2015 Rugby World Cup
World Cup-winner keen on Samoa switch
ESPN Staff
September 9, 2014
Isaia Toeava could play for Samoa in the 2015 Rugby World Cup © Getty Images
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All Blacks Isaia Toeava is one of three Kiwis contemplating using the Olympics eligibility loophole to play for Samoa in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand's Fritz Lee, Toeava and Tim Nanai-Williams have all reportedly contacted Samoa, according to the Waikato Times, while Australians Fotu Auelua and Alofa Alofa are also keen.

The Olympics loophole means any player who has dual-nationality can switch to the other nation if they have not represented the other in the past 18 months. That loophole has seen Steffon Armitage linked with a move over to the French national side and the likes of Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu been mentioned as potential Fiji players.

In Samoa's case, their assistant coach Tom Coventry says they have already been contacted by a long list of players. He told the newspaper: "Ambition is key. Guys who want to come and play for Samoa are valuable.

"You could ring guys and ask them to play, but to be fair, most of the guys who are now dual eligible and have the option to play have asked. There are a lot of them [who have contacted Samoan rugby]. They are playing rugby in different parts of the world and that's the nature of the beast with Samoan rugby, and pacific island rugby in general."

And Coventry warns integration will take time. He added: "Someone like Fritz, he's in superb form for Clermont. He's one of their standout players, I think he was player of the year last year. It's fantastic when they put their hand up, and obviously Fritz has a desire to play.

"For him to be able to play, he'd need to play in the [IRB Sevens World Series] in October to be available for our end of year tour. That would be purely at the whim of his club. They'd have to release him to do that, which would be very unlikely, so he'd have to wait until the end of the northern hemisphere season to play sevens and then for Samoa. That's going to be the case for us, with players trickling in when they can."

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