By Andrew Joakim

The Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have pulled off many upsets in the Rugby World Cup, but we have yet to see one in the cup final. The Pacific Island nations are disadvantaged in rugby, and they could drastically improve their performance on the world stage.

One of the biggest problems that one can see in test rugby is the huge gap between the teams at the top and those below them.

This season has seen the first ranked nation New Zealand win every one of their tests, and the second ranked nation South Africa only lose two tests, both to New Zealand. Australia who are ranked third, have lost twice to the British and Irish Lions, three times to New Zealand, twice to South Africa and once to England. Just think about that, Australia is ranked third after winning 7 out of 14 tests for the year.

When it comes to the Rugby World Cup, it is known amongst all realistic fans that the winning nation will come from either the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales)  or the Rugby Championship (Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa).

Rugby needs more competitiveness amongst the top 10 teams, and I believe that the Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga are the ones that can raise the level.

As it stands now, we have Tonga ranked 15th, Fiji ranked 12th, and Samoa ranked 9th. This is astounding considering that France is ranked 7th, has 347,133 males playing rugby, while the entire population of Samoa is only 188 889. France has  158,244 more males playing rugby than the entire population of Samoa!

Some of the best players in the world are Pacific Islanders, playing in other countries. There are Pacific Islanders playing for England, Wales, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Why are the countries that these players originate from not powerhouses themselves in rugby?

Firstly, these Pacific Island nations are disadvantaged compared to the tier 1 nations.

1. Certain resources are not easily available in the Pacific Islands

Things that other nations take for granted such as apparel (jerseys, shorts, shoes) are difficult to get for many athletes that play in the Islands. Its not only a matter of availability, but for the average Pacific Islander it is quite expensive for them to buy. There are not many jobs available, most people live off the land and sea, and have remittances sent to them from family living overseas. Even having a proper field to train on is not available to most clubs. Teams use what they can to train, with any open space being utilised as a rugby field. The ground can be full of rocks, and all rooted up from pigs that roam the villages. Without having a proper field or adequate space, it is very challenging to do certain drills, making training very limited.

There are some great coaches in the Islands, but many are not educated in how to properly train a team. The focus of most training sessions is put on fitness and general open play. There is a lack of focus on the technical aspects of the game such as line-outs, scrums and tactical kicking.

For players that grow up learning the game in the tier 1 nations, they have the skills drilled into them from an early age so that is second nature to them. If a tier 1 nation player is performing a lineout lift, they know how to perform the lift to get the other player up as fast as they can and as high as they can, because they have been taught the proper technique to do so.

When we watch a Pacific Island nation play tier 1 nations, it's usually a matter of the PI nation physically dominating in open play, but falling behind in the set pieces and tactical kicking. Also take into consideration that most Pacific Islanders don't start playing organised rugby until they reach high school. Compare that to the tier 1 nations, where there is organised rugby available from the age of 6.

Diet and exercise

Obesity in the Pacific Islands is a concern due to the diet of the Islanders. Many families are not properly educated in nutrition and are poor, so they buy cheap and high-fat content meat such as tins of corn beef, lamb belly and turkey tails. A huge staple of the diet in the Pacific Islands is taro, a very starchy carbohydrate. When taro is eaten in huge quantities along with heavy fat from meats and coconut cream, most of that fat will be stored in the body. Even when it comes to the healthy food available like fresh fish, it is often battered and fried.

Tonga is ranked fourth in the world for percentage of overweight persons, and Samoa is ranked sixth. Gym equipment is not easily available to many Islanders, in stark contrast to the tier 1 nations.

A serious athlete growing up in a tier 1 nation is very knowledgeable about the proper diet and exercise needed to take their game to the next level. Pacific Islanders as it is are some of the most physically gifted athletes in world sport, imagine how much better they would be with proper nutrition and access to weights.

2. The tier 2 nations play less games in a year than tier 1 nations, and they are mostly against tier 2 nations.

The tier 1 nations have the advantage of playing together as a team more often. The tier 2 nations have less games which results in them not being as prepared when it comes time for the world cup. Not only do they have less games, but the games that they do have are mostly against other tier 2 nations. By not playing tier 1 nations on a regular basis, the tier 2 nations are disadvantaged in preparedness for the world cup.

3. The players on tier 2 nations mostly play for clubs in other nations

In preparation for test matches, tier 2 nations are disadvantaged by having their players spread throughout the world. Teams like Fiji, Samoa and Tonga could have their players playing for clubs in Australia, New Zealand, Japan , the UK and France. Its much more difficult logistically for the Pacific Island nations to bring all of their players together for training. Not all clubs are so willing to release their players for test matches for fear of injuries.

4. Players have more incentive to play for tier 1 nations.

There is much more money to be made for Pacific Islanders in Europe, Japan, Australia or New Zealand than their home nations. The Pacific Islands are economically poorer than the nations they compete against, and remittances from professional rugby players playing overseas are huge to the economies of the Pacific Islands. Young players in the Pacific Islands that are identified as having the potential to play next level rugby are often offered scholarships to rugby schools abroad. These top players are being drawn out of their own nation into the tier 1 nations, leaving the pacific island teams to pick from the players that are left.

Here is a list of players of Pacific Island descent playing in other nations, note that some of these players were born in the nation they play for.

New Zealand: Keven Mealamu, Charlie Faumuina, Steve Luatua, Ma’a Nonu, Francis Saili, Frank Halai, Julian Savea, Charles Piutau.

Australia : Saia Fainga’a, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Sekope Kepu, Sitaleki Timani, Matt Toomua, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano, Chris Feaui-Sautia, Joe Tomane, Israel Folau.

England : Manu Tuilagi, Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola.

Wales: Toby Faletau.

These players are at the top because they have the genetics combined with proper training, diet, and constant top competition against top rugby teams.

To sum up all of these disadvantages for the Pacific Island nations rugby teams:

• There is a lack of resources (apparel, equipment, proper training, nutrition)
• These nations have less games and not enough of them are against tier 1 nations
• Players are spread out throughout the world which makes it difficult to train together
• Players have more incentive to play for other nations

Solutions

It seems obvious to me that these nations need more games in a year, and more games against top teams. By having more games, the unions would receive more money. By receiving more money, the unions could fix their problems of not having adequate resources. They could hold more coaching clinics, so that the players learning the game in the Islands are just as knowledgeable about the game as the tier 1 nations. They could set up organised rugby for earlier age groups, so that the players are not playing catch up when they reach high school. If there was more money available to test players by having more tests in a year, there would be more incentive for them to play for their home nation.

How do we create more games for these Pacific island nations? I believe a first step could be through Super Rugby. It seems at the moment that it would be too much of a leap to right away inject these nations into the Rugby Championship or the Six Nations. Super Rugby is above the Pacific Nations Cup where the would play Japan, Canada and the U.S.A, but still a step below the Six Nations and The Rugby Championship. By having a team in Super Rugby, the pacific islanders would have their players in much closer proximity to each other.

I think the majority of the rugby world has no idea of what life is like in the Pacific Islands, and would be shocked to see how they can produce such rugby talent with the limited resources that they have. Will the IRB help the Pacific Island nations by giving them more tests against tier 1 nations, or will they leave it as it is, and have the same old teams always dominating? Its a matter of getting the message out there, let's show the rest of the rugby world how disadvantaged the Pacific Islands are. If this message spreads, and the problems could be eliminated, and I believe we could see a Pacific Island nation win the Rugby World Cup.