EXCLUSIVE: Samoa strike threat to England Test

Posted on by in Autumn Internationals, Featured

Samoa’s rugby players are threatening to boycott next week’s Test match against England at Twickenham unless concerns over governance issues are addressed.

The Rugby Paper can reveal that senior Samoan players have written to the International Rugby Board (IRB) expressing concern over various matters relating to the Samoa Rugby Union (SRU), including misuse of funds and interference in team selection.

In their letter to the IRB, which was sent on October 29 and a copy of which has been obtained by The Rugby Paper, Samoa’s players claim:

*Our coaches are not given complete rein to pick whom they deem as the country’s best players

*Our team gets announced on Social Media sites before players are notified

*There is no financial transparency within the organisation

*Funds that were suspected to be misused were followed up by a questionable audit process

*Players who ask questions are made examples of and black-listed

*Tour ‘allowances’ have been frozen at NZ $1000 since 1990. Any requests to have this reviewed have been ignored

*Players are expected to pay their own airfares back to Samoa for end of year tours

*The coaching level in between World Cups has been poor

The players also state in the letter: “As players, we are unhappy with the incompetence of the Samoan Rugby Union in its current shape and under its current leadership. We would like to notify you that we have called for the resignation of a number of senior officials within the Samoan Rugby Union and will be boycotting our game against England on the 22nd of November should our feelings not be addressed.

“As a unified players group, it is felt that these issues are affecting our success on the field and we can no longer play under such poor leadership.”

Samoa’s players, who are currently in France ahead of Friday’s Test against Canada in Vannes, are understood to have also enlisted the help of the International Rugby Players’ Association in an effort to resolve their dispute with the SRU.

Failure to do so would result in players taking strike action by refusing to participate in the Test against England. Matches at Twickenham are worth up to £5m to the Rugby Football Union and cancellation costs would be enormous.

Samoa’s players are serious. A source close to the camp today told The Rugby Paper: “This has been coming for years. We’re so poorly managed and poorly governed at the top and the players have had enough. There’s heavy stuff going on.

“There’s no communication between the SRU and the players, no transparency over funding and rugby in Samoa is dying out. The players are unified that the England game will not happen and that it’s the only way to make the big-wigs take notice.”

EXCLUSIVE by NEALE HARVEY

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Tagged England, Samoa