A new Australian Government funding deal for rugby union in the Pacific is being held up by Samoa’s new Prime Minister, La’aulialemalietoa Schmidt, but the question is why?
Fiji and Tonga have already signed off on the package worth $150 million(US$100 million), but La’auli is stalling amid suggestions that he wants a shake-up of the Lakapi Samoa board that would include the removal of the chairman and his arch political rival, Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi.
The Chief Executive of Tonga Rugby is urging the two men to put their political differences aside for the good of all three Pacific unions, so that his union can put its hands on what he says would be a financial godsend.
Meanwhile, three new teams from the Pacific could join Rugby Australia’s third-tier competition as part of a multi-year, $150 million(US$100 million) deal between the Australian government and three countries in the Pacific Islands.
The Roar understands that plans are being hatched for teams from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga join RA’s new Super Rugby AUS competition.
But that will only occur if the proposed $150m (US$100 million) deal between the three Pacific countries and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is signed.
The proposal, which has been worked on for six months, has already received sign-off from the Tongan and Fijian governments.
However, it is pending sign-off from the Samoa Prime Minister, Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Leuatea Fosi Schmidt, who recently returned to the country after spending eight weeks in New Zealand receiving medical treatment.
Despite the delay, sources have told The Roar that Prime Minister Schmidt has backed the proposal but has yet to sign off on it.
Should it indeed be passed, the deal will be worth ten times the amount allocated during the 2022-23 budget papers when PacificAus Sports signed off on a $15m(US$10 million) grant for the Pacific legacy programme.
The significant investment comes after the region became heavily politicised over the past 12 months, after a $600m(US$400 million) government package to support rugby league in Papua New Guinea was announced.
The huge funding package sent shockwaves across the region and sparked other countries into negotiations with Chinese government officials.
The Fiji Rugby Union signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Rugby Football Association and Tonga Rugby Union also developed a partnership with China, which funded the Polynesian kingdom’s new $40m(US$26 million) national sports complex. In Samoa, China offered to build a new national stadium.
As such, China’s efforts to get a foothold in the region have led to the tripartite proposal landing on the desk of the Albanese government.
Should the deal happen as expected, Rugby Australia is expected to invite the Pacific nations to provide representation in its new third-tier competition.
While the three-round Super Rugby AUS competition only started in 2025, it could double in length should the Drua, as well as teams from Tonga and Samoa, enter.
The rise of the Drua, who played in the National Rugby Championship before successfully integrating into the Super Rugby Pacific competition, also shows a high-performance pathway to professionalism.
The rise of the Drua has also seemingly benefitted the national team, the Flying Fijians, who beat the Wallabies in the 2023 World Cup.
The Flying Fijians also beat England at Twickenham for the first time ahead of the showpiece event.
It is hoped that Tonga and Samoa could follow in the footsteps of the Drua and, ultimately, join the fully-fledged Super Rugby Pacific competition.
Should that occur, it would likely have a positive influence on the respective national sides, who have struggled on the international stage recently.
Samoa, who made the quarterfinals of the 1991 and 1995 World Cups, snatched the 24th and final place for the expanded 2027 World Cup on Australian shores last month by drawing with Belgium.
