Pacific Island rugby players remain concerned about the lack of consultation over World Rugby's planned revamp of the international calendar.
Melani Matavao scores a try for Manu Samoa during their 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying win vs Germany. Photo: AFP
Details of the proposed 12-team World League which emerged last week appeared to exclude Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
But World Rugby Chief Executive Brett Gosper yesterday said there was no Pacific shut out.
The Pacific Rugby Players chief executive, Aayden Clarke, welcomed the assurance but said there were still few details known about the league.
He said Pacific players were not ruling out a boycott of this year's World Cup in protest, although it's not on the table yet.
"The players are a hundred percent committed and looking forward to the World Cup in Japan. Not to say that wouldn't be an option. But we're hoping that our views will be heard well before then and that won't need to be raised.
"The players are extremely concerned about the lack of consultation and the whole design of this new competition.
"We're hoping to engage in some constructive conversations wit the powers-that-be in Dublin very soon," he explained.
"We'll be talking about not only the lack pathway for tier-two nations but also several player welfare issues that we identified with the structure of the proposed competition."
Pacific Rugby Players CEO Aayden Clarke. Photo: Supplied
Mr Gosper has said that the two extra tier-two teams funded to enter the proposed rugby championship would be selected on merit.
In the absence of more clarification, Mr Clarke said it didn't give much comfort for Pacific players.
"Really we just want to understand the whole criteria. If we're talking about world rankings that decide these top twelve teams (in the league) then there's questions marks over Italy who are currently ranked fifteenth."
