Ex-All Black Tuitupou issues damning Pasifika assessment: 'Some Island teams go through coaches like rugby jerseys'
It upsets Sam Tuitupou, the rugged former All Black and fiercely proud Tongan, that his Pasifika people are being let down by their own, with players neglected and World Rugby funds vanishing across the Islands. During last year’s World Cup, Tongan internationals were given £300 per match, money which frequently arrived late or simply never appeared at all.
Nasi Manu, their No8, told RugbyPass of how the squad fretted over payments, kit and logistics. At one stage they were even on the brink of mutiny.
In Fiji, the deeply unsettling Francis Kean affair cast a cloud over the recent World Rugby election. Chairman of the Fiji Rugby Union and head of the nation’s correctional service, Kean was convicted of manslaughter in 2007 and faces accusations of homophobia, discrimination and ordering the beatings of prisoners and prison guards. He is also the brother-in-law of Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama.
Against this backdrop of flawed authority, Tuitupou yearns to make a difference. He is on the board of the not-for-profit Pacific Rugby Players Welfare organisation, an influential and hugely important group headed up by Dan Leo that advocates for fairness and helps vulnerable Islanders make the most of their talents, avoid exploitation and establish career paths outside of the sport.
After retiring as a player last year, Tuitupou became a registered agent. He is a powerful voice for change – and there is serious change needed close to home. “We know what the problem is – we are fighting against ourselves,” said the former Blues, Worcester, Munster and Sale centre to RugbyPass. “I don’t like to get into politics, but all that money that World Rugby have put in, you wonder where it’s gone and what it’s been used for.
“There were talks recently about World Rugby holding back funds because of the misuse of money on the Islands, especially Tonga with the problems they are having. It’s a typical Island thing – old-school, everyone looking out for themselves and their friends instead of the whole. You can understand where World Rugby is coming from, but if they do stop funding, things are not going to improve for Tonga.”
The problem is the Pacific are unwieldy. Political interference is frequent, greed and corruption common. With no professional infrastructure, players leave so that their skills can deliver food to the mouths of their village. World Rugby supplies financial support and coaching expertise, but perhaps what is really needed are benevolent administrators stationed on the Islands, those who understand the people and the culture, the game and how to run it.
“Some of the Island teams go through coaches like rugby jerseys [Samoa have had four in eight years],” Tuitupou said. “And you’ve got to consider the funding of wages for those coaches. There are loads of problems, but if we can just get someone in charge that’s got a mindset it’s about the rugby and the future and the players coming through, then things would work out.
“There’s loads of young talent coming through the Islands but there’s no academy there for them to be able to grow and compete. That’s why a lot of them go to Australia or New Zealand. People say they wouldn’t have made it if not for those countries, which is true, but if we had that sort of system in the Islands, then they would have made it anyway.”
After Bill Beaumont’s re-election as World Rugby chairman, PRPW are keen to hold him accountable to his manifesto. The ex-England captain pledged to grow the game, to craft a more “representative and diverse international federation”, and has spoken of the need for better and financially viable competition for the emerging Test sides.
“There were promises that he has mentioned prior to being re-elected and that’s something we need to push on while it’s fresh, to make those promises actually progress,” Tuitupou continued.
“It would be disappointing if things were said but four years later, little has changed. Maybe a new guy at the top would have been good, but Bill has been voted in so it’s about improving things that we are not happy about and making sure what he offered to tier two teams comes to pass. If we leave it, we’re just going to be brushed over and before we know it, it’s another three years down the line.”
At the age of 37, Tuitupou ended a sparkling innings a year ago, bringing down the curtain after helping Coventry win promotion from England’s third tier and consolidate their place in the Championship. He earned nine New Zealand caps, two NPC titles and a Super Rugby crown, and was thunderously popular at his four clubs in Britain and Ireland.
In setting up his own agency, ProFifteen, he draws on the trying experience of his transition north back in 2007. Arriving in Worcester from Auckland, he was struck by the weather, the style of rugby and the barbs of the press. “World-class guys come up from the southern hemisphere, they don’t perform, and then they get slated in the media – ‘waste of money’,” reflected Tuitupou.
“It all comes down to, why is he not performing? If your family is not happy, that’s going to have a massive effect on performance. A lot of boys don’t realise how really tough the rugby is over here – the coaching, the playing conditions, the pitches. It’s a lot different to Super Rugby.
“All of a sudden, they’re not performing and a lot more pressure is put on them from media, the club, presidents, and it just bubbles up. That’s why guys end up just moving back to New Zealand and coming back to their comfort zone. For me, it’s about having that relationship with the clubs as well, so I can help them identify why Pacific Islanders are not performing, or help them to help the Pacific Islands boys. I’ve been able to help clubs, and I’m happy to answer calls in the middle of the night – especially to boys who are ringing from New Zealand.”
https://twitter.com/pacificwelfare/status/1236600630074052608
Playing for Coventry opened Tuitupou’s eyes to the hardships that exist below the riches of the Premiership. ProFifteen represents a dozen players – some Pacific Islanders, some not – at various levels of the English game. Tuitupou does the networking, the research and the negotiations. His wife Liz helps families settle into new areas, schools and jobs. It is his way of helping those who often need it most while forging a new career that he finds enormously rewarding.
“I believe the lower you go, the more help those players need. The guys lower down are the guys with the real issues. Clubs try and chance it – they put in certain clauses that boys don’t really read or understand, they just look at the dollar sign. Or clubs will say one thing and put another in the contract. There are termination clauses that players don’t really examine – a few have been stung with that.
“A lot of clubs, I don’t hear from, but it’s important for me to ring them up and chat to them to find out why. For me, it’s not all about the money, I want to help the clubs and most importantly my player – even if we give the agent fee back to the player to help them or support the club. You do the good stuff now and it’ll come back to you later in life – that’s what I believe.”
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
29 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
29 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
29 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments