Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of

rugby union in Fiji Rugby union in Fiji is a popular team sport and is considered to be the national sport of the country. The sport was introduced to Fiji in the 1880s. Fiji is defined as a tier two rugby nation by World Rugby. The national team has competed at the ...

. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the

Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was set up in 2002 as a basis of co-operation between the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Rugby Unions. Niue and the Cook Islands also became members of the Alliance and supplied players to the Pacific Islanders ...

(PIRA), along with

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 Island, Manono an ...

and

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 ...

. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population of around 950,000.

National teams

International 15s

Otherwise known as the "Flying Fijians," the team gained No 9 in the IRB World Rankings after defeating Wales to enter the 2007

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

but slid down No 11 as a result of losses in the 2008 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. They sit 8th in the IRB world rankings as of 26 November 2018.

International 7s

Fiji has won the

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport ...

twice, in 1997 and the 2005. They also play in the

World Rugby Sevens Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

, an annual circuit of eight tournaments around the world, winning the series in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and ending the six-year reign of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on that circuit. However, they lost the title to New Zealand in 2007, and did not win any tournaments in the 2007–2008 Series. Fiji has shone in rugby sevens, finishing the 2013 Sevens World Series third behind New Zealand and South Africa.

Other teams

Other teams include the Fiji A "Warriors", Fiji Under 20 team (competing at the annual

IRB Junior World Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

), other age group international teams, and a women's team, currently under development and hoping for an invitation to the

Women's Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official backing ...

Domestic competition

The national provincial Premier championship is the Skipper Cup competition. A professional six team domestic competition, the Colonial Cup (similar in design to Super Rugby), ran from 2004 to 2008. Before this, Fiji had 12 Division One teams. Five teams were made up of the players from the 12 Division One teams, based on regional lines, with the aim of creating a "more competitive competition that leads on and provides a higher level of competitive domestic rugby". The FRU also has developed a base pay for players at international level. Domestic competitions include the Farebrother-Sullivan Trophy, and a domestic 7s tournament.

Former office bearers

Pio Bosco Tikoisuva Pio Bosco Tikoisuva (born 1947 in Taveuni), is a Fijian former rugby union footballer and diplomat. Rugby career Tikoisuva played 19 tests for Fiji between 1968 and 1979. Tikoisiva won his first Test cap in 1968 against Tonga. As he was aged ...

, CEO 2001–05 * Charlie Charters, marketing manager 2001–04, occasional acting CEO *

Wayne Pivac Wayne Pivac (born 1962) is a New Zealand rugby union coach. In November 2019 he replaced Warren Gatland as the Wales national team coach. A former sworn officer in the New Zealand Police, he was a constable at the Takapuna police station on A ...

, national coach 2004–05 *

Mac McCallion Warrick Lee "Mac" McCallion (26 July 1950 – 14 March 2018) was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach. McCallion served in the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment of the New Zealand Army during the Vietnam War. Aged 17, and having lied abo ...

, national coach 2002–04 * George Simpkin, coach 1984–90

References

External links

Fiji Rugby
official site

Pacific Islanders Rugby Team Supporters Site

BBC profile on Fiji Rugby Union

World Rugby Sevens
official site {{Fiji national rugby union team Rugby union in Fiji Rugby union governing bodies in Oceania

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

World Rugby members Sports organizations established in 1913 1913 establishments in Fiji