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The Warriors of the South Pacific have enthralled rugby audiences for generations. The Pacific Islands of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji produce players of renowned size, strength, speed and skill.
In the past the Pacific Islands teams have been the giant-killers of the rugby world, recording a number of famous victories against first tier rugby nations.
Recent results, however, indicate the Pacific Islands nations are beginning to lose ground to other emerging rugby nations. If issues regarding Pacific Islands rugby are not addressed there is a possibility that Manu Samoa, the ‘Ikale Tahi from Tonga and the Flying Fijians may be left behind.
For Pacific Islands rugby to prosper the following issues need to be addressed.
1. Lack of funding
The Pacific Islands are predominately developing countries whose economies rely on development aid and private remittance from overseas. Sadly the Islands do not have the resources to invest into the game, and as a result rugby suffers from poor infrastructure and sub-par player development pathways.
2. Corruption
Fraudulent conduct has plagued Pacific Islands rugby at an administrative level. In an open letter to Samoa’s prime minister in 2011, Samoan international Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu outlined a number of internal issues that existed within Manu Samoa’s camp.
The main issues included outstanding player payments, poor scheduling, public appearances taking priority over training sessions, a lack of training equipment and unprofessional behaviour by members of the team’s management. If governance of the game cannot be conducted to the required standard internally, then perhaps it’s time for an intervention from World Rugby.
3. Ill-discipline
The Pacific Islanders’ physicality and tendency to make bad decisions often put them on the wrong side of the referee. The Islanders would benefit from adding more structure to their game instead of relying on a frenzied attack and defence. At times the players seem to lack an understanding of rules, conceding too many avoidable penalties.
4. Amateur and semi-professional domestic leagues
Players that play in the domestic comps do so for the love of the game, many players are lost to foreign clubs due to the big salaries that are on offer overseas.
5. Club versus country
Players based in the northern hemisphere often find themselves caught in a battle between club and country, many players are forced to turn down international duties or face breaching their professional contracts.
6. Player eligibility laws
A lot of young Pacific Islanders leave home to pursue a professional rugby career overseas, the ‘residency’ rule means these players can be snapped up by their adopted countries only three years after arriving.
Additionally, players of Pacific Islander birth or descent are often blocked from representing their motherlands after representing other countries at an Under-20, sevens or Test level.
7. Lack of tier one opposition
Pacific Islands teams have limited opportunities against the world’s best and those opportunities more often than not are in opposition’s backyard.
When SANZAR announced plans to expand Super Rugby from 15 to 18 teams in 2016 there were calls to include a team that represented the Pacific Islands. The idea was to base the Pacific Islands team in Auckland, which would draw on support from its large Polynesian population.
Such a team would generate money for its home unions, provide a development pathway for players based in the Islands, allow for more players to be available for Test rugby, and give players access to better coaching and training facilities.
It would also stem the flow of players to the north, give the rugby-loving public from the Islands another team to throw their fanatical support behind and strengthen the international sides of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.
SANZAR instead chose to chase the dollar opting to reinstate the Southern Kings and base two new Super Rugby franchises in Japan and Argentina.
The Pacific Islands should now push for inclusion into New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship (NPC) or Australia’s National Rugby Championship (NRC) as an alternative to expose their players to a higher level of rugby.
Instead of having one team representing three islands the NPC or NRC could expand to allow for a Tongan, Fijian and Samoan team. To avoid the financial burden of flying the teams could be based in either Australia or New Zealand.
Having teams in a fully professional competition, albeit below Super Rugby level, would still provide similar benefits and allow for a pathway from grassroots to professionalism. The presence of these three teams would strengthen a future bid for the inclusion of a combined Pacific Islands Super Rugby team.
Unless steps are taken to remedy the issues facing the Pacific Islands their giant-killing days may be a thing of the past.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.