Fiji Rugby Union
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Fiji Rugby Union 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 approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population of around 950,000.
History
The Colonial National Bank sponsor Fiji's first professional league.
By 1904 a club competition had been formed, but the man who inspired the growth of the sport arrived in Fiji in 1913 - PJ 'Paddy' Sheehan was a New Zealand plumber who came to Suva to work on the Grand Pacific Hotel. He was a former captain of Otago, and, with his fellow tradesmen from New Zealand and Australia, he formed the Pacific Rugby Club - the first Fijian rugby union club. By the end of their first meeting three other clubs were planned and later formed United Services, Cadets and Rewa. Together these clubs formed the Fiji Rugby Football Union although matches only took place in Suva. The crews of visiting warships provided frequent opposition and because of this the first regular club, Davies was formed.
A year later, a so-called 'native competition' began under the leadership of Ratu Epeli Ganilau and the first clubs were Taipou, Tarirere, Hill and Ofisa (Police) RFC. The same year a Fiji Native Union was begun and became affiliated to the Fiji RFU.
In 1945 The Native Rugby Union had ceased to exist, and by 1953 Fiji and the capital Suva had separate unions. The Fiji Rugby Football Union was renamed Fiji Rugby Union in 1963.
They joined to the International Rugby Board in 1987 when Fiji were invited to take part in the inaugural World Cup.
Political unrest in Fiji during 2000 forced the FRU to accept the cost of hosting international meets in Samoa, instead of Fiji.
Fiji were awarded 'second tier' status by the International Rugby Board which entitles them to funding from the IRB. The FRU have planned to build a High Performance Unit on Denaru Island near Nadi intended to house 50 top local players all year round. There are also plans to build a 20,000 seater stadia. However the funding for this has yet to be agreed and Fiji's economy is unlikely to be able to sustain the running costs.
See also
External links
| Pacific rugby union links | [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ] | |
| Rugby union in Fiji | Rugby union in Samoa | Rugby union in Tonga | ||
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Federation Links Fiji Rugby Union | Samoa Rugby Football Union | Tonga Rugby Football Union | Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance | ||
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Regional Competitions Pacific Tri-Nations | Pacific Rugby Cup | IRB Pacific 5 Nations | ||
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National Competitions Colonial Cup | National Provincial Championship | Datec Cup Provincial Championship | ||
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National teams Fiji | Samoa | Tonga | Pacific Islanders | ||
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Local franchises Fiji Warriors | Fiji Barbarians | Upolu Samoa | Savaii Samoa | Tau'uta Reds | Tautahi Gold | ||
| National Rugby Unions of the IRB |
| Argentina | Australia | Canada | Côte d'Ivoire | England | Fiji | France | Georgia | Ireland | Italy | Japan | Namibia | New Zealand | Romania | Samoa | Scotland | South Africa | Spain | Tonga | Uruguay | U.S.A. | Wales | Zimbabwe |
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