The Fiji women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, representing them at

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 ...

. They played their first test against Samoa in 2006, and compete annually in the

Oceania Rugby Women's Championship Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship is an international women's rugby union competition contested by women's national teams from Oceania. The current Champions is Fiji who claimed their third Oceania title at the Championship in New Zealand. H ...

. In 2022, they created history when they scored the third-highest points in both Men's and Women's Rugby at the Oceania Championship when they trounced Papua New Guinea 152–0. They made their first

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 ...

appearance at the delayed

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

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 ...

History

Fiji played their first match in 1997 against a visiting United States XV's team. They played their first international test match against

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 ...

in the one-off

Women's Pacific Tri-Nations The Women's Pacific Tri-Nations tournament was contested in April 2006 at the Teufaiva Park in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. It was the only time the tournament was held. Samoa had been playing international rugby since 2000, and competed in two World C ...

in 2006. Ten years after the Women's Pacific Tri-Nations, the

was established. The first tournament was held in 2016 between Fiji and

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 ...

at the

ANZ National Stadium The HFC Bank Stadium ( formally known as ANZ Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Suva, Fiji. HFC Stadium is used primarily for rugby league, rugby union and football matches, and features a track as well as a pitch suitable for worldwide comp ...

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

. The tournament was also part of the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup qualification process. Fiji beat Papua New Guinea 37–10 to win the inaugural Oceania Championship and progress to the next stage of qualifications. Fiji met

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in a Repechage tournament, but lost both matches and did not qualify for the 2017 World Cup. In 2018, Fijiana won the second edition of the Oceania Championship and successfully defended their title after winning all their matches. The 2019 Oceania Championship also served as a qualifier for the

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

. It was also the first time that the Oceania region was granted a spot at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. New Zealand and Australia had already qualified from the previous World Cup, Fijiana won the remaining spot and qualified for their first World Cup. Fiji played two test matches against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

in 2022 at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. It would be their first test match against the

Wallaroos The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010. Australian women have been playing rugby since th ...

and only their second time to meet Japan. Fiji won the 2022 Oceania Rugby Championship in New Zealand. They created history when they scored the third-highest points in both Men's and Women's Rugby at the 2022 Oceania Championships as they trounced Papua New Guinea 152–0 in

Papakura Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. Papakura is a M� ...

. In 2022, Fijiana were overwhelmed in their first Rugby World Cup match by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

who ran in 14 tries and recorded an 84–19 victory. They later achieved their first World Cup win when they defeated

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

21–17. Their win against the Springbok Women moved them up five places to their highest ranking of 16th from 21st.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

kept Fiji scoreless in their last World Cup match with a score of 44–0.

Records

Rugby World Cup

Overall

''(Full internationals only, updated to 16 October 2022)''

Players

Fijiana's 32-player squad to the

in New Zealand.

Coaches

References

External links

Fiji Rugby Official site
{{Women's national rugby teams Oceanian national women's rugby union teams