RWC to be devalued?
7 Nov 2012
European clubs are being accused of paying their foreign players to snub their respective nations at World Cups.
The World Cup usually overlaps the European domestic season, which will happen again at the 2015 campaign in England.
This is likely to encourage the practice among clubs of offering financial incentives to their foreign players to ignore their countries’ call-ups, depriving the likes of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga from fielding their best team on the biggest international stage.
If the players ignore their club offers, they could find themselves unemployed.
Former Fiji flyhalf Nicky Little, who played in four World Cups and played in five different European leagues, dubs this practice ‘blackmail’.
‘For many seasons, European and UK-based Islanders have either been blackmailed not to play for their countries, or had pay docked when they were with their national teams,’ said Little.
Former Racing Metro coach Simon Mannix claimed that Fijians at the French Top 14 club were paid to make themselves unavailable for the 2011 World Cup: ‘Racing Métro had Fijians who declined to go to the World Cup … because the club gave them a cheque if they stayed here [in Paris].’
International Rugby Players’ Association chairman Damien Hopley has informed the IRB about this.
‘The IRB are aware of this practice. It is imperative that the World Cup is defined by the best playing against the best,’ said Hopley. ‘We look forward to receiving a formal response to a problem that is threatening the integrity of this fantastic competition.’
The IRB has rules in place – in regulation nine – that forbid clubs from offering any form of disincentive, either through “contract or conduct”, to players to represent their country, but critics say the international body has shown little appetite to enforce it.
The IRB has yet to investigate allegations made by Mannix.
The Racing players who declined to play for Fiji in the 2011 Pacific Nations Cup, effectively ruling themselves out of World Cup selection, are Sireli Bobo, Jone Qovu (both still with Racing) and Josh Matavesi (now at Worcester).
Racing Metro president Jacky Lorenzetti denied the club have made any illegal payments or broken any regulations.
The USA also lost out on Northampton lock Samu Manoa at last year’s World Cup after the player declined his call-up.
USA coach Eddie O’Sullivan said this was because a clause in Manoa’s contract that prevented him from travelling to New Zealand. Northampton denied this, with a club spokesman saying: ‘There is no clause in his contract preventing him playing international rugby. It was Samu’s choice not to go to New Zealand with the USA.’
9 Comments
7 Nov 2012, 10:40 am
jeez this an easy one to solve, give me the job.
Countries that allow this practice with their clubs should be banned from internationals or worldcup.
By default you with see those respective countries clamping down hard on their clubs …maybe even demote them a league.
7 Nov 2012, 11:28 am
@Brigadier Van Zyl-1: Smart man, those Frenchies trying al lkinds of ****. Their whole league structure is built on the back of foreign players. Without them they would not have Top 8 nevermind a Top 14.
7 Nov 2012, 11:45 am
“The World Cup usually overlaps the European domestic season…”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the World Cup overlap a part of just about everyone’s rugby season? I mean, here we have a non-stop rugby calendar with super Rugby running into Rugby Championships, running into the Currie Cup. During our 2011 CC we had to hear day in and day out about the weakened domestic competition. How come this is just a European issue? What makes their domestic competitions so special?
7 Nov 2012, 11:49 am
@katman-3: They have more money, and relegation is searious problem for them. If the top teams in France and England don;t finish well than they get excluded from the Heineken Cup the following year.
Where as Currie Cup 1st devision teams are not good enough to threaten the bok carrying CC teams for relegation, we saw what the gulf of talent there is between Kings (1st devision champs) and the Cheetahs (CC chumps).
7 Nov 2012, 11:54 am
@goodstuff-4: Not to mention it’s the longest bloody season of rugby the world, 14 teams home and away, semis and finals, with H Cup in between. Don’t people get bored?
Simple solution would be to cut the domestic season in half during a world cup year but of course that’ll never happen with that sort of money involved.
7 Nov 2012, 12:00 pm
Maybe the Fijians have the “Keegan Daniel” attitude.
‘I’m not flying down if I’m not winning anything. Surely you guys will know these things before the actual event?
7 Nov 2012, 12:21 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-1: I’ll second that.
Countries come first.
7 Nov 2012, 23:24 pm
if they didnt pay money to represent your country, would players still play test rugby???
its about Honour and I must say any player chooses country over their club is disgrace
8 Nov 2012, 09:57 am
Is it true that the Clubs who front the wages for these lads, don’t have insurance to cover them if they are injured on international duty?
If it is true, that would make sense, why should the Club be responsible for events out of their control.
This leaves the question, does the likes of Fiji carry enough insurance to cover player injury that compensates them fully?
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