Versatile Kiwi bids farewell to club who can’t afford to keep him

Cooper Vuna has spoken out as he and his Tonga team-mates claim they have not been paid by their rugby union. They say they have not received money promised for their recent Pacific Nations Cup - in which they beat Samoa and lost to Fiji and Georgia - nor a bonus they claim was pledged after they beat Italy last autumn. Bath Rugby back Vuna, pictured, told 1 News in New Zealand: “They’ve just gone from year to year just doing the same old thing and just having the same old broken promises. “I was just like we have to make a stand. If not as a playing committee, then as a Tongan really.” The Tongan Rugby Union has previously refused to sign an agreement with the players’ association, meaning they are powerless to help. The Pacific Rugby Players Association’s Hale T-pole told 1 NEWS: “It’s quite sad to see what they’re going through, as you’ve seen in the social media, first of all is their payment. “They haven’t been paid for the time away from home and in camp,” he claimed. “Some guys are still working and they gotta leave their job, and some guys are in Tonga who don’t have a job still trying to play rugby, and they don’t get anything.” Leicester Tigers’ full-back Telusa Veainu didn’t play in the torunament but he offered his support on Twitter. “Some things just don’t change. Give the players what they deserve,” he wrote. The Chronicle has tried to contact the Tonga Rugby Union for comment but none of the relevant phone numbers or emails on their website are working and their official Twitter account has not been updated for three years.