Samoa promise no England boycott

LONDON: Samoa insisted Monday that the threat of a strike which would have led to Saturday’s international against England at Twickenham being called off had been abandoned and that the match would proceed as scheduled.

Disgruntled players had indicated they could boycott the match as a protest against the way the Samoa Rugby Union was run, leading to mediation from both the International Rugby Board and the International Rugby Players’ Association.

“The game is proceeding as agreed upon,” Samo a team manager Sami Leoti Britain’s national Press Association news agency.

“There is no threat and the boycott has been cancelled. It’s all been sorted.”

Last week, the Samoa players’ unhappiness became public knowledge when, following a report in Britain’s Rugby Paper, the IRB released a statement saying they had been made aware of the Pacific Islanders’ concerns last month.

However, the IRB also said they expected the match, the third of England’s four home internationals in November, to go ahead as planned.

“The players handed the matter on to the IRB and players’ association three weeks ago before we got to Italy and they’ve been handling it since,” Leoti said.

“It was leaked to the media when we were in France last week. The players met with the IRB and the players association and as a result of those discussions the boycott was called off.

“Now the idea is to keep the camp tight and focus on the game,” he added.

This month Samoa have lost to 24-13 to Italy in Ascoli but last week defeated Canada 23-13 in Vannes, north-west France, with Saturday’s fixture against England the final match of their European tour.