World Rugby has agreed an action plan to keep Samoa’s national teams competing at the top level while the country’s rugby union undergoes a governance review. The plan followed talks led by World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson and Samoa’s Prime Minister, Hon. Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt.
Disagreements between the board and management of Lakapi Samoa, the Samoan rugby union, and the Samoan government led to the review. As a result, the union has suspended itself from the World Rugby Council.
Interim measures take effect
World Rugby said the following interim measures will take effect immediately:
- Lakapi Samoa will remain suspended from the World Rugby Council. It can only lift the suspension by requesting it from the World Rugby Executive Board, which must then recommend it to the Council. The suspension stays in place throughout the review processes.
- A Samoan-led Independent Review Group, whose membership Lakapi Samoa and the Government of Samoa must agree, will review all issues concerning the governance of Samoan rugby.
- A World Rugby oversight committee will review Lakapi Samoa’s compliance with World Rugby’s membership criteria.
- Control of all matters relating to Samoa’s high-performance rugby programme passes to the Samoa Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (SASNOC). An appointed stewardship group will share oversight. This group will handle all on- and off-field matters for the national teams, including their preparation and their participation in elite global competitions such as the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup.
All parties agreed that domestic rugby in Samoa will continue unaffected.
Samoa’s on-field struggles
The governance dispute comes as Samoa’s men have slipped to an all-time low of 20th in the World Rugby Rankings. The side only just qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia by claiming the 20th and final place through the Final Qualification Tournament. Samoa has appeared at every Rugby World Cup since its debut in 1991. In the World Rugby Nations Cup, the team has won only one of its first three matches.
The women’s team also faced a difficult run at last year’s World Cup. It scored just three points and conceded 225 across three heavy defeats.
Statement from World Rugby
In its statement, World Rugby said that World Rugby, the Government of Samoa, Lakapi Samoa and the Samoa National Olympic Committee had agreed a process to keep Samoa and its players competing at the sport’s highest levels during the review. The statement added that the agreed steps address concerns about Lakapi Samoa’s governance and administration, which the Prime Minister had raised with World Rugby earlier this year on behalf of the government. Those concerns, along with those of other stakeholders, prompted immediate dialogue between all parties.
“All parties agreed that it was imperative that the union’s high-performance programmes remain unaffected, with Samoa’s national teams committed to participating in Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, the World Rugby Nations Cup, WXV Global Series Challenger and sevens programmes,” the statement said. It closed by thanking SASNOC for its “proactive support… in working closely with World Rugby to safeguard player high-performance pathways and opportunities.”