Pacific Islanders Rugby Union Team - Samoa Quits PIRA

Samoa Quits PIRA

The Samoa Rugby Union informed fellow Alliance members Fiji and Tonga that it has decided to quit the alliance because the merged Pacific Island team had failed to produce financial benefits sought by member unions.

"The original concept was basically to provide an opportunity (to play) every two years. There were two aims, to get revenue to help in the running of the activities of the unions (and) to provide players with the opportunity to play against tier one sides.

But the International Rugby Board (IRB) changed the schedule for the Pacific Islands team to play every four years. Every four years won't generate the revenue needed to run our rugby." says SRU Chairman, Peter Schuster.