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'I was on a call with the NZR last night around that and it's looking really encouraging'

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Pacific Rugby Players CEO Aayden Clarke believes it would be “utopia” to have two Pacific Islands teams join a new-look Super Rugby competition in 2022 that will feature 12 teams.

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After a number of false starts, it now appears the Moana Pasifika bid, backed by former All Blacks Sir Bryan Williams and Sir Michael Jones, backed by New Zealand Rugby would be one of the teams along with Fiji. The Fiji Rugby Union has, according to RNZ, been tasked with basing a franchise out of Suva.

The two Pacific Islands teams would join the existing five teams from New Zealand and five from Australia – with the Western Force returning in a revamped competition.

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Akira Ioane talks about nearly giving up on his All Blacks dream:

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    Akira Ioane talks about nearly giving up on his All Blacks dream:

    “From our perspective that’s utopia, that’s the ultimate result is to have two teams involved, given the famine that we’ve had in the past,” said Clarke.” We’ll just bite it off and chew it and everybody muck in. For the right cause it’s not insurmountable and we will be able to get everybody there.

    “I was on a call with the NZR last night around that and it’s looking really encouraging and if we get this across the line New Zealand, Australia, all the stakeholders, Players Associations and the Unions, it’s going to be a really significant moment for Pacific Island Rugby.

    “Having one there with Fiji, who’ve got a strong player base and very good high-performance systems already set up.

    “From now we’ll keep our finger on the pulse and make sure that at every step these two organisations [offer genuine engagement]. Obviously Fiji have a very strong inclination anyway but working alongside World Rugby and making sure that they dovetail into the high-performance plans so we end up with a better Fiji, Samoa and Tonga at the next World Cup.

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    “That’s exactly what these Super Rugby teams will play a role in…and the appetite to make it all work is shared across the board.”

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    R
    RedWarrior 14 minutes ago
    Many England fans echoing the same gripe following Six Nations loss

    The English defense was excellent in the first half. This is considering Ireland's attack has improved significantly since the Autumn with former Leinster attack coach Goodman. Ireland were beaten by NZ in the Autumn, are behind SA and arguably behind France so de facto 4th in order (rankings take time to catch up) As Eddie Jones said Ireland are still in that elite group so England's domination in the first half is noteworthy.

    I believe they have spent the time since the Autumn largely on defence. On broken play they were relying on Smiths instint along with some jiggery pokery. For Smiths early line break a Twindaloo blocked Baird which left the gap for smith. It looked like he did Aki, but Baird was a little late arriving and clever play by Tom Curry allowed the gap for Smith. Earls line break was Smith spotting Baird coming out and beating him with a beautiful pass to Earl.

    We saw the rehearsed plays for a couple of Ireland's tries. The Aki try was just identifying that England tended to hide Smith on the wing creating a vulnerability which Ireland exploited with one of Akis great finishes.

    Although Ireland were relaxing at the end the two English tries were good enough quality and we may see more of it next week (Scotland will also have taken note).

    Although on the easier side of the draw Borthwick almost took England to a RWC final.

    But in common with the top4 you need to have firepower to get those tries in big games. Can Borthwick manage that? I don't think so.

    Next week even if England have a great first half again, you would be looking at France converting 3 of those Irish chances and pushing on after the break.

    Can Borthwick develop a plan to beat France in the next few years. If the answer is no England need to find someone who can.

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