World Rugby Freezes Tongan Funding

[rowan]

Read all about it here:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/inte ... -next-week

I'd like to see a quadrennial Pacific 6 Nations involving NZ, Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islands in 2 groups leading to a final, 3rd & 5th place playoffs. 3 games apiece, it could be played in two weeks. The venue could rotate around NZ, Australia, Japan and the islands (primarily Fiji). This would help generate income for the unions involved, while also giving them a chance to stage a major international rugby tournament other than the World Cup - which only comes around once every few decades or so.

[Lizard]

You are basically suggesting that NZ and Aust take part in every fourth PNC to the exclusion of the North American sides.

NZ used to send the Juniors or Maori teams to the PNC and they won every single match they played every single year.

I'm not sure what your idea would achieve.

Tonga's problem is one of governance. Giving them another tournament t to mismanage is not the answer. Samoa's Union is pretty shady too.

What the islands need is some help in getting their administrative structures right.

[morepork]

You are basically suggesting that NZ and Aust take part in every fourth PNC to the exclusion of the North American sides.

NZ used to send the Juniors or Maori teams to the PNC and they won every single match they played every single year.

I'm not sure what your idea would achieve.

Tonga's problem is one of governance. Giving them another tournament t to mismanage is not the answer. Samoa's Union is pretty shady too.

What the islands need is some help in getting their administrative structures right.

Maybe they need a new flag?

[rowan]

No, nothing to do with the PNC, but a proper international tournament like the Euro football championships. It might take a while to catch on, but if taken seriously and promoted well it could become a major event that would fill stadiums and attract huge TV audiences. The last placed team should be forced to qualify for the next event, which would add meaning to the 5th place playoff. In time that could perhaps be increased to the bottom three teams. It might go something like this:

Tues 1st NZ v Tonga
Sat 5th NZ v Fiji
Tues 8th Fiji v Tonga

Wed 2nd Aus v Samoa
Sun 6th Aust v Japan
Wed 9th Japan v Samoa

Sat 12th 3rd & 5th place play-offs
Sun 13th Final

[cashead]

Still haven't addressed the governance issue. In fact, you've blatantly just ignored it.

A better method is a hands-on mentorship of the Pacific Unions by SANZAR, and to a lesser extent, World Rugby. Throwing money at it, when it involves financial mismanagement, is not going to solve a thing.