Rugby: Pacific kept out in the cold

Eligibility rules prevent former All Black Chris Masoe from playing for Samoa. Photo / Getty Images

With the Pacific Island theme set to be a major part of next year's World Cup, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga might be wondering why they have been dealt a double blow that suggests they remain shamefully neglected by the established rugby nations.

Not only have the IRB rejected a Samoan-led proposal to change eligibility rules, but the governing body also signed off on a $1 million-plus World Cup fee increase for the big boys - taking money out of the pockets of developing nations.

Organisers want to celebrate the influence and contribution the Pacific Islands have made to New Zealand rugby and wider society - yet the men running the game seem determined to make life extraordinarily difficult for Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.

It is not, to put it mildly, a good look that the heavyweight nations whose annual revenue stretches in some cases into $100 million-plus, have negotiated a massive IRB hand-out.

When the IRB is dominated by executives from the Six Nations and Sanzar, what must the Pacific Islands be feeling when they will literally have the begging bowl out to fund their World Cup campaigns?

Fiji have been running a national lottery to raise funds for their World Cup campaign while Samoa and Tonga's players will be paid next to nothing for taking part. They will stay in budget accommodation with none of the luxuries available to the likes of New Zealand, Australia and England.

Worse still is the knowledge the extra pay-out allocated to the bigger unions will affect the Islands. The IRB make the bulk of their money from the World Cup. Proceeds are then used to fund the development of the game in emerging nations such as Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. No matter how the IRB spins this, more money going to the established unions means less for everyone else.

The rationale (or maybe the guilt appeasement plan) justifying this hike was the argument the established unions suffer a major loss of income in World Cup years.

Next year there will be no June or November tests and the Tri Nations will be truncated.

Established unions such as New Zealand receive about $500,000 a year for development programmes, about a $6 million handout in the year of the tournament and a further token fee of between $300,000 and $650,000, depending on how far they proceed. They asked for more because a rough estimate suggests New Zealand loses out on about $15 million of revenue every World Cup year.

Again, though, it seems like capitalist welfare - helping the rich stay rich while the Pacific Islands struggle to put together a meaningful test programme.

Any hope the bigger unions had of denying allegations their key goal is self-preservation died when they voted against any change to the eligibility laws on the same day they gave themselves a massive pay hike.

A proposal was tabled last year to allow players from Tier One nations (New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France and Italy) to stand down for one year and then play for a Tier Two nation.

It was rejected, modified into various forms and put to the vote again on Tuesday. Just like 2009, all versions of the proposal were rejected and the prospect of the Pacific Islands being immediately strengthened has disappeared - maybe not forever but certainly for the foreseeable future.

If the amendment had won a 75 per cent majority, the likes of former All Blacks Chris Masoe, Jerry Collins, Rodney So'oialo, Kevin Senio and John Schwalger all would have become available for Samoa. The New Zealand Rugby Union threw their weight behind the proposal and lobbied hard for change believing the world game desperately needs more heavyweight contenders.

"We are very disappointed there has been no change," said NZRU chief executive Steve Tew. "We supported this all the way through but it was not supported by the majority it needed."

The official line for the IRB voting against the change was fears that the policy would have been ruled discriminatory in European law.

Yet that doesn't stand up as one of the amended proposals was for players to be able to move in any direction - from Tier Two to Tier One as well as the other way.

Unofficially, it's thought the real reason the change was not sanctioned was fear among the Celtic nations the Islands would become a consistent, genuine threat. If Wales are already struggling with the likes of Fiji, how would they cope if the Islanders were able to include a few former All Blacks and Wallabies in their ranks?

Samoa caused England all sorts of trouble at Twickenham and who knows what the result would have been had someone like Schwalger been in the front row and Collins and Masoe in the loose trio?

Celebrating the Pacific seems to only be high on the agenda when they pose no threat to the established world order.