that about - you're actually coached to do that) and the 2nd tier countries are disproportionally disadvantaged with short turnarounds.
Tissot Time
Guest
Brian the PI diaspora has brought opportunities for recent Pasifika generations however also underlies the current fragmented player base. As you say the connection is strong and enduring. Remember in all PI languages whenua also means placenta so the first conninection to the original "lands" may partly explain the Pasifika attachment in players choices to play for countries whence their forefathers came I disagree in spitting the dummy and boycotts. Living in a country which David Lange referred to as "the rump of the British Empire" and where the Empire suffered its greatest military defeat, success comes from taking ownership of your own destiny, self reliance, making hard choices for the common good, innovation and most importantly great leadership. When the Samoan PM shoots from the lip is this leadership? Understand your core competency (rugby athletes) be innovative in resolving player base fragmentation, strengthen the cultural umbilical cord take ownership and find the leaders at all levels? As Sheek says above not easy. Singapore arose from its Colonial past to be an economic giant with no real resources other than location and its people. The Pasifika rugby athlete is a great start. Faafetai mo le mataupu. Soifua.