Inoke Male (born 3 June 1963, in

Nausori Nausori () is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers outside of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corrido ...

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 ...

), is a Fijian former

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 ...

footballer and former head coach of the Fijian national side. He played in the position of Number eight, but could also play Flanker during his playing career.

Fiji Caps

Male, a product of Raralevu rugby club, first represented Fiji in 1993 in a series of uncapped matches. However, a member of the Navy in Fiji, he was unable to represent his nation further after he moved to the Middle East for peacekeeping duties. On his return in 1995, he signed with Te Kawhata in New Zealand where he stayed for two years. He returned to the Fiji international scene in 1998, and Male earned his first official test cap for Fiji on 18 September 1998 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 ...

in Sydney, where he started in the Number eight jersey. After missing out on the Epson Cup in 1999, he forced his way into the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

squad with a competent performance for the

Fiji Warriors The Fiji Warriors, also referred to as Fiji A, is a national representative rugby team of rugby union in Fiji. It is the second-tier side to the Fiji national team. The Warriors team is selected from players in the Fijian domestic competi ...

against the NZ Maori. He last played for Fiji on 8 July 2001 against neighboring Pacific island team

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 ...

. He played 22 times for Fiji (only 15 test matches), scoring only 5 points with his try against Samoa in 2001.

Coach of Fiji

Having coached in Fiji since 2004, Male applied for the Fijian head coach when it became vacant in 2011. He had previously acted as Assistant Coach to

Sam Domoni Samuela Ravanua Domoni Junior (25 December 1968 – 24 July 2021) was a Fijian former rugby union footballer and the former national coach of the Fiji national rugby union team. He played as a lock or flanker. He was and during his playing day ...

between 2009 and 2010, before taking hold of the

in 2010 and the Under 20's in 2011. On 13 January 2012, following a disappointing fourth place in Pool D in the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

with

in charge (including a record loss to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

66–0 and an unconvincing 49–25 win over

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

), Inoke Male was named the new head coach of the Flying Fijians. Male's first match in charge was against Japan in the

2012 IRB Pacific Nations Cup The 2012 Pacific Nations Cup rugby union tournament was held between the four national sides on the Pacific Rim: Fiji, Japan, Samoa and Tonga. Japan were the reigning champion after they defeated Fiji in the 2011 competition at Churchill P ...

, which saw Fiji win 25–19. They narrowly lost to Samoa in the second round 29–26, but finished second in the overall table following a 29–17 win over Tonga. Male also coached Fiji against Tier 1 nation

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

during the 2012 mid-year rugby union tests, but Scotland were the victors 37–25 in

Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...

. Inoke and his team had a disappointing end-of-year tour in 2012, losing 54–12 to England in London and losing 53–0 to Ireland XV in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. They earned a close 24–19 win over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, but the team also lost to English domestic club side

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

31–29. 2013 saw Fiji win their first ever

IRB Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held ...

winning 4 from 5 in the tournament; 22–8 win over Japan, 35–10 win over the United States and a 34–21 win over Tonga. Fiji's only loss was to Canada 20–18. In addition to the Pacific Nations Cup, Inoke led Fiji to a 33–14 win over the

Classic All Blacks The Classic All Blacks is a rugby union team made up of former New Zealand Rugby (Men's) representatives. It is not an official national team of New Zealand. First put together in 2007, the team has played Japan three times, English Premiership ...

as part of Fiji's centennial celebrations. The 2013 end-of-year tour saw Fiji win 2 from 4 on tour; 36–13 win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in Lisbon and a 26–7 win over

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. Fiji lost to a star-studded

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

side 43–19 and to a weakened Italian side 37–31. This match however, saw Fiji break the record for the number of yellow cards given out to one team in a single test match at 5. In January 2014 the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

, (IRB), suspended funding to the

Fiji Rugby Union Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are a ...

after a failure to address concerns over administration and governance with immediate effect. With the lack of money that the FRU has, the cash-strapped union sacked Inoke Male on 27 January 2014, 1 year early of his contract.Cash-strapped Fiji sack coach Male
/ref> This meant his win rate with Fiji was 50%, coached 16 won 8 lost 8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Male, Inoke 1963 births Living people Fijian rugby union players Fiji national rugby union team coaches People from Nausori Rugby union players from Tailevu Province I-Taukei Fijian people Rugby union number eights Fiji international rugby union players 1999 Rugby World Cup players