New Zealand Rugby's decision to stick with the same five teams in next years' Super Rugby Aotearoa competition has drawn criticism from the Players Association.
Association boss Rob Nichol claiming a Pasifika team should still be considered for 2021.
Nichol says the time to introduce a Pacific-based franchise is now, and the neglect shown towards NZ's neighbours and biggest contributors of talent has gone on for too long.
“Bottom line is, if not now, then when? For 26 years Pasifika have missed out. They deserve this opportunity. They're a massive contribution, 40 per cent of our Super Rugby players are Pasifika,” Nichol said.
“What we're saying is we get it. We all get it. We've got a five-team Super Rugby Aotearoa option on the table. Everyone knows about that but we should work harder and explore the possibility of having another one up our sleeve which may actually prove to be a better competition with the Pasifika," he added.
NZ Rugby chairman Brent Impey says he wants a Pasifika team but the NZR board decided that the candidates for a Pasifika team weren't feasible for next year.
“They put in a terrific amount of effort and they are highly respected. The issue for New Zealand Rugby was both on the field, could the team be competitive in 2021? And off the field, because we were not in a position to be able to subsidise. Whereas this way we hopefully will get a really top-notch Pasifika team in for 2022,” Impey said.
Despite NZR's board deciding that the timing for a Pasifika entry isn’t right, Nichol says a study recently conducted by Deloitte suggests the contrary.
“The next step and part of that was to bring all the parties around the table and say if we act in an inclusive way and we act together, we could stand this up.”
Impey said there simply wasn’t enough corporate support.
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