“Colonialism.”

New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey has launched a stunning attack on the northern hemisphere – blaming the likes of Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland for the state of rugby in the Pacific nations.

The likes of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji all failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, with none of them really coming close to making the last eight. And Impey reckons the leading Six Nations unions are to blame.

The New Zealand boss reckons players should be able to go back and play for their home countries if they are no longer part of the plans of their adopted nations, something David Pocock also recently backed.

And he says the likes of Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland are to blame, suggesting that have blocked this in the past and that they bend the rules to only “suit themselves.”

“There should be eligibility rules which allow players who’ve played for Tier 1 countries, such as the All Blacks, to go back after say a year and play for their countries of origin,” Impey told Radio New Zealand.

“Think how much stronger Tonga would have been had Charles Piutau been in this side, Samoa also with the likes of Steven Luatua… it would have made a huge, huge difference.

“You can point the finger straight at the likes of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England.

“You look at them, you look at their teams and what they have done in terms of rules that suit themselves.

“I’m very tempted — I probably won’t go quite this far — but I’m very tempted to say it’s virtually colonialism.”