England players decide not to give match fees to cash-strapped Samoa ahead of autumn international

The England players have confirmed that they will not donate any of their £22,000 match fees to this weekend’s opponents, Samoa, despite their ongoing financial struggle after deciding that the situation is “a complex issue” that they should stay out of.

England take on Samoa in their final autumn international at Twickenham on Saturday, with the Pacific Islanders in a serious financial crisis that threatens the future of their international game.

Samoan players who feature in the match will earn £600 each, while their English counterparts make nearly 400 per cent that sum.

The Samoan Rugby Union [SRU] declared itself bankrupt earlier this month, although World Rugby have disputed that claim and confirmed that they are withholding a fee due to the SRU ignoring their recommendations over the appointment of a head coach.

The Samoan prime minister and SRU chairman, Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi, made the bankruptcy claim before Samoa’s opening autumn international against Scotland two weeks ago, and held a radiothon in an effort to drum up financial support for the struggling union, while a crowdfunding page has also been set-up by former Samoa captain Dan Leo to try and generate money for the players.

The Rugby Football Union [RFU] has already confirmed that it will give £75,000 to the SRU from funds raised this weekend, although each England Test held at Twickenham generates the union around £10m, meaning they are donating less than one per cent of what they could receive on Saturday.

England prop Mako Vunipola, who is of Pacific Island decent as his father hails from Tonga, raised the possibility of the England squad donating part of their match fee for this weekend’s Test to their opposition, but given the issues that could arise in who the money was given to and how it would be used, a decision has been taken not to make such a gesture.

“As players we feel it isn’t our place to get involved in what appears to be a complex issue between the Samoan union and World Rugby,” a statement read. “We are aware that the RFU has pledged to make a goodwill gesture to them on behalf of everyone involved with England Rugby and we support that decision. As players we look forward to playing Samoa this weekend as I am sure they are too. We won’t be commenting on this matter any further.”

On Monday, World Rugby issued a statement to reject the SRU’s claim that they had gone bankrupt, and confirmed that it invested £1.5m in the union so far this year, as well as pay for insurance costs for the men’s senior side, fund their travel costs and intra-Test expenses when playing other tier two countries or competing on World Rugby-organised tournaments.