Union Islanders given test status

[DIEHARD]

Islanders will be Test for all - April 17, 2004

The decision to give immediate Test status to the Pacific Islander-Wallabies fixture is a huge boost for rugby. The news has made for a great week, what with us - the NSW Waratahs - finally being back at home in Sydney to play our first game at Aussie Stadium in six weeks.

I just hope it ends as "great" by us turning around our run of four consecutive losses against the Hurricanes tonight.

But back to the Pacific Islanders ... Fiji, Tonga and Samoa don't play a lot of Tests. Even then it is often against each other.

As last year's World Cup showed, there is so much individual talent there. And with the pick of their crop put together to take on the Wallabies (July 3) in Adelaide, and then the All Blacks (July 10) and Springboks (date to be confirmed) we are in store for some top games.

A big challenge for the Pacific Islanders will be forging three different groups into one - as it often is with the British and Irish Lion squads.

The first step will be to ensure each island is represented in the coaching and management staff.

That way, the process of team cohesion can be handled with respect to everyone's interests.

Fiji, Tonga and Samoa are not too different culturally. But there will still be some cliques when they first come together because of the familiarity between them in the past.

It will be really important before they play that a lot of time is spent on team building - off the field as much as on it.

It can't be done in a week. They will need at least two to three weeks together before playing.

The one thing that may bind them as one could be the traditional Pacific Island drink, kava. All Pacific islanders love it.

The ritual for the drinking it may be different in each island - different languages and words used and ways in how to hold the bowl. But I've got Fijian and Tongan mates who drink kava together. And they all get on pretty well.

Saying all that, the challenge will not be just their's. For the Wallabies, All Blacks and Springboks it will a task to win.

As players, they are all very athletic and are pretty much ball runners from numbers one to 15.

The Samoans love playing it wide. Remember the scare they gave England in Perth at the World Cup? We should expect the same again - although hopefully we will be prepared for it.

They will also get better with the more playing time, whether it be at Test level or with mid-week build ups against sides like NSW and Queensland as they are reportedly wanting.

They should play an open game. They love running the ball wide. It is going to be 'hot potato, hot potato' rugby.

But first things first.

We have a big task with the Waratahs tonight.

It was nice to feel the paddock at Aussie Stadium under our feet at training this week.

It gave us a chance to take in the atmosphere, imagine the stands filled with a packed crowd that we hope comes tonight.

Yes, Super 12-wise we are in a critical situation.

We must win if we are to make the finals. But to do that we must think more of the process than outcome. Saying that, the win is still paramount.

And to my West Harbour club rugby teammates ... best wishes for today's Schute Shield opener against Gordon at Chatswood Oval.

The Daily Telegraph

I wish he was talking about Rugby League...

 

[ParraMatt]

Wouldnt this be better off in the Yawnion Section.

 

[DIEHARD]

Im here to discuss this concept in rugby LEAGUE not rugby UNION. :roll:

 

[ParraMatt]

sorry pal.

 

[Jeffles]

Yes it would be good if it were League.

BUT

Considering the way the PI have been treated since SL, it is hardly surprising it is not. While there were (are?) some corruption problems in the PI, there has also been a lack of commitment from our (Oz+NZ) end.

A Pacific Islands team is a great idea and should be a priority for the RLIF.

 

[DIEHARD]

Would entering a Pacific Islands side rip the heart out of the New Zealand national team?

I agree that a Pacific Islands team should be a priority for the RLIF. But first I think the priority is to have a RLIF.

 

[dimitri]

i agree

rlif structure, funding, organisation, meetings etc etc

should be first on the priority list

and of course a WEBSITE

which of course we are still waiting for

 

[DIEHARD]

Tales of the South Pacific - Malcolm Andrews - http://www.TotalRL.com

So, once again Rugby League has been beaten to the punch by the Rah-Rahs. Another golden opportunity has slipped through our fingers.

Last week it was announced that the rugby union chiefs had introduced another major competitor to the Test arena - the Pacific Islands.

The best players from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa gathered into one ‘super’ side.

The Pacific Islanders will play Australia’s Wallabies in Adelaide on July 3, and the New Zealand All Blacks a week later in Auckland.

Profits would be ploughed back into the 15-a-side game in the Pacific.

Good grief. This is what my old mate, Luke Raikadroka, chief of security at The Strand, was advocating in this column about three or four years ago.

Luke, a former Fijian SAS man and Rah-Rah international, was the man who started Rugby League in 1992, bringing the Fijian Batis to Sydney for the World Sevens and on a tour of Queensland later that year.

Of course, the big star of that Fijian side was Noa Nadruku, who ended up rewriting the club tryscoring records at the Canberra Raiders.

Luke had suggested to the League chiefs in Sydney that each NRL club have two or three ‘apprentices’ from Pacific nations.

The reason for two or three was that islanders often have trouble adapting to life in Sydney and the other cities that boast NRL sides.

If there was just one youngster with each club, there would be loneliness, homesickness and other associated problems.

Under Luke’s scheme, each year a Pacific Islands Under-21s side would have toured Britain or France to give them a goal at which to aim.

Later there could be a fully-fledged Pacific Islands ‘Test’ side, which Luke reckoned could mount a real challenge to the big three, who will this year be competing in the Tri-Nations Tournament.

With all the experience gained in these tours and ‘Tests’, when it came to a World Cup, the Pacific nations would each be able to give a good account of themselves.

Hello there! Was anyone listening? It seems they weren’t. And now the Rah-Rahs have stolen Luke’s thunder.

 

[ruggabugga]

You have to appreciate that in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga....15 man RUGBY is King. It is only Islanders raised in some parts of OZ that are 13 a side league players.League will have to do more than take a few apprentices' if it want's to make inroads in the Pacific. ;-) ;-)

 

[eastsrule]

You have to appreciate that in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga....15 man RUGBY is King. It is only Islanders raised in some parts of OZ that are 13 a side league players.League will have to do more than take a few apprentices' if it want's to make inroads in the Pacific. ;-) ;-)

Oh so true.