Olympic-winning coach Ben Ryan said that Fiji, Samoa and Tonga "are being stripped of their rugby talent by crooked agents and dodgy backhanders," according to Jamie Lyall of the BBC.
He said that the lack of licensed agents has turned the Pacific Islands into the "Wild West" and claims players are being "lured overseas on false promises." He "now wants significant changes to protect the smaller nations." The former Fiji sevens coach said, "Anyone can do anything, so it's the Wild West in that respect." The Englishman also warned that: top clubs are actively harvesting Pacific Island "freaks" of increasingly young ages; impoverished islanders "are lured overseas to provide for their families but end up representing other countries;" there are good agents "but many are unregulated and unsupervised;" the game "needs fresh ideas to create fair opportunities for the islanders." Gaining a foothold in a top league overseas "can mean players switching international allegiances." Ryan: "Unless you've got a full Test cap, you can't come into the Aviva Premiership. It's a lot harder to come into the U.K., so the French are poaching everyone." There "is no regulation of agents and no compulsory registration." Ryan said, "There are dodgy agents and people on the islands cutting deals and taking backhanders. There are some terrible agents, mainly the ones that have been kicked out of Australia and New Zealand" (BBC, 9/22).
