As the dynamic form of Moana Pasifika centre Levi Aumua drives him further into the frame as a possible All Black, it’s a reminder of the brutal decisions World Rugby forces Pasifika players into.
If Aumua, as he could be, is wanted by more than one countryfor the World Cup in France, the decision he makes, as someone born in Auckland with Samoan and Fijian heritage, will basically decide his international future. And in Aumua’s case, having outplayed every centre he’s faced in Super Rugby Pacific this year, it would be bizarre if he didn’t have expressions of interest to choose from.
It will be a huge decision. He’s never been as trim and fighting fit as he has been in the Moana team, but at 28 years old, whatever side he chooses will almost certainly be the only one he can ever play for.
In 2021 the world rulers of the game finally agreed to allow players to represent a second country in test rugby, but there had to be a three-year international stand down period.
That was better than the draconian law that had been in place, where once you’d taken a step onto the pitch in one country’s jersey, you could never play for another.
Hugely gifted 20-year-old back Isa Nacewa played just 120 seconds for Fiji at the 2003 World Cup as a late sub against Scotland.
Born and raised in Auckland, and starring for the Blues, he then wanted to have the chance to play for the All Blacks. The NZRU tried to persuade the International Rugby Board to make a special exception, but the move got nowhere.
Isa Nacewa in action for the Blues in 2006. Photo / Photosport
If decency was a common attitude amongst the northern boardroom masters of the game they’d set up a case-by-case panel. The vast majority of Pasfika players who’d apply to represent a second nation would almost certainly be players who had represented a tier one nation (like New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, or England), and then wanted to play for the Pacific Island country of their ancestors.
You sense the shock waves from Samoa beating Wales at the 1991 World Cup are still reverberating in Europe. To be blunt, it’s hard to not believe self-preservation from countries like Scotland and Wales is a big stumbling block to World Rugby stopping a veteran All Black joining younger, less experienced players in a Fijian, Tongan, or Samoan team.
How much would a Fijian team benefit, for example, from having Pita Gus Sowakula, whose All Blacks career has sadly been cruelly brief, in their loose forward mix?
Another element is in Britain, amongst rugby people who should know better, there’s a misunderstanding of the waves of Pasifika immigration to New Zealand, and the effect that’s had on New Zealand’s playing stocks.
In 2017 during the Lions tour here I had an intense but polite discussion with a leading English rugby writer, who was convinced all the blame for problems maintaining the strength of Pacific Island teams lay with New Zealand.
“Imagine how much better Tonga would have been if you hadn’t stolen Jonah Lomu,” was his killer blow, as I tried to explain Lomu had been born at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.
So it’s perhaps little wonder that some European administrators don’t see how a gifted Samoan or Tongan player is following what his heart, not his bank manager, is saying when he’d like to assist an Islands team in the twilight of his career.
Surely no harm can be done to the fabric of world rugby by allowing one, and one only, immediate change of allegiance, especially if that move is from a tier one team to a side only just making it to World Cups?
