Savea, Foster up for top World Rugby accolades Pacific Island players slam new competition
All Blacks No 8 Ardie Savea and coach Ian Foster have been nominated for World Rugby awards.
The awards take place the night after the World Cup final between the All Blacks and South Africa in Paris.
Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth, France’s Antoine Dupont and Bundee Aki of Ireland are also up for the Player of the Year award with Savea.
In the coach category, Foster has been nominated alongside Ireland’s Andy Farrell, South Africa’s Jacques Nienaber and Fiji’s Simon Raiwalui.
Winger Mark Tele’a and prop
Tamaiti Williams have been nominated for the Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year, up against South Africa’s Manie Libbok, who was dropped from the South African squad for the final. France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey is the other nominee.
Black Ferns Sevens champions Michaela Blyde and Tyla NathanWong have been nominated for Women’s Sevens Player of the Year, while their All Blacks Sevens counterparts Leroy Carter and Akuila Rokolisoa have been nominated for Men’s Sevens Player of the Year.
Pacific Island rugby players have slammed World Rugby’s new competition and claim the format will keep nations such as Samoa and Tonga away from the top of the heap.
For years, rugby nations globally — including New Zealand — used the Islands as a rugby nursery to support their own competitions.
But now with the 2026 Nations Championship mainly featuring fixtures between World Rugby’s giants from the Six Nations and Rugby Championship — with only Japan and Fiji also tipped to be included — tier two teams such as Tonga, Samoa, Georgia and Portugal have been left out.
Former All Black and current Manu Samoa first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga spoke out about the decision on social media.
“As a Samoan rugby player, I am deeply frustrated and disappointed by the recent World Council decision to exclude smaller nations like Samoa and Tonga from the upcoming Nations Championship,” Sopoaga wrote. “This move not only hinders our progress but undermines the spirit of inclusivity that rugby is supposed to stand for.”
Fellow All Blacks Keven Mealamu and Ardie Savea were among those to back Sopoaga’s comments.
Sopaga, who played 18 games for the All Blacks, wrote World Rugby showed little interest in developing smaller rugby nations, content to see them playing each other rather than tier one rugby heavyweights.
“The decision to exclude us from this competition is a stark reminder of the power imbalances in world rugby. This decision privileges the interests of the Six Nations and Rugby Championship, and it’s disheartening to see those interests hold more sway than the dreams and aspirations of smaller nations. We were excited about the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with teams like the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies. But now that dream has been shattered.”