Rugby union is a popular sport in
Solomon Islands. The national team have competed in various international competitions. They are currently ranked 69th by the IRB, with 3068 registered players and 24 clubs.
Governing body
The governing body is the Solomon Islands Rugby Union.
[ retrieved 3 July 2009]
History
Rugby union continues to be a popular sport in Solomon Islands despite aggressive occasional overtures from
rugby league. Despite large amounts of money and advertising, Solomon Islanders remained loyal to rugby union, and rugby league in the islands underwent a ten-year hibernation.
These efforts have now been compounded by
Rupert Murdoch backed television, but still without little return from the vast amounts of money spent.
Delegates from Solomon Islands were amongst those who went to the centenary congress of the
International Rugby Football 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 ...
in 1986.
[Starmer-Smith, p186]
Like many Pacific archipelagos,
rugby sevens is the preferred code, and there are regular competitions.
There is also a successful schools competition.
National team
The
Solomon Islands national rugby union team played their first international at 18 August 1969, losing to
Papua New Guinea by 23-5. Their next game, three days later, with
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 ...
show their record loss of 113-13. Both games were part of the 3rd
South Pacific Games. Since then they have played in only a small number of internationals. Their first win came in 1983, in a 19-12 win over
Niue, for the 7th South Pacific Games.
See also
References
* Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) ''The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records''. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing.
*
Starmer-Smith, Nigel (ed) ''Rugby - A Way of Life, An Illustrated History of Rugby'' (Lennard Books, 1986 )
External links
IRB page
Solomon Times, rugby pagesHammerhead nailed Maristnations, Solomon Islands
{{Oceania in topic, Rugby union in
*
Sport in the Solomon Islands