Let poor Samoa in on riches of rugby’s big guns

SAMOA deserve better. Just as their players could feel hard done by in losing to Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, so the entire rugby nation are entitled to feel aggrieved about the state of their game. Whether it’s the fault of their own union or not, to have the SRU — no, not that one — declared bankrupt while the players were starting their northern hemisphere tour smacked of farce. There are historical wrongs to be righted when it comes to rugby’s treatment of the Pacific Islands in general. Too often, nations like Samoa, Fiji and Tonga have found themselves on the wrong end of a bad bargain, losing their best players to rival countries with a flexible approach to eligibility — and watching further swathes of talent ruled out because their clubs won’t free them up for international duty. So, amid all the excited chatter about opening up new markets to the brilliant game of rugby union, how about doing something for nations who have already contributed so many wonderful players to the game? Even if many of them ended up turning out for New Zealand and Australia, in particular. A place up for grabs in the Rugby Championship, alongside the All Blacks, Wallabies, Springboks and Pumas? Not the worst idea. Let the Pacific Islands play off for one spot every year. Or pull together a combined team, a sort of South Seas Lions, to take part. While we’re at it, how about sharing around some of that lovely gate revenue? Oh, you could see that idea going down well in rugby’s immaculately-presented and full-sponsored corridors of power. Sharing gate money? Blooming communism …