Survival of the richest

By Andrew Kacimaiwai

PACIFIC rugby is fighting for sur vival in the face of large-scale poaching, a Manu Samoa rugby official warned early last month.

The warning, by former All Black winger Bryan Williams, came at a time when the New Zealand and Australian unions were spearheading moves to pro fessionalise the sport in the wake of the Super League battle in Australia.

Williams said that league was poised to ravage Pacific rugby, and would do so if Pacific rugby was excluded.

Two proposals currently being consid ered exclude participation by Pacific teams.

The first, organised by former All Black coach John Hart, involves six New Zealand teams and two Australian in a round-robin format to replace the Super 10 tournament.

New Zealand’s 27 provinces have already agreed to a SNZ6O million early season trans-Tasman tournament with players standing to earn an average of SNZSO,OOO from the series.

The other involves an expanded “Super 16” tournament; one report spoke of six South African and six New Zealand teams, with the balance to come from Australian sides.

Another proposal is for a three-nation Southern Cross Cup competition involv ing New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.

This new Cup competition would downgrade the significance of the Bledisloe Cup in deciding trans-Tasman superiority, according to reports from Sydney.

Income would come from television coverage in the three nations as well as non-competing countries.

South African rugby boss Louis Luyt is reported to have pledged his support for the Samoans.

However, Fiji Rugby Football Union spokesman Tevita Ratuva has expressed fears about poaching by professional unions within the code.

Ratuva pointed out that neither Fiji, Samoa nor Tonga would have the resources to compete with overseas clubs luring their players away.

Ironically, while the game is not finan cially professional in Fiji, the game is now played 12 months a year with the Seven a-side version enjoying immense

popularity.

Cash prizes are a feature of major Sevens tournaments in Fiji that can com pare to any on offer in the local league games.

The FRFU has also embarked on plans to better market the game and adopt a business plan with the limits of the game’s rules.

NZ’s 27provinces have already agreed to a $6O million early season transTasman tournament.

The emphasis on finances has been increased by the decision of the three major Pacific unions to field overseas based players in their national squads to achieve better results.

The focus on winning has come about from the increasing threat of league in these small island nations, which cannot afford to lose their better players to another code.

Trans-Tasman officials have used the Super League threat to advance their cause of greater professionalism in rugby

despite strong opposition from Northern Hemisphere unions.

The Australian Rugby Football Union went as far as declaring amateurism in rugby is dead, with the conservative International Rugby Football Board admitting that amateurism has not been enforced in the game.

Williams was pessimistic of Pacific rugby’s inclusion in any professional rugby tournament, and urged organisers to think of the game’s global appeal.

New Zealand players have supported the moves, saying that they would now be able to receive compensation for a game that was now being played to pro fessional standards.

Players in the Northern Hemisphere are also known to favour such commer cialisation, but face opposition from their conservative administrators.

England captain Will Carling was sacked over comments made regarding the issue but was reinstated following a public outcry and player revolt.

Organisers have been careful to emphasis that there will be no breakaway competition, unlike league where Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd upstaged the Australian Rugby League with its own plans for a global league completion.

While reassuring that there will be no breakaway competition, New Zealand Rugby Football Union chairman Richie Guy said there was a real need to counter the threat posed by Super League. ■

Pacific rugby is now under siege on two fronts