Fijian national rugby union team

Fiji

Nickname (s)	Flying Fijians
Association	Fiji Rugby Union
Trainer	John McKee
captain	Dominiko Waqaniburotu
WR abbreviation	FJI
WR rank	11. (76.21 points) (as of February 4, 2020)
home Away
Most international matches Nicky Little (71)
Most Points Scored Nicky Little (670)
Most attempts scored Vereniki Goneva (21)
First international match Tonga 9: 6 Fiji (August 15, 1924)
Biggest win Niue 4: 124 Fiji (September 11, 1983)
Biggest defeat New Zealand 91-0 Fiji (June 10, 2005)
World Championship participations: 9 Best result: quarter-finals 1987 and 2007

The Fijian national rugby union team represents Fiji internationally in the sport of rugby union . It is the World Association International Rugby Board (IRB) in the second strength class (second tier) divided. The team has been able to qualify for all world championships except in 1995 and achieved their best result in 1987 and 2007 when they made it to the quarter-finals. She takes part in the Pacific Nations Cup every year (until 2005 the Pacific Tri-Nations ). The responsible association is the Fiji Rugby Union . As part of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance , the association sporadically organizes games for the Pacific Islanders , a team selected from three Pacific countries.

general situation

Fiji is one of the few countries where rugby union is a national sport. Of the approximately 860,000 inhabitants, around 80,000 are licensed rugby players. However, the country is losing numerous talents, as these mostly play in the professional leagues of Australia , Europe or New Zealand and are often naturalized by the respective target country. The most famous examples are Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu (New Zealand) and Lote Tuqiri (Australia). Fijians who keep their original nationality cannot always be used freely, as English clubs, in particular, seldom allow games to be played by the national team.

The Fijians are among the twelve best teams in the world in rugby union (15-a-side rugby). However, they are even more successful in 7-a-side rugby , the rules of which are based on those of 15-a-side rugby. So they won two of the previous five events of the 7th Rugby World Cup .

history

Rugby was first played by Europeans and Fijian soldiers in Ba on the island of Viti Levu in 1884 . In 1913, European settlers founded the Fiji Rugby Union. In December of the same year, the New Zealand All Blacks , returning from a successful tour in California , made a stopover in Fiji. The Fiji Rugby Union organized a game that the European selection lost 3:67.

The Fijians' first international match took place on August 15, 1924 in Apia ( Samoa ) as part of a three-country tournament against Tonga and was lost 6-9. The Auckland University College crew were the first to visit Fiji in 1926. In the same year, the Fijians played against Tonga for the first time in their traditional playing attire, which consists of a white shirt with a palm emblem and black shorts.

From 1924 to 1938, Fiji and Tonga played a series of three international matches every other year. At that time these were the only international games ever. In 1938 the New Zealand Māori came to Fiji for the first time . The Fijians, in turn, made their first trip to New Zealand in 1939 . They won all their games against the national teams of the provincial associations, but a game against the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks , was not organized.

Another tour in New Zealand followed in 1951. The tour to Australia the following year saved the Australian federation, the Australian Rugby Union , from bankruptcy. Against the Wallabies there was one victory and one defeat. In 1954 a second tour to Australia took place, which in turn broke all visitor records. In 1957 the Fijians toured New Zealand again.

In 1964 a tour to Europe was organized for the first time. In 1970 the Fijians defeated the Barbarians in England and in 1974 they lost to New Zealand by only one point. In August 1977, the British Lions , who stopped in Fiji, were defeated at 21:25. From 1982 to 1984, the Fijians remained unbeaten in 15 games.

With the introduction of the Pacific Tri-Nations in 1982, Fiji had more play options. The team was invited to the first World Cup in 1987 and reached the quarterfinals. At the 1991 World Cup , Fiji lost all three preliminary round matches and found themselves at the bottom of the table. In qualifying for the 1995 World Cup , Fiji failed to meet the Pacific rivals Tonga and Samoa . After this low point, the team that qualified for the 1999 World Cup was rebuilt . With wins against Canada and Namibia , she made it into the second round of the group, but failed there because of England .

At the 2003 World Cup , the Fijians won against Japan and the USA , but with third place in the group they missed the quarter-finals. On June 10, 2005 they had to accept the worst defeat in the association's history in a friendly against New Zealand with 0:91. At the 2007 World Cup , the Fijians achieved three wins in the preliminary round and were eliminated in the quarter-finals against eventual world champions South Africa . At the 2011 World Cup , the difficult preliminary group D could only be won against Namibia. Also in 2015 the Fijians ended up in a "death group" with England, Australia and Wales, in which they had to be content with a victory against Uruguay .

In November 2018, Fiji managed to beat France for the first time . The Fijians won 21:14 in Paris.

The Cibi

The Cibi before the World Cup game against Canada in 2007

Before each game, the team performs a war dance known as a cibi to intimidate their opponents and give themselves courage. It was danced for the first time in 1939 while on tour in New Zealand to counter the famous haka of the All Blacks with something of equal value. Ratu Sir George Cakobau, the team captain at the time, had turned to Ratu Bola, the chief of the Navusaradave warrior tribe in Ba, and asked him to develop a new dance for the national team.

Fijian

German

Ai tei vovo, tei vovo E ya, e ya, e ya, e ya Tei vovo, tei vovo E ya, e ya, e ya, e ya Rai tu mai, rai tu mai Oi au a virviri kemu bai Rai tu mai, rai ti mai Oi au a virviri kemu bai Toa yalewa, toa yalewa Veico, veico, veico Au tabu moce koi au Au moce ga ki domo ni biau E luvu koto ki ra nomu waqa O kaya beka au sa luvu sara Nomu bai e wawa mere Au tokia ga ka tasere

Prepare, prepare Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh * Prepare, prepare Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Look over here, look over here I'm building a war fence for you Look over here, look over here I'm building a war fence for you A rooster and a hen, attacking, attacking, attacking I'm not allowed to doze except at the sound of the crashing waves Your ship is sunk deep, don't think that I drowned too. Your defense is just waiting to crumble when I stab it

* pronounced like a warning

successes

International matches

As of November 30, 2018

country	Games	Won	Lost	draw
Argentina	4th	1	3	0
Australia	21st	2	18th	1
Barbarians	3	1	2	0
Belgium	1	1	0	0
British and Irish Lions	1	1	0	0
Chile	1	1	0	0
Cook Islands	2	2	0	0
England	7th	0	7th	0
France	10	1	9	0
Georgia	3	2	1	0
Hong Kong	3	3	0	0
Ireland	5	0	5	0
Italy	12	6th	6th	0
Japan	17th	14th	3	0
Canada	11	8th	3	0
Namibia	2	2	0	0
New Zealand	5	0	5	0
New Zealand Māori	27	7th	18th	2
Niue	1	1	0	0
Papua New Guinea	