Fiji national rugby union team

Fiji

Union

Fiji Rugby Union

Nickname(s)

Flying Fijians

Emblem(s)

the Palm

Coach(es)

John McKee^[1]

Captain(s)

Akapusi Qera

Most caps

Nicky Little (71)

Top scorer

Nicky Little (670)

Most tries

Sanivalati Laulau (20)

Team kit

Change kit

First international

Tonga 9–6 Fiji

(15 August 1924)

Largest win

Niue 0–124 Fiji

(11 September 1983)

Largest defeat

New Zealand 91–3 Fiji

(10 June 2005)

World Cup

Appearances

6 (First in 1987)

Best result

Quarter-finals, 1987, 2007

The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked tenth in the world by the IRB as of 16 June 2014. Despite the relatively small size of their represented country, in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Fiji defeated Wales 38–34 to claim a quarter final spot (theoretically placing them in the top 8 teams in the world) and proceeded to give eventual winners South Africa a scare eventually going down 37–20.

Fiji is one of the few countries where rugby union is the main sport. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population of around 950,000. One of the problems for Fiji is simply getting their players to play for the country as many have contracts in Europe or with Super Rugby teams where the money is far more rewarding. The repatriated salaries of its overseas stars have become an important part of some local economies. In addition a significant number of players eligible to play for Fiji end up representing Australia or New Zealand; two notable examples are the Fiji-born, but New Zealand-raised, cousins and All Blacks Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu and Wallabies Wing Lote Tuqiri.

Fiji has won the most Pacific Tri-Nations Championships of the three participating teams. The cibi (pronounced [ˈðimbi]) war dance is performed by the Fiji rugby team before each Test match. It has been used on the rugby field since 1939, though its origins date back to the country's warring times with its Pacific neighbours.

History

Main article: Rugby union in Fiji

Fiji presenting Cibi before 2011 Rugby World Cup match against South Africa.

Early years

Rugby was first played in Fiji by European and Fijian soldiers of the Native Constabulary at Ba, on Viti Levu Island in 1884. In 1913 a Union was founded for the European settlers.

In December 1913, the All Blacks, who had been touring so very successfully in California, were on their way back to New Zealand. The Fiji RFU arranged a game with them at Albert Park, the first representative match to be played in the colony. The Fiji team were Europeans. The All Blacks won 67–3; Fiji's points came from a try scored by their captain and coach, PJ Sheehan. By 1914 a 'native competition' was started and in 1915 a Fiji Native Union was begun and became affiliated to the Fiji RFU.

Inter war period

Fiji played their first international against Western Samoa in Apia, Samoa on 18 August 1924. Fiji's 20-man squad came exclusively from the five registered native clubs of the time. The match was played at 7 am to allow the Samoans time to get to work afterwards and was played on a pitch with a large tree on the halfway line. Fiji wore black and won 6–0 despite playing barefoot. The return match was won 9–3 by Samoa to draw the series. The first-ever Fiji test team continued their overseas adventure with a nine-match tour of Tonga. Though Fiji lost the first test played in Nukuʻalofa 9–6, they were not to lose again, taking the second test 14–3 then drawing the decider 0–0. They won all six of the matches against non-test opposition.

Auckland University College were the first overseas side to visit Fiji in 1926, The Kiwi students played the Fiji Europeans and finished the three-match series with a win, loss and draw. Tonga also visited Fiji that year and for the first time Fiji played in their present strip of white jersey, palm tree badge and black shorts. The three match series finished level with Tonga winning the first test 9–6; Fiji winning the second 14–3 and the final game a 0–0 draw.

During the 1927 season, a General Meeting was called for the purpose of arranging a return visit to New Zealand at the invitation of Auckland University. Some 30 players expressed their willingness to make the trip, but after all arrangements had been made, there were insufficient players available so management cancelled the trip, much to the regret of Auckland.

Between 1924 and 1938 Fiji and Tonga played three test series every alternate year. During this period this was the only representative rugby union that Fiji played. Matches between the two Pacific nations were hard fought; many have claimed that the ancient feuding wars between the Islanders were transplanted onto the rugby field. Troubles during the third Test of Fiji's 1928 tour to Tonga forced the game to be abandoned with Tonga losing 11–8

The first New Zealand Māori team to visit Fiji came in 1938. Fijians played in boots for the first time but there was still a tendency to take off boots during the match and throw them to the touch-line. On the five-match tour, the Māori beat Fiji 2nd XV and Fiji Europeans before playing a three match series. The first test ended in a 3–3 draw, the second an 11–5 win for the Fijians and the Māori won the final test 6–3 to square the series.

