Latu pleads for financial help

Latu pleads for financial help

From Julian Guyer in Paris
September 29, 2007
TONGA captain Nili Latu has pleaded with international rugby chiefs to give his side a helping hand as its seeks to build on its impressive performance at the Rugby World Cup.

The Pacific islanders' hopes of a quarter-final place ended when they lost their final Pool A match 36-20 against England, with the Rugby World Cup holder instead advancing to a knockout match against Australia in Marseille next Saturday.

But Tonga, a country with a population of just over 100,000, gave the champion plenty to think about when leading 10-3 early in the first-half.

It wasn't until the final quarter at Parc des Princes that England's lead became insurmountable.

Latu, in an echo of comments from many so-called lesser sides at previous Rugby World Cup tournaments, begged the world not to forget about Tonga until the next edition in New Zealand in 2011.

"We need help in the islands, we need all the help we can get," he said, noting that some of his teammates had dyed their hair green in the lead-up to the match in recognition of sponsor Paddy Power, an Irish betting firm.

"The only time we get to play these guys (the major teams) is the World Cup.

"We haven't had any budget to get here. There is no money in Tongan rugby. The facilities everybody is getting here we just don't have.

"The (International Rugby Board) is putting funds in for academies, which is great, but the only time we get to play these guys (top-tier teams) is at the World Cup. We usually only play Samoa and Fiji.

"We don't get the main ideas of the game because it has moved on and we need to keep up."

Tonga, in common with Fiji and Samoa, always runs the risk of losing its best players to financially more lucrative opportunities with the Australia and New Zealand national sides.

Ideally, they would like to play in an expanded Super 14 competition so as to have greater top-level rugby between Rugby World Cup tournaments.

"Super 14, we'd love to get a team in, but it seems like it's not going our way,'' Latu said.

There is also a suggestion that by the time 2011 arrives the IRB will have cut the number of teams competing at a World Cup from 20 to at least 16.

"The IRB will assess this, I'm not in a position to comment," said Tonga coach Quddus Fielea, whose team, under the rules as they stand at the moment, has qualified for the 2011 tournament.

"It's definitely a very big step forward for Tongan rugby.

"What we've achieved is a milestone for us."

Agence France-Presse

From the Australian:

John Connolly has joined the growing chorus of opposition to what appear to be New Zealand-inspired prompts for the International Rugby Board to trim the number of competing countries from 20 to 16 at the next World Cup to be staged in New Zealand in 2011.

It seems there are growing concerns about the capacity of a country the size of New Zealand to accommodate 20 teams and their attendant armies of supporters. But infrastructure worries, while not trifling, do not seem cause enough to abandon at least four of the countries that have competed in France.

"The big issue for the IRB is how they respond to the performances of the islander nations and Argentina at this World Cup," Connolly said.

"My worry is that if they cut the numbers back, one of Fiji, Tonga or Samoa would drop out, because that's what happened in the first three World Cups when there were only 16 teams allowed in the main draw."

Are the Kiwis just cottoning on to the whole "it's the RWC and there's 20 teams in it" thing? Bit late for that, now, folks...