The Future of Pacific Island Rugby

[nickdnz]

Pacific Island rugby is in danger of being left behind as the governing body prepares to welcome a host of new nations to the voting table.

World Rugby announced in November it would give tier-two sides - all those who qualified for the previous two World Cups - a greater say in running the game by widening voting rights on council.
At the next World Rugby council meeting in May the likes of Georgia, Romania, Canada, USA, Russia and Japan are expected to be given a full seat - and more say around major issues.


As for the Pacific Islands, none meet the criteria which stipulates, among other things, unions must hold democratic elections, provide five years of independently audited accounts and annual general meeting minutes to satisfy requirements.
While Samoa has established reforms in the past year and welcomed former All Black Alama Ieremia into the fold, it has long been dogged by corruption claims, which culminated in strike threats from the players in 2014.


Tong is the latest union in the Pacific to find itself in a major financial hole - starring down the barrel of significant debt levels and two law suits which led to World Rugby freezing funding ahead of crisis talks early next month.

"At this point in time the three Pacific Island unions don't meet that governance criteria," Will Glenwright, World Rugby's Asia and Oceania general manager, said in regards to gaining a full seat on the council. "We are working with them in partnership with Oceania Rugby to ensure we get all three of those unions compliant with that criteria as quickly as possible. We're actively working with Fiji, Samoa and Tonga on that."
The failure to meet that criteria leaves the Pacific Island nations stuck with their status quo of one voice between three unions and limited influence when it comes to issues such as scheduling and revenue-sharing models.

In the meantime, other tier-two nations continue to progress and be rewarded with greater voice. As rugby spreads to new territories and eyes new expansion markets, the Islands must quickly realise the importance of good governance in the modern era.
"This is not just a message for Tonga but for all the Pacific Island nations who we have a massive affinity and respect for globally," New Zealand Players' Association chief executive Rob Nichol said. "They need to understand they are competing for the dollar with countries that are showing excellent governance - the likes of Georgia, Canada, Romania, Russia. It is a competitive situation.
"World Rugby needs to have absolute confidence in the developing nations they invest in."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...of-being-left-behind-around-world-rugby-board

First of all, it's great that World Rugby looks to extend its voting rights.

Secondly, this illustrates a point myself and others have been making for a few years regarding Pacific Island rugby. There has been a lot of talk from former players - and general pundits - that the Pacific Islands deserve more attention. More home games. More tier 1 fixtures. The addition of a Pacific Island Rugby rugby team. But while the Pacific Islands continue to punch above their weight considering their size and population; the game continues to suffer from corruption and mismanagement, to the point that it makes investing in them (a small market which already is enthusiastic about rugby) considerably less productive than investing in larger and more professionally run unions in which the upside is greater and the money goes further.

 

[Groundhog]

Only slightly relevant but there's a pretty good documentary on the Islands on Netflix called Pacific Warriors. I enjoyed it anyway.

 

[psychic duck]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...of-being-left-behind-around-world-rugby-board

First of all, it's great that World Rugby looks to extend its voting rights.

Secondly, this illustrates a point myself and others have been making for a few years regarding Pacific Island rugby. There has been a lot of talk from former players - and general pundits - that the Pacific Islands deserve more attention. More home games. More tier 1 fixtures. The addition of a Pacific Island Rugby rugby team. But while the Pacific Islands continue to punch above their weight considering their size and population; the game continues to suffer from corruption and mismanagement, to the point that it makes investing in them (a small market which already is enthusiastic about rugby) considerably less productive than investing in larger and more professionally run unions in which the upside is greater and the money goes further.

And guess what Nick ... basically everybody got at least one seat apart from the Pacific Islanders who failed to meet the minimum standards of governance. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...of-being-left-behind-around-World-Rugby-board

 

[j'nuh]

Serious point, but at the risk of possible anger from posters from the Pacific Islands... would it be possible to create a "West Indies-like" team out of the Pacific Islands? Collect the resources of each nation and fold them into a super-team. Bypass the existent corruption that may or may not plague the current set-ups, by creating a new body.

 

[AlynDavies]

It's called the Pacific Islanders:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islanders_rugby_union_team

 

[psychic duck]

Serious point, but at the risk of possible anger from posters from the Pacific Islands... would it be possible to create a "West Indies-like" team out of the Pacific Islands? Collect the resources of each nation and fold them into a super-team. Bypass the existent corruption that may or may not plague the current set-ups, by creating a new body.

Not from the Pacific Islands, but I can tell you with some certainty that no that wouldn't work. They already tried a Lions style Pacific Islanders side and it failed badly. Concepts like the Lions or West Indies have long history. The PI side was a mess that nobody from the Islands particularly brought into or liked, and disbanded within 4 years. Also struggling to see how a new body that would presumably a collection of those Unions would bypass the deep rooted corruption and incompetence in their administration.

 

[ajwffc]

Tonga have also had there funding frozen by World Rugby
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...ongan-funding-ahead-of-crisis-talks-next-week

 

[AlynDavies]

The islands are third world economies, in the middle of no where, with low and sporadic populations. Thats the problem, their as developed as their likely to get. There are scouts from all over the world trying to sign the promising players, from colleges in New Zealand and academies in France. Most decent players from that part of the world will be offered some kind of professional contract that they could not get at home. At the end of the day the focus really needs to be in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia because that's where the money and growth potential is.