Head of State hailed

World Rugby Council’s Oceania Representative, Lefau Harry Schuster, has praised the Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, for his efforts in kickstarting the movement to get Samoa greater World Rugby representation.

The praise follows a decision by the World Rugby Council to approve wide-ranging, historic reform of its governance structures. That includes the potential for Samoa to secure a vote on the Council.

Speaking to the Weekend Observer, Lefau said the decision is the culmination of several decades of work, which began in the 1970s when the Head of State was the Prime Minister.

Lefau said His Highness Tui Atua worked with then-Fijian and Tongan Prime Ministers RatuSir KamaseseMara and Prince Fatafehi Tu'ipelehake to push for change.

“They advocated that Fiji, Samoa and Tonga should have a seat,” Lefau said.

Originally, the group was pushing to share one seat between them

That changed after the 1987 and 1991 Rugby World Cups, wherethe three countries’ push for individual seats ramped up, Lefau said.

The demand for greater Pacific representation reached a major milestone around the year 2000, when the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (F.O.R.U) was formed.

The organisation’s name was changed to Oceania Rugby last year.

Lefau was appointed President of the umbrella organisation in 2004, and took up a position as the Oceania representative on the World Rugby Council.

From then, he followed in the Head of State’s footsteps, pushing for greater representation for Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.

While pushing for that individual representation, he said he’d been able to achieve a lot as the Oceania representative.

“[Oceania Representation] has made a huge difference to rugby in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.”

Lefau said, thanks to the position, the three countries had been able to secure International Rugby Board funding.

That paid for a high performance gym, two rugby fields, an office block and an accommodation block in Samoa, he said.

The Council voting in favour of individual seats was a truly incredible moment, however.

Lefau said the reformwas “recognition” for the rugbyloving nations – “being an equal at the table”, he said.

It meant Samoa and the other nations would have direct communication with the board that governs world rugby, he said.

Individual representation for the three nations meant each country could have better representation too, more specifically targeting individual issues in each of the countries, he said.

A more prominent voice on the World Rugby Council also meant increased funding was a possibility.

Better funding for Samoa, Tonga and Fiji would make the country a “serious threat” to tier one rugby unions, the Oceania representative said.

“[Having seats on the World Rugby Council] does give you some form of control over your destiny in terms of how World Rugby allocates funding.”

Samoa Rugby Union Chief Executive Officer Faleomavaega Vincent Fepulea’i said the seat had been “a long time coming”.

He said the reform recognised how significant Samoa’s role was in the world of international rugby, with Samoan players among the most sought after internationally.

“[Lefau Harry Schuster] has been fighting for this for many years,” Faleomavaega said.

Lefau said the World Rugby Council would formally ratify the governance changes in a council meeting in May, 2016.

Af ter that, the W.R.C. would decide when individual representatives would take their seats.

Lefau expected those individual representatives would come in November, 2016, a year from now.

The Samoa Rugby Union will decide who that representative is. Lefau was not sure if he would put his hand up for the role. “I have to reassess my position and what I want to do.”

Faleomavaega declined to comment on any front runners for the position. The Head of State was not available for comment yesterday.