The Tonga Rugby Union “without a shadow of a doubt” will take its seat in the World Rugby Council, said ‘Epeli Taione, the president of the Tonga Rugby Union.

‘Epeli made his comment after the world rugby governing body announced at the conclusion of the 2015 Rugby World Cup that it is expanding the number of unions and voting rights from May next year, giving tier two nations such as Fiji, Samoa and Tonga a seat each at the decision making table for the first time.

The governing body of World Rugby has been dominated for more than a century by eight unions, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

According to an AP report, to be an eligible for a Council membership, unions must be in good standing with World Rugby, and be able to demonstrate good governance practice, including a fully applied constitution bylaws and regulations and five years of unqualified audited accounts and AGM miniutes.

World Rugby however have had issues with the three Pacific unions of Tonga, Fiji and Samoa.

The Tonga Rugby Union has only been in existence since 2013, following the expiration of a two-year ordinance, imposed by the Tonga government, to address concerns from the then IRB over how the former union was being run.

The world rugby governing body suspended direct funding to Fiji Rugby for much of 2014, because of its failure to implement key financial reporting, administration and governance reforms.

The Samoan rugby union on the other hand in February made commitment to implement governance, management and financial reforms.

However, the Chair and the President of the Tonga Rugby Union ‘Epeli Taione is reported to have confidence that Pacific rugby unions will take advantage of the opportunity to have seats in the World Rugby Council.

Despite the planned reforms, the voting power will remain in the hands of the big eight, who will jump to three votes each. The six regional associations will double their voting power with two each.

The current organisation structure is made up of:

• World Rugby Council
• World Rugby Executive Committee
• World Rugby Council Committee
• World Rugby Staff.

The World Rugby Council has 27 members, including a chairman and a vice chairman.

There are also 10 members in the Executive Committee, including a chairman and a vice chairman; and a six members Council Committee.

The World rugby Staff is made up of:

World Rugby CEO and RWCL Managing Director – Brett Gosper

CEO/Chairman’s Office Manager – Myra McGlynn

Head of Organisational Development – Steve Griffiths

Human Resources Coordinator – Sarah Carew

Human Resources Manager – Lisa Lowry.