Samoa
End to Samoan players stand-off with union
ESPN Staff
June 24, 2015
Samoan players have resolved their dispute in the lead up to the All Blacks Test © Getty Images
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Samoa say the dispute between players and the national union is over as they prepare to host their historic Test against the All Blacks.

Alleged financial mismanagement by the Samoan Rugby Union and other player concerns rose to a head when the team threatened to boycott the final Test of their United Kingdom tour last November. They eventually played against England at Twickenham but only after a guarantee from the SRU that player issues would be addressed.

The resignation of two officials in February coincided with the appointment of former All Black Alama Ieremia to head the SRU's high performance division. Ieremia told NZ Newswire the problems have been largely resolved through good communication and understanding of the issues.

"One of the key outcomes is that the union and the players association have managed to work together for the sake of the players," he said. "It's a great achievement, I suppose, just getting player welfare issues and player concerns heard."

World Rugby became involved after an audit found nearly $NZ1 million in SRU funds were unaccounted for at the indebted union. A more transparent financial system was introduced and received the thumbs up from the players association.

"Some of the reforms we've made have got everything heading in the right direction," Ieremia said. "We wanted to get all that out of the way before we focused on this Test. I'm pretty confident the players will have the right head space."

A wider squad of 58 for the Test was announced in May - the majority of them European-based - and was reduced to 44 last week. A squad of 23 for the Test plus a handful of standby players will be unveiled next week.

Ieremia says all of the leading candidates from Europe and New Zealand had made themselves available. Injuries have ruled out two key English-based players - Wasps centre Alapati Leiua and Leicester prop Logovi'i Mulipola - along with Hurricanes hooker Motu Matu'u.

A notable inclusion is long-serving Chiefs back Tim Nanai-Williams, who represented New Zealand at schoolboy level but has played sevens for Samoa this year. French-based former Blues No.8 Peter Saili was named in the initial squad of 58 but missed last week's cut.

© AAP

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