Chris Rattue: A plan to allow Pacific Island rugby players to get justice and cross borders

Charles Piutau - he should still be playing international rugby. Photo / Photosport

It's the genuine rugby street protest that was waiting to happen. Better late than never.

Forget waving placards over a referee ruling, as in the league World Cup. This is a real cause actually worth a major petition.

The rise of Pacific Island pride into an actual player movement around representing their nations is one of the most stirring and heartwarming moments for both league and union in this region.

It is time to seize the possibilities, encourage justice after players like league's Jason Taumalolo and rugby's Charles Piutau have led the way.

League's governing body (an entity of mist-like qualities) and men like Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga — who lost powerhouse forward Andrew Fifita to Tonga — listened and acted with understanding and dignity.

The 2017 league World Cup — a tournament with a wacky history — was all the better for it.

Jason Taumalolo - his move from the Kiwis to Tonga may be great for the long term future of the league World Cup. Photo / Getty

The Pacific Island movement has a tougher job in rugby, because it is a genuine world game with major obligations beyond our Australasian/Pacific shores. But World Rugby does need to listen, and dare to act.

It is a time to take stock, show respect, understand the history. The rise of sevens into the Olympics has apparently created an anomaly which might let a few players switch countries, but rugby needs to take control of this situation properly and more fairly.

Many of us have wanted the one player-one country dictate to stand, to retain the so-called credibility of the rugby World Cup in particular. The idea that players can jump from country to country seems to tear at the heart of what a World Cup is all about.

But in reality, the integrity of the rugby World Cup has been undermined already, because it is built on a lie, one that suggests all countries enter the competition on some kind of equal footing. And this imbalance is not solely about money.

Hurdles have continually been placed in the way of the Pacific Island nations to the benefit of the big guns. It is almost worthy of court action.

Yes, you could argue that the all-conquering Fifa World Cup is based around the hard and fast rule that players can't switch countries. But Fifa attempts a fair and equitable qualification system, including home and away fixtures.

Charles Piutau - he should still be playing international rugby. Photo / Photosport

Football also has more honourable conventions. As I have pointed out before, a player like Lionel Messi can leave his homeland, Argentina, at a young age to play for Barcelona with no thought of having to represent Spain if he wants to make a living.

That has not happened in rugby union, where countries like New Zealand have preyed on the resources of the weak, and don't even bother going to the islands for tests unless they have a burst of PR-influenced humility.

We also know that European clubs make it difficult for Pacific Island players to take up their international opportunities.

I used to be in the camp which loudly proclaimed that the one player- country rule HAD to be adhered to. Not any more.

Not only does a crooked system have to be turned around, but rules to fit reality will create a much better and competitive tournament.

The major nations are now drift netters who take huge squads on short tours, increasing the chance of fringe players being unnecessarily and unfairly sidelined from the test scene. A lot of the so-called tests are semi trial games anyway.

This is my proposal for a new system.-
Players could only ever represent one country at the World Cup. But away from the tournament, tier one players can move once, and only to a tier two country.
Importantly there would be a cap — once a player reached say 10 tests they would be tied to that country. So Ma'a Nonu, for instance, would not be able to play for Samoa. The tier system is itself condescending, but it is difficult to propose a fair deal in rugby without using it.

Look at a player like Fijian Seta Tamanivalu who is only a spare part in the All Black plans. Tonga-born Frank Halai was a marginal All Black pick who had one test against Japan.

Bristol recruit Charles Piutau's situation needs to be looked in a more enlightened way.

Piutau is still actually available for All Black selection. It is a New Zealand rugby residency rule which puts him in test limbo. He has rights.

Another case: Vaea Fifita would not be an All Black in an equitable system. The Tonga-raised Fifita was recruited by Tamaki College in his late teens and although his school coach pointed out to me that Fifita's mother lived in Auckland, he is still Tongan.

Men like Taumalolo and Piutau - whatever the individual situations - are making a point which needs to be heard. In Taumalolo's case, he acted poorly in the way he quit the Kiwis team, but there are wider issues.

I don't think anyone could claim to have the perfect answer, that a perfect answer even exists. But the current one is far too imperfect, unfair, to continue unchallenged.

League's scene is too chaotic, but rugby could institute a more structured solution.

The problem for the Pacific nations is that the countries with political clout and money around here - New Zealand and Australia - are the beneficiaries of what has been going on.