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Pacific Island players reaching 'boiling point' over Northern blockade

By Chris Jones
England played Samoa in 2017

Seilala Mapusua, the former London Irish and Samoa centre, has warned World Rugby that frustration over the constant loss of talent from the Pacific Islands nations is reaching “boiling point” and wants New Zealand and Australia to continue pressing for a relaxation of rules to allow players to switch back to the country of their birth.

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A current member of the Pacific Players’ Association, Seilala Mapusua told TVNZ1’s Breakfast this morning the unlevel playing field faced by Tier Two nations is more dire than World Rugby acknowledges.

“Until we see some real change and movement from the north, it’s going to carry on being this way,” said Mapusua who was speaking after Fijian born Sevu Reece impressed for the All Blacks in their win over Australia.

“With 18 per cent of the world’s professional playing population being of PI decent, we should be seeing the results transferred in the Rugby World Cup in terms of how our Pacific Island teams are doing.

“Unfortunately, since Fiji in 2007, no Pacific Island team has made the quarter finals and that’s quite alarming seeing as we have a fifth of the world’s professional rugby players.”

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TVNZ1’s Sunday revealed New Zealand Rugby proposed in 2004 to make the eligibility laws more flexible, allowing for greater freedom of players representing nations of birth or heritage. However, Northern Hemisphere Unions were blamed for blocking the proposal.

Mapusua moved to Europe to increase his earnings and understands why players take up offers from other countries which means they can qualify to play for other nations under residency rules that have been tightened up.”I think the anger’s been there for a while,” he said.”We’re getting to the boiling point. We’ll continue to do what we can from a players’ association view but we do need the support of our neigbours, both New Zealand and Australia, to get an even playing field.”

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The issue over the loss of home grown players by the Pacific Islands nations of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, will be highlighted as each of the Nations competing at the World Cup in Japan name their 31 strong squads. Steve Jackson, the Samoa head coach, has already admitted there will be players who could have opted to join his squad for the Cup who have decided to stick with their European clubs for financial reasons.

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Jon 9 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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john 11 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.

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