In 1939 Fiji toured New Zealand for the first time. Fiji's captain for that tour, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, decided that his side should have a war dance to rival the haka. He approached Ratu Bola, the high chief of the warrior clan of Navusaradave in Bau, who taught them the cibi which has been Fiji's pre-match ritual ever since. With many players still preferring to play barefoot, the Fijians played with a care-free spirit and created history by becoming the first team to go through a full tour of New Zealand unbeaten, winning seven and drawing one, a record that stands to this day. They played and beat the Māori again 14–4.

Post war era

Fiji successfully toured New Zealand again in 1951. They beat the New Zealand Māori 21–14. Fiji's first tour of Australia helped the Australian Rugby Union recover from the brink of bankruptcy in 1952. The Test series was drawn 1–1 in front of record crowds. Australia won the first test 15–9 but the Fijians took the second with a 17–15 win.

A second tour of Australia took place in 1954 and again drew record crowds. Again Australia won the first test but only by 22–19. The test series was drawn 1–1 after Fiji won the second test 18–16. The same year Fiji played host to Western Samoa. Fiji toured New Zealand again in 1957 and beat the Māoris 36–13 in Dunedin and 17–8 in Wellington, then defeated a strong Auckland team 38–17.

In 1964 Fiji toured Europe for the first time, they played five memorable games in Wales, culminating in a classic encounter in Cardiff that was talked about for years. Wales won 28–22 but conceded six tries for just the second time in their history. In 1970 a rampant Fijian side destroyed the Barbarians 29–9 at Gosforth. A last-minute try saw New Zealand safely through 14–13 over Fiji in Suva in 1974.

In August 1977 the British Lions made a stopover in Fiji on the way home from their tour of New Zealand. Fiji beat them 25–21 at Buckhurst Park, Suva. In 1982 Fiji beat Vancouver XV to begin a 15-match winning streak through to 1984.

Modern era

Main article: Fiji at the Rugby World Cup

Fiji played their first full test against Wales in Cardiff in 1985, the home pack dominating in a 40–3 win with two tries to Phil Davies. Fiji were also heavily beaten by Llanelli and Cardiff, but lost by just one point in their test with Ireland.

Wales visited Suva the following year, where captain Dai Pickering's summer tour was to a premature end when he suffered concussion. Richard Moriarty took over and saw his side's 13–0 lead cut to a single point before Wales pulled away for a 15–22 win.

In 1987 Fiji made the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup and seemed about to beat France, the

In 1991 Rugby World Cup Fiji lost all three of its matches and finished bottom of its pool. Wales' third test win over Fiji came in Suva in 1994. The tourists fielded a weakened line-up to allow all their squad a game, but they were good enough to run out 23–8 victors.

Fiji had a troubled tour of Wales and Ireland in 1995, losing six of nine games with defeat to Neath, Cardiff and Pontypridd. However, they managed to run Wales close at the Arms Park, losing only 15–19 win. They failed to qualify for the 1995 World Cup having lost to Tonga and Western Samoa.

Fiji rebuilt ahead of the 1999 World Cup, new coach Brad Johnstone instilling discipline and determination into their set-piece play. They made a winning start by beating Canada and Namibia and again seemed about to beat France in Toulouse when things went wrong. A controversial refereeing performance from Paddy O'Brien was felt to have cost them a win over France, Fiji losing 28–19. They did make the quarter-final play-off but lost 45–24 to England at Twickenham. Soon after the tournament Johnstone departed for Italy.

In 2001 Fiji were crowned Pacific Rim champions, defeating Samoa 28–17 in the final in Tokyo. Fiji's played Wales again at the Millennium Stadium in November 2002. Two tries and 21 points from the boot of Stephen Jones helped the home side to a comfortable 58–14 win.

Fiji began their 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying campaign in June 2002 when the three leading Pacific Island nations faced each other in a round robin in the second round of the Oceania zone qualifiers. The Fijians started with defeats of Samoa and Tonga, but their loss to Samoa on home soil meant that they had to beat Tonga by more than 20 points to finish top of the pool. This they duly did with a 47–20 win in Nadi. At the World Cup they beat Japan 41–13 and narrowly survived a scare against the US Eagles winning 19–18. However a 20–22 loss against Scotland and an 18–61 beating by France saw them finish third in their pool and fail to qualify for the knock-out stage.

