Pacific Islanders - The Poor Relation

The official twitter account of the Fiji Rugby Union tweeted the following this morning:

"This is a stab in the dark but is there anyone out there who can donate a defibrillator to the fiji rugby medical team"

This is heart-breaking for anyone who has ever been excited when any Fiji team, be it 15 a side or 7, have taken to the field. It highlights some massive problems.

Firstly, the very idea that a national rugby union as prominent as the Fijians should have to beg for a donation on twitter of all places is awful. Secondly, that they are asking for a crucial piece of medical equipment that could save lives is even worse.

Do the IRB not exist for precisely this reason?

This actually goes far beyond defibrillators. The same issues have been voiced over and over again throughout the rugby world but nothing ever seems to change. New Zealand and Australia fly over 50 people across the globe to play matches every autumn yet they are totally incapable of flying a squad up to play a test in Suva or Apia. Heck, the All Blacks have benefited plenty from players going the other way.

It isn't just the southern hemisphere teams either. England took countless players to Australia two summers ago - how difficult would it have been to send a side up to the Pacific Islands. What are they afraid of?

Some are suggesting that it should be the NZRFU who 'donate' the defibrillator. This is crass to say the least. As if donating a defibrillator, and treating Fiji as some poor, down at heel cousin will help matters. The Fijians don't want charity, they want to be treated equally. No, the NZRFU and the IRB have to change their mindset to view the Pacific Islanders as valued, equal members of the rugby world. They may not have the money or the population that gives them a seat at the top table but they provide a hell of a lot more than that, rugby qualities and brotherhood and humility that the other countries would do well to adopt.

These are the countries that light up the rugby landscape, providing something that is different to the stodgy European old guard and the southern hemisphere oligopoly. Fiji, Samoa and Tonga deserve so much better. The All Blacks and the rest of them should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves that a national union is begging on twitter. It begins with defibrillators but the issues run much deeper.