Rugby union and league are growing in the Indo-Pacific, as is the investment from central governments of dominant regional powers. Matt Hardy asks why.

Amid the disruption at airports in Saudi Arabia, the limited access through the Strait of Hormuz and the nagging feeling that the world is on the verge of doom, soft power feels increasingly important. But no longer do quiet meetings always take place in the corners of a consulate or mid-way through a state dinner; instead, new ways to influence geopolitics and exert control are being developed – and one of those is sport.

Recent events have shown how football’s geography is so important to its politics – and who stays in the top job – and it is no different when assessing how both rugby league and union are being used in a wider game of battleships within the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. 

Take the Australian government, which has been an underwriter of the Papua New Guinea rugby league entry into the NRL. The PNG Chiefs – interestingly, sponsored by ExxonMobil branch PNG LMG – forms a key cog in a £300m plan by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to keep the island nation within the political sphere of its southern neighbour. 

With three Rugby World Cups – spanning union and league – in four years, Australia is also backing Fiji, Samoa, Tonga through rugby development, while it had involvement in the recent Super Rugby franchise expansion.

Soft power playing part

But why? Because of China and wider actors, of course. China’s Belt and Road initiative is usually associated with Africa but it extends into the Pacific, too. The nation built the Pacific Games Stadium Complex on the Solomon Islands, did similar in Fiji and Samoa, and donated to the Fijian women’s rugby union team last year to celebrate International Women’s Day.

“The South-West Pacific region, sometimes known as Melanesia, is one of the world’s most strategically important trade chokepoints and is therefore an increasingly sensitive territory,” sport and geopolitics scholar Professor Simon Chadwick tells City AM. “It is a maritime gateway that forms a vital part of what is often referred to as the Second Island Chain, making it a crucial buffer zone for Australia’s northern approaches.

“A range of diplomatic instruments is being deployed by these countries which extends to the use of sport. In particular, both countries have been investing in the Melanesian game, indeed interventions by the Australian government now see teams from Papua New Guinea competing in both its union and league competitions.”

But the two main players aren’t the only ones on the pitch. Qatar offered subsidies to the Pacific Islands if it won the right to stage a Rugby World Cup, while also being part of an agreement with the French Rugby Union – alongside China – to develop programmes across the game.

A political pawn

France itself funds rugby programmes in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna and has coaching agreements with Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Japan does similar, while the UK uses the Ministry of Defence and rugby to build relations. The US and UAE also use sports envoy programmes to further their cause.

This helps to explain a potential new NRL franchise partly based in and backed by New Zealand, with home games taking place in the Cook Islands, United States, Tonga and Samoa – the latter is currently seeing government threats to its rugby union programme. And to top it all off, next year’s rugby union World Cup will feature Hong Kong for the first time, except in 2027 they’ll play as Hong Kong China.

“The region is rich in deposits of gold, copper, nickel and liquified natural gas,” Chadwick added. “All of which makes the region a key area for power projection by the likes of Australia and China, which compete for power and influence there. 

“Sport clearly and increasingly plays a crucial role in building relations, extending influence and projecting soft power.”

Investing in sport is always a popular vote winner at home, but internationally it is a crucial part of developing relationships with new friends, or shoring up backing against political enemies. Who said sport and politics aren’t intertwined?