Bob Tuckey, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the Tonga Rugby Union Board, resigned suddenly on Saturday 20 August, apparently after a disagreement with head coach 'Isitolo Maka over the selection of former 'Ikale Tahi captain, Nili Latu, and against a background of parliamentary interference in the countdown to the Rugby World Cup.

Tuckey's resignation comes only three weeks before the 'Ikale Tahi takes on the All Blacks in Auckland in the opening match of the Rugby World Cup on September 9.

His letter of resignation was read at a "welcome home" for the 'Ikale Tahi on Saturday evening after they had beaten the Flying Fijians 32-20 in Lautoka, Fiji, the day before.

The Deputy Prime Minster, Hon. Samiu Vaipulu, told parliament today that it was not because there was an attempt by some members of parliament for the appointment of a new Chairman to replace Tuckey, but his departure was due to a fall-out with the head coach of the 'Ikale Tahi, 'Isitolo Maka.

Dissatisfaction

This evening, August 22, 'Isitolo Maka told Matangi Tonga Online that when he selected his 30-man World Cup squad after the game in Fiji on Friday, Tuckey had expressed his dissatisfaction with his selection of Nili Latu to be a member of the team. However, 'Isitolo said that no hard words were said and so he was very surprised when he found out at their welcome-home function on Saturday that Tuckey had resigned.

Nili Latu was the captain of the 'Ikale Tahi during the last World Cup and there had since been some disagreement with him and members of the Board. However, a few weeks ago Latu had made contact and they had made up, said Maka.

"I need him to be in the team, so I advised him to make contact with the board.

"It was a hard decision for me to make to select him, but my country comes first, and I need him on the side of the scrum. I did not know that Bob was going to resign over it. My decision was based purely on what I thought was best for my country," said Maka.

The 30-members squad of the 'Ikale Tahi to the World Cup will be officially announced at 12.30pm tomorrow, August 23, at the Janfull International Dateline Hotel.

Parliament steps in

Tuckey, an Australian, had in recent weeks also come under pressure from opportunist politicians in parliament who were proposing to replace him by putting a member of parliament into the job of Chairman of the TRU Board. On Thursday, 18 August the Tongan parliament approved a petition, 13 votes to four, calling on Tonga's Minister of Finance, Hon. Sunia Fili, who is responsible for rugby, to appoint a new Chairman and a Deputy Chairman.

The Parliament's Office confirmed that the Acting Prime Minister Hon Samiu Vaipulu had informed the Tongan Parliament this morning that Tuckey had tendered his resignation. The Acting PM reportedly stated, "that despite the racial call from Parliament last week for him to step down, he could stand it but he resigned over his falling out with the 'Ikale Tahi coach." He was grateful that Tuckey resigned over his differences with the coach and not because of a direction from Parliament.

On Friday the 'Ikale Tahi team had called on parliament not to replace Tuckey because of the great work he had done for the team.

The issue was prompted when members of parliament debated a report by the Selective Committee for rugby submitted for consideration by parliament last week.

The Acting Prime Minister asked Parliament to defer any debate on the matter until the Prime Minister returned Tonga today, so as to allow him and the Minister of Finance to work in complying with the law for the appointment of a new CEO and Chairman of the Tonga Rugby Union Board.

Support

Meanwhile, the Tongan Directors of the Tonga Rugby Union Authority have stated that the departure of Tuckey would be a great loss for Tongan rugby.

On August 18, the Deputy Chairman 'Aminiasi Kefu, Directors Fakahau Valu, Aloma Johansson and Rev Tevita Latailakepa in a media release pledged their full support for the Executive Chairman Tuckey to continue his role.

Their public statement was made to state their views in regards to the debate last week and said the Chairman was not part of the media release.

"It would be a great loss for Tonga rugby if he leaves office and all the dedicated work he carried out to develop Tonga rugby would be in vain. No one has ever contributed to the development of Tongan rugby as much as Bob did."

They highlighted notable achievements, which included negotiation in 2009, 2010 and 2011 for 18 extra games for the 'Ikale Tahi and Tonga A, apart from the normal 13 games in the Pacific Rugby Cup and Pacific Nations Cup in 2010-11.

He also negotiated for other rugby union bodies to cover most of the expenditure for these extra games valued at $1.7 million, which Tonga rugby did not have to pay. He also organised the logistical preparations of the 'Ikale Tahi for the RWC 2011 in accordance to the tournament regulations and engaged specialist skills coaches from overseas to assist the 'Ikale Tahi preparations, including Toutai Kefu.