Pacific Islanders could tour every year

1.00pm

Pacific Islanders rugby coach John Boe wants the team to tour every year but not at the expense of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga's individual identity.

Hamilton's Boe -- who earlier this year stepped down as Samoa coach after four years in the job -- said the concept was an immediate success and had huge backing from people in the islands.

"I'd love to see this team tour each year -- one year to the Southern Hemisphere like this year and then the next year to the Northern, going turn about," Boe said when the Islanders started their buildup in Takapuna yesterday to Saturday's test against the All Blacks.

It was really important the players first of all played for their nations, as they did this time before coming together, he said.

"But the fact is with the player pools drying up -- as they have -- our individual nations do struggle against the big teams, whereas this team here has a much better chance to compete strongly and if we can do that it is a positive for each of the individual nations."

Boe said the critics of the team, such as Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, overlooked the fact that back in the islands, where rugby was as much part of their culture as in New Zealand, the support for the Pacific Islanders was enormous.

"It's not all their home-grown talent but they've taken ownership of the team and it is fantastic. They are loving it."

But he said it would be a mistake to dispense with the identities of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga and just play as the Pacific Islanders all the time -- including at the World Cup in a rugby version of cricket's West Indies who cobble together the various islands that make up the Caribbean.

"We only get two or three games every year (as individual countries) and that's not good enough if you want us to develop.

"We need more than that but we're still not going to get 12 or 13, are we, like New Zealand and Australia. So if we can just put a couple more in for this team, it would be a good step in the right direction for fostering the global game and helping island rugby," Boe said.

He claimed Jones' public outburst about head-high tackles after his team's 29-14 win over the Islanders in Adelaide last Saturday night had been a lone voice, with even the Australian players praising the way their opposition had played.

Boe said he, former All Black Michael Jones, who now coaches Samoa and is one of his assistants with the Islanders, and others had worked hard to instil discipline in their players to try to rid their teams of the violent label.

"But they are physical players. They are simply bigger than the European players at an early age and they are tough -- the Tongans especially are very tough -- and that's the way they play rugby.

"Quite often when a European makes a big hit, we all cheer and applaud him.

"But if an island player does the same thing, we question the legality of it because the impact is just so strong."

One of Samoa's legendary big hitters, 32-year-old veteran Brian Lima, has been recalled to the Islanders after initially being out with a groin injury.

It seems likely he will start in the midfield in place of the suspended Seilala Mapusua as one of a few changes Boe has planned to stiffen his team's defence.

- NZPA