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18 Islands Business, March 2019
Uproar at World Rugby
league proposal
Pacific players speak up
Alipate J. Pareti
A World Rugby plan to create a World League, which would
sideline Fiji, Tonga and Samoa from top level competition has
caused great disagreement and questions across the rugby world.
Initially World Rugby proposed a World League or ‘Nations
Championship’, which would see 12 teams– the Six Nations and
Rugby Championship plus Japan and the USA, play an annual
competition.
Under the original plan Pacific countries would be excluded.
Also missing out would be Georgia, currently at 12th in the
world rankings just three places behind ninth-ranked Fiji. Other
promising rugby nations including Romania, Uruguay, Paraguay
and Brazil were also excluded.
The proposed tournament would feature the current Six Na-
tions teams (Ireland, England, Wales, France, Scotland and Italy)
taking on teams from the existing Rugby Championship (New
Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina) with the new
inclusion of Japan (currently ranked 11th) and the United States
of America (at 15th in world rankings).
Critics also feared it was a closed tournament, and that with
promotion and relegation also driven to the sidelines, the chances
of the exempted nations ever participating in the event, was as
good as scoring a try without the rugby ball. It was a zero to
zero chance!
The poor reaction to the initial proposal saw another plan
scribbled on the whiteboard, a tournament with two pools, one
with Six Nations teams and another with Rugby Championship
sides, plus the two top-ranked tier two nations; currently Fiji
and Japan. Unlike the first proposal, this tournament would also
feature promotion and relegation. World Rugby says it will inject
In a statement amidst the controversy, World Rugby said it “is
undertaking this important work on behalf of our unions to secure
the long-term growth and stability of the sport in an ever more
competitive sports and entertainment environment.”
But the sad reality of the proposal is clear to any rugby-loving
Pacific Islander.
Maximising profits and revenues is really at the heart of the
approach, through the securing of broadcasting rights in larger
global markets.
A tight, gruelling scrum
It did not take long for the sport’s greatest assets, the players,
to make their opinions known.
All Blacks captain, Kieran Read was one of the first high profile
players to comment on the controversial proposal, telling Stuff.
co.nz, that if the approach was going to be passed, player’s welfare
should be its main priority, and that it should be player-centred
and player-friendly for it to function properly.
The legendary All Black forward said the approach would also