Brits claim SRU near bankruptcy

Samoa Rugby Union is close to filing for bankruptcy ahead of next month’s Test against England.

CEO Vincent Fepuleai told the Mail on Sunday that the national team’s future is under serious threat from mounting debts.

The Pacific Island nation have issued a plea for help from the rugby world and also requested a £150,000 cut of next month’s revenue at Twickenham.

'Our fate is dictated by our situation and we are close to insolvency,’ said Fepuleai.

‘Without desperate support from our government, we would have been a closed shop a long time ago. We have had debts of almost £1million and we are still making a loss. It’s a huge struggle,’ he continued.

‘I wouldn’t like to speak about the worst-case scenario. We don’t want to go down the road where there is no Samoan national team because our people have a lot of passion. This must not happen.

‘This year’s tour is going ahead as planned. If we can’t afford to put together a team then there will be no tours. World Rugby give us funding but we still need a system of revenue sharing.

‘Money is at the centre of everything. The economic model is absolutely wrong.’

Samoa’s players will earn £650 per Test on their autumn tour, compared with £22,000 for their England counterparts.

World Rugby have no rule that host nations must share revenue, despite England never playing a Test in Samoa to balance the books.
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