The Cook Islands is a third tier

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

playing nation. They began playing international rugby in early 1971. Thus far, the Cook Islands have not made an appearance at any of the World Cups.

History

In 1924 a

scratch team A scratch team is a team, usually in sport, brought together on a temporary basis, composed of players who normally play for different sides. A game played between two scratch teams may be called a scratch match. The earliest instance of the term ...

of Rarotongan boys, including the late Sir Albert Henry, played the All Black Invincibles on their way to the United Kingdom. The game was drawn 0–0. The Cook Islands played their first official international on September 1, 1971 against

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

, losing 24 points to 18. The Cook Islands went on to win against

Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (; french: Wallis-et-Futuna or ', Fakauvea and Fakafutuna: '), is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji ...

the next day and then lose again to Samoa the day after. The next time the Cook Islands played was nine years later in 1980, in a close game against a touring Italian side; the Cook Islands won by 15 – 6. Three years later they again played Samoa, again losing. The next match for the Islanders wasn't until 1996, when they played

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Since then, they play regularly against them and fellow Pacific sides

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

. While

and the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

are not members of the

Pacific Tri-Nations The Pacific Tri-Nations was the traditional rugby union series between Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. It was established in 1982 with the Samoan team, then known as Western Samoa, winning the tournament. In 2006 it was replaced by the IRB Pacific 5 Nation ...

competition, they can supply players for the Pacific Islanders'. The first and still sole player from Cook Islands to have represented the Pacific Islanders was

Tu Tamarua Tu Tamarua (born 22 June 1974) is a retired Cook Islands rugby union flanker. Career Tamarua played for Queensland Reds, in Australia, from 1997 to 1999. He later played for NEC Harlequins, in England, for 2001/02 but missed a portion of the ...

, in 2004. The best Cook Islands rugby players often play in New Zealand where there is a large Cook Island population. The Cook Islands entered the play-off round 4 against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

for a berth at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, but suffered heavy losses by 77–10 at home and 90–0 away, in 2006, being eliminated. The Cook Islands entered recently

Oceania Cup The Oceania Cup is an international men's field hockey competition organised by Oceania Hockey Federation (OHF). It is held every two years to determine which teams will receive an automatic berth to the Men's FIH Hockey World Cup and Summer Olymp ...

, but were surprisingly eliminated by Niue who beat them 18–7 at Rarotonga. The 2013 Oceania Cup hosted by

saw the Cook Islands record wins over Tahiti, Soloman Islands and the final hosts Papua New Guinea. Cook Islands played and lost to Fiji in 2014 for the last spot (Oceania 1) at the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

Overall Records

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by an Cook Island's national XV at test level up until 25 July 2021.

World Cup record

Current squad

Cook Islands squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup Oceania qualifiers. * Head Coach: Nathan Robinson

Notable players

* Tommy Hayes * Albert Henry *

Koiatu Koiatu Koiatu Koiatu (born Cook Islands, 26 November 1977) is a Cook Islands rugby union footballer. He plays as a fullback and as wing. Career Koiatu currently plays for Bombay and for Counties Manukau, in New Zealand. He is an international player f ...

Paul Koteka Tohoa Tauroa "Paul" Koteka (born 30 September 1956) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A prop, Koteka represented Waikato at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in 1981 and 1982. He pl ...

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player who is the head coach of the Australia national rugby union team, having previously coached New Zealand sides the Chiefs, , ...

* Stan Wright *

Mike Beckham Mike Beckham (born 22 May 1970, in Auckland, New Zealand) is a Cook Islands former international rugby union player for Glasgow Warriors at the Loosehead Prop position. He was signed by Kevin Greene, the Glasgow coach, in 1997. Previously the ...

References

External links

*
Cook Islands at the IRB Official Site

Cook Islands Rugby Union on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook Islands National Rugby Union Team Rugby union in the Cook Islands Oceanian national rugby union teams Rugby union, men