Results since have been mixed for Fiji. Although they have traditionally been the strongest of the Pacific Nations, they were beaten 29–27 by New Zealand Maori in 2004 and went down 91–0 by the All Blacks. In July 2006, five Fiji internationals were banned from playing international rugby for the rest of the year following a drunken brawl in Japan after a Pacific Five Nations match. Their 2007 season started off as one of Fiji's worst seasons. They had a very inexperienced team and lost to both pacific rivals Tonga and Samoa, and suffered heavy defeats to Australia and the Junior All Blacks. The only win for Fiji at the 2007 "Pacific 6 Nations" was against Japan, however they did manage an unexpected 14–14 draw against Australia A. With most of Fiji's more experienced players back in the team Fiji slowly improved in the 2007 world cup to qualify for the quarter finals for the first time in 20 years.

2007 Rugby World Cup

Fiji vs South Africa.

Fiji were placed in Pool B of the 2007 Rugby World Cup along with Wales, Canada, Japan and Australia. After beating Japan and Canada in close matches, Fiji rested several key players against Australia for the crucial game against Wales. Australia defeated Fiji by 55–12. Fiji's fate in the tournament came down to a "winner advances" game against Wales which Fiji won 38–34 and qualified for the quarter-finals for the second time. Former Wallaby great Michael Lynagh described the see-sawing match as one of the best matches "of all time". Fiji lost their quarter final match against South Africa, however their above expectations performance in the tournament resulted in them moving up to 9th in the world rankings – their highest ever position. Shannon Fraser and Gregg Mumm from Australia acted as assistant coaches for the period leading up to the world cup and were accredited for much of the Fijians sides success.

Wins against Tier 1 nations

9 August 1952	Australia	15–17	Fiji	Australia Sydney Cricket Ground
	Try: Cox Shehadie Stapleton Windon Drop: Solomon	Report	Try: Ralagi Salabogi Con: Vatubua Pen: Vatubua Ranavue Drop: Ranavue	Attendance: 42,004 Referee: Australia Don Furness (Australia)

26 June 1954	Australia	16–18	Fiji	Australia Sydney Cricket Ground
	Try: Cross Shehadie Con: Barker (2) Pen: Barker (2)	Report	Try: Saukuru Seruvatu Pen: Nawalu Ranavue (3)	Attendance: 33,099 Referee: Australia Don Furness (Australia)

24 May 1987	Argentina	9–28	Fiji	New Zealand Rugby Park, Hamilton
	Try: Travaglini Con: Porta Pen: Porta	Report	Try: Gale Naivilawasa Savai Nalaga Con: Koroduadua (2) Rokowailoa Pen: Koroduadua	Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Scotland Jim Fleming (Scotland)

26 May 1998	Fiji	51–26	Scotland	Fiji National Stadium, Suva
	Try: Lasagavibau (3) Naevo Veitayaki Waqabitu Con: Little Serevi (4) Pen: Little Serevi	Report	Try: Bulloch Gilmour Con: Lee (2) Pen: Lee (4)	Attendance: 20,000 Referee: New Zealand Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

28 August 1999	Italy	32–50	Fiji	Italy Stadio Tommaso Fattori, L'Aquila
	Try: Checchinato Martin Pucciariello Con: Domínguez Pen: Domínguez (5)	Report	Try: Satala (2) Serevi Tiko Vunibaka Con: Little (5) Pen: Little (5)	Attendance: 5,000 Referee: England Stewart Piercy (England)

15 July 2000	Fiji	43–9	Italy	Fiji Churchill Park, Lautoka
	Try: Ligairi Little Raiwalui Satala Vunibaka Con: Little (3) Pen: Little (4)	Report	Pen: Mazzariol Pez (2)	Attendance: 11,000 Referee: South Africa Mark Lawrence (South Africa)

17 July 2006	Fiji	29–18	Italy	Fiji Churchill Park, Lautoka
	Try: Caucaunibuca Ligairi Rauluni Salabogi Con: Bai (3) Pen: Bai	Report	Try: Lo Cicero Parisse Con: Pez Pen: Pez (2)	Referee: South Africa Marius Jonker (South Africa)

29 September 2007	Wales	34–38	Fiji	France Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
	Try: Popham 34' c S Williams 45' c G Thomas 48' m M Jones 51' c M Williams 73' m Con: Hook (1/1) S Jones (2/4) Pen: S Jones (1/2) 5'	Report	Try: Qera 16' c Delasau 19' m Leawere 25' c Dewes 77' c Con: Little (3/4) Pen: Little (4/5) 21', 24' 54', 60'	Attendance: 37,080 Referee: Australia Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

7 June 2014	Fiji	25–14	Italy	Fiji National Stadium, Suva^[2]
15:10 FJT (UTC+12)	Try: Nadolo 19' m Waqaniburotu 66' c Nalaga 79' c Con: Ralulu (0/1) Nadolo (2/2) 62', 79' Pen: Ralulu (0/1) Nadolo (2/2) 65', 71'	Report (In Italian)	Try: Penalty Try (2) 9' c, 76' c Con: Orquera (2/2) 10', 76' Pen: Orquera (0/2)	Attendance: 12,000 Referee: JP Doyle (England)

Record

World Rugby Rankings
Top 25 Rankings as 27 April 2015^[3]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		New Zealand	93.70
2		South Africa	88.23
3		Ireland	85.76
4		England	85.40
5		Wales	84.07
6		Australia	82.95
7		France	79.74
8		Argentina	78.23
9		Samoa	75.39
10		Scotland	74.79
11		Japan	74.70
12		Fiji	74.57
13		Tonga	74.12
14		Georgia	72.16
15		Italy	71.85
16		United States	67.61
17		Canada	66.83
18		Romania	66.23
19		Russia	64.65
20		Uruguay	63.58
21		Spain	62.59
22	1	South Korea	58.38
23	1	Namibia	58.27
24	1	Portugal	57.40
25		Belgium	56.47
*Change from the previous week
Fiji's Historical Rankings

Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 27 April 2015^[3]

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Fiji national XV at test level up until 30 November 2014.^[4]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	4	1	3	0	25%	96	130	−34
Australia	19	2	16	1	10.53%	221	546	−325
Belgium	1	1	0	0	100%	76	0	+76
British and Irish Lions	1	1	0	0	100%	25	21	+4
Canada ^{[N 1]}	10	7	3	0	70%	280	176	+104
Chile	1	1	0	0	100%	41	16	+25
Classic All Blacks ^{[N 1]}	1	1	0	0	100%	33	14	+19
Cook Islands	2	2	0	0	100%	161	13	+148
England ^{[N 1]}	8	0	8	0	0%	121	302	−181
France ^{[N 1]}	10	0	10	0	0%	115	372	−257
Georgia	1	1	0	0	100%	24	19	+5
Hong Kong	3	3	0	0	100%	155	33	+122
Ireland ^{[N 1]}	6	0	6	0	0%	46	226	−180
Italy	10	5	5	0	50%	243	244	−1
Japan	15	12	3	0	80%	402	265	+137
Namibia	2	2	0	0	100%	116	43	+73
New Zealand ^{[N 1]}	10	0	10	0	0%	75	519	−444
Māori	28	7	19	2	25%	357	490	−133
Niue	1	1	0	0	100%	120	4	+116
Papua New Guinea	3	3	0	0	100%	253	3	+250
Portugal	2	2	0	0	100%	62	30	+32
Romania	3	2	1	0	66.67%	70	42	+28
Samoa ^{[N 1]}	47	25	20	2	53.19%	882	805	+77
Scotland ^{[N 1]}	8	1	7	0	14.29%	167	235	−68
Solomon Islands	2	2	0	0	100%	199	13	+186
South Africa	3	0	3	0	0%	41	129	−88
Spain	1	1	0	0	100%	39	20	+19
Tonga	87	58	26	3	66.67%	1694	1141	+553
United States	6	5	1	0	83.33%	143	97	+46
Uruguay	1	1	0	0	100%	39	24	+15
Wales ^{[N 1]}	12	1	10	1	8.33%	165	365	−200
Total	308	148	151	9	48.05	6461	6337	+124

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Fiji has awarded international caps for several games against national XV selections and A and B national teams.

World Cup record

World Cup record								World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
Australia/New Zealand 1987	Quarter-final	4	1	0	3	72	132	Automatically qualified
United KingdomIREFrance 1991	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	27	63	Automatically qualified
South Africa 1995	Pool Stage	Did not qualify						2	1	0	1	26	34
Wales 1999	Quarter-final playoff	4	2	0	2	148	113	2	2	0	0	73	17
Australia 2003	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	98	114	4	3	0	1	123	80
France 2007	Quarter-final	5	3	0	2	134	173	4	3	0	1	74	83
New Zealand 2011	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	59	167	Automatically qualified
England 2015	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	0	0	108	6
Japan 2019	To be determined							To be determined
Total	6/7	24	9	0	15	538	762	13	10	0	3	404	220

Current squad

On 2 October, McKee announced his 30-man squad for the 2014 end-of-year tests against France (8 Nov), Wales (15 Nov) and the United States (21 Nov).^[5]

He also announced four additional reserve players that would be called up if a replacement is required, denoted by *.

Waisea Nayacalevu was called up to cover for injuries in the squad.

Head Coach: John McKee
Assistant Coaches: Mosese Rauluni / Andre Bell / Alan Muir / Alifereti Mocelutu
Caps Updated: 15 November 2014

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Club/province
Sunia Koto *	Hooker	(1980-04-15) 15 April 1980	39	Narbonne
Peni Ravai	Hooker	(1990-06-16) 16 June 1990	1	Greater Sydney Rams
Talemaitoga Tuapati	Hooker	(1984-08-16) 16 August 1984	25	Southland
Viliame Veikoso	Hooker	(1982-04-04) 4 April 1982	30	Suva
Lee-Roy Atalifo *	Prop	(1988-05-10) 10 May 1988	1	Suva
Isei Colati	Prop	(1983-12-23) 23 December 1983	4	Nevers
Taniela Koroi	Prop	(1990-02-08) 8 February 1990	0	Wellington
Campese Ma'afu	Prop	(1984-12-19) 19 December 1984	28	Nottingham
Manasa Saulo	Prop	(1989-04-06) 6 April 1989	16	RC Timişoara
Jerry Yanuyanutawa	Prop	(1985-04-10) 10 April 1985	19	Glasgow Warriors
Tevita Cavubati	Lock	(1987-08-12) 12 August 1987	3	Tasman
Leone Nakarawa	Lock	(1988-04-02) 2 April 1988	24	Glasgow Warriors
Apisalome Ratuniyarawa	Lock	(1983-01-23) 23 January 1983	14	Agen
Nemia Soqeta	Lock	(1985-03-04) 4 March 1985	2	Biarritz Olympique
Akapusi Qera (c)	Flanker	(1984-04-24) 24 April 1984	41	Montpellier
Malakai Ravulo	Flanker	(1983-09-22) 22 September 1983	29	Farul Constanţa
Dominiko Waqaniburotu	Flanker	(1986-04-20) 20 April 1986	18	Brive
Masi Matadigo	Number 8	(1982-08-08) 8 August 1982	14	Lyon
Nemani Nagusa	Number 8	(1988-06-21) 21 June 1988	6	Tasman
Nemia Kenatale	Scrum-half	(1986-01-21) 21 January 1986	28	Farul Constanţa
Nikola Matawalu	Scrum-half	(1989-03-08) 8 March 1989	21	Glasgow Warriors
Henry Seniloli	Scrum-half	(1989-06-15) 15 June 1989	3	Benetton Treviso
Josh Matavesi	Fly-half	(1986-09-30) 30 September 1986	7	Ospreys
Jonetani Ralulu	Fly-half	(1986-09-30) 30 September 1986	14	Farul Constanţa
Levani Botia	Centre	(1988-04-28) 28 April 1988	2	La Rochelle
Vereniki Goneva	Centre	(1984-04-05) 5 April 1984	30	Leicester Tigers
Nemani Nadolo	Centre	(1988-01-31) 31 January 1988	17	Green Rockets
Asaeli Tikoirotuma	Centre	(1986-06-24) 24 June 1986	8	Harlequins
Waisea Nayacalevu	Wing	(1990-06-26) 26 June 1990	6	Stade Français
Alipate Ratini	Wing	(1991-02-17) 17 February 1991	1	Grenoble
Samisoni Viriviri *	Wing	(1988-04-25) 25 April 1988	0	Montpellier
Watisoni Votu	Wing	(1985-03-25) 25 March 1985	12	Perpignan
Timoci Nagusa	Fullback	(1987-07-14) 14 July 1987	21	Montpellier
Metuisela Talebula	Fullback	(1991-05-20) 20 May 1991	13	Bordeaux