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Samoa’s road to the 2019 Rugby World Cup could get a lot tougher with access to their best players for their remaining qualifying matches now in doubt.
Samoa’s key qualifying match against either Spain or Portugal could be delayed past the June international window, potentially ruling out a cluster of the island’s best talent.
During the June window clubs have to release their players for international duty, but outside the window the clubs don’t have the same obligation – meaning that Samoa’s pool of players in Europe and elsewhere may not feature.
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The possible delay stems from a World Rugby investigation following reports of both Belgium and Romania fielding ineligible players in previous qualifying rounds.
The ineligible players are Romania centre Sione Faka’osilea and Belgium hooker Victor Paquet.
Despite Tongan-born Faka’osilea qualifiying for Romania through residency, he is technically ineligible after representing Tonga in the Sevens World Series in 2013.
French-born Paquet represented his home country at the junior level and reportedly claimed a Belgian great-grandmother, a relationship that does not provide eligibility under World Rugby regulations.
World Rugby have since formed an emergency committee to investigate the matter before proceeding any further.
Former Crusaders midfielder Kieron Fonotia who now plies his trade with Welsh club Ospreys, is just one of many Samoan players potentially affected. Fonotia took to Twitter to voice his opinion on the potential delay.
https://twitter.com/FonotiaKieron/status/991647165406744576
“I don’t understand why Samoa should be punished over other people’s mistakes and not being able to pick from a core group of professional rugby players in the UK/Europe,” Fonotia tweeted. “If we miss out on the World Cup over this it is a JOKE! I know who I’d rather watch out of all these teams.”
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