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Is it time to expand The Rugby Championship to include Fiji and Japan?

By Ben Smith
Semi Radradra of Fiji, Lomano Lemeki of Japan and Sevu Reece of New Zealand at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. (Photos/Gettys Images)

The failed Nations Championship proposal was touted as a vehicle to promote various tier two nations like Fiji, Japan and USA into a rolling annual global tournament.

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The promised riches to be shared would fill the coffers of Southern Hemisphere unions and World Rugby, while simultaneously taking from the pockets of the North, who would be forced to give up their own ‘revenue-generating’ windows to make it work.

The performances of Fiji and Japan at this year’s World Cup has given credibility to the idea that these two nations are ready for higher competition. It would be well-deserved based on their showings so far.

The question is how much of their own power would SANZAAR nations be willing to forgo to expand The Rugby Championship to include these two teams and make them competitively viable long-term. With the Nations Championship off the table, is there anything stopping SANZAAR expanding The Rugby Championship on their own?

Some have been quick to lay blame on the Northern Hemisphere, with no geographical proximity to the Pacific nations, for the failure of their development.

It is rich to see NZR figures decry the state of the Pacific countries when they themselves benefit from the systemic imbalance of power that funnels some of the best young Pacific players to always pick the black or green and gold jersey in order to provide for their families.

Fiji’s performance at the Rugby World Cup in 2019, pushing Australia and Wales in highly entertaining and absorbing fixtures, also wouldn’t be possible without one nation – France.

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Had a player like Australian rugby league representative Semi Radradra not been locked into representing Fiji after playing Sevens for them in 2011, it is almost certain that another tier one nation would have secured his services after his NRL career with the hopes of him representing their nation.

Because he isn’t eligible for any other nation but Fiji, the highest wage he can earn in rugby union is in the Top 14 in France, or perhaps the Gallagher Premiership, where a privatised club largely free from national interests, can offer him a job which keeps him in the game.

The offers from Super Rugby clubs without the support from Rugby Australia would be far less (if at all on the table) without the carrot of becoming a Wallaby. The same applies to New Zealand.

Whether by design or coincidence, the careers of Pacific players ineligible for the All Blacks do not last long in New Zealand.

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Compare the careers of Fijian-natives Sitiveni Sivivatu and Rupeni Caucaunibuca. After the 2003 World Cup, Caucaunibuca was a prized signature sought after by French clubs after just three seasons and 14 games for the Blues.

Sivivatu, arriving in New Zealand at 15-years-old, had an illustrious career in New Zealand spanning 11 seasons. Without being eligible for the All Blacks, Caucau could never earn close to what was on offer overseas. Sitivatu could.

Looking at a more recent example, had Sevu Reece represented his native Fiji, how long would it have been before he would have forced to go overseas to reach somewhere near his real market value?

It would be plausible that as a result, Radradra stays in rugby league or finds a Super League club to continue his life as a professional athlete without a Top 14 contract, robbing fans of his fantastic 2019 Rugby World Cup showing and some of Fiji’s ability to compete.

Semi Radradra could not feasibly represent Fiji and make a decent living as a professional rugby player without a private league like the Top 14. This is also the case with many of the other Fijian players.

The French domestic league isn’t perfect by any means*, but the removal of national interests by some degree from contracting gives every elite Pacific player a chance to play rugby professionally and represent their home nation that can only offer ‘pocket money’ as match fees.

*The FFR has added further restrictions recently, which is creating adverse effects towards creating French eligible players through Pacific talent exploitation. They are also known to encourage pacific players not to play internationally in order to turn out for the clubs.

This is currently both the only way to make Fiji competitive internationally and also a roadblock to Fiji reaching its full potential.

The irony of Steve Hansen’s finger-pointing and blame towards the Northern Hemisphere countries for the state of Pacific rugby is that one of them is actually enabling them to be somewhat competitive.

France is providing the bulk of the pro system for the Fiji national side, that pays the players and keeps them playing at a high level but on increasingly difficult terms. Six of the seven starting backline against Wales currently play for French clubs. The FFR is also looking to get the next generation of them wearing blue, not white in the future.

The conundrum for NZR and RA is whether they will actively go out of their way to concede power in order to strengthen Pacific unions, taking steps to end their own benefit they receive of holding systemic financial power over them.

Would the NZR pool together SAANZAR broadcast rights revenue from an expanded Rugby Championship and share with the Fiji Rugby Union, in the same way they wanted the RFU to split the Twickenham-gate earnings or pool and share Nations Championship revenue? It’s a bit different when the shoe is on the other foot and it’s coming out of your pocket and not into it.

Imagine if the Fiji Rugby Union could pay proper match payments to players that would start to even out the imbalance through a cut of say $25m to $30m of an expanded SANZAAR pie. However, if each SANZAAR participant just continued to take their home rake and only pool non-core markets, an expanded competition wouldn’t change much.

Would SAANZAR allow for and partly subsidise a Pacific-island Super Rugby franchise, to give Fijian-players a pathway through to the top side in their own backyard instead of France? This is the organisation that just cut Japan’s only Super Rugby club past-2020, making Japan’s future path to The Rugby Championship that much harder to come to fruition.

There are many structural issues at hand that need to be overcome to push tier two nations into tier one status and part of it includes tier one nations abdicating and acting outside their ‘own interests’ to make it happen. It would take nations to undertake extensive work outside their bordered jurisdictions. If they don’t want to, then that’s perfectly fine, but don’t finger point at others for ‘protecting their own interests’.

It’s the Southern Hemisphere nations that probably hold the most influence over whether it does or not.

If this is what Fiji can do with basically only grants from World Rugby, imagine what could happen if they were on a more level playing field. But perhaps the thought of what they could do is too much for some to make it happen.

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

37 Go to comments
A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

37 Go to comments
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