Former Manu Samoa No 10 and freelance rugby scribe Campbell Burnes argues that the Pacific Nations Cup schedule does no favours to the NPC, often forcing players to choose province over country.
I’m all for the primacy of the international game.
If international rugby was not paramount, then rugby would descend into the football/soccer realm, whereby club is king and internationals would have to be played in tight windows and only really come to life every four years during World Cups.
World Rugby does have international windows, every July and November in non-RWC years, while the Six Nations (February-March) and Rugby Championship (August-September) also have designated windows. No club can technically stand in the way of releasing players, though that policy has been abused many times in the past, while the English Premiership and French Top 14 will rarely allow their ‘cattle’ to play in Tests scheduled outside those windows.
And so we come to the poor old NPC, marginalised at the best of times and often a hard-sell in a saturated New Zealand market with the All Blacks being played at the same time.
Last season we saw the first effects of the new Pacific Nations Cup schedule on the NPC. Previously, this competition had been played in the July window, which seemed very neat, but did not allow tier one nations to visit Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Now the PNC runs from August to September, essentially right in the middle of the NPC. The provincial coaches have a hard enough gig trying to assemble rosters in June and July, knowing they will be shorn of their All Blacks. Some, who have Pasifika internationals on their books, have to honour those contracts, even knowing their men will be away for half the competition.
Take Counties Manukau, for instance, which has several Pacific Island international reps. Last season, halfback Jonathan Taumateine and hooker Zuriel Togiatama were two who opted for province over country, while lock Samuel Slade, who decided to play in the PNC for Samoa, was loaned to North Harbour, though he has played all his provincial rugby for the Steelers. There may be financial imperatives at play here. Perhaps they are paid more by their province than their nation. It is possible, judging by past history.
But it puts the players’ integrity under the spotlight, forcing them to choose between
a possible gateway to Super Rugby and fatter contracts or playing a few games for their country. It’s just messy and makes coaches’ jobs even tougher.
New Manu Samoa coach Tusi Pisi naturally wants his best possible team on the park from July to September, especially as Lakapi Samoa pulled the Manu out of last November’s tour. Equally, Steelers coach Reon Graham, with a large catchment of Pasifika players, is keen to push into the NPC playoffs again. He cannot operate with any certainty until very late in the pre-season.
The advent of Moana Pasifika has been a game changer for the island nations, though that is yet to show in results, but at least Super Rugby does not clash with any international rugby.
The hope was that World Rugby would adjust the schedule, but one suspects the NPC is well down its list of priorities.
So we are betwixt and between and the proud nations of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji suffer, as does the NPC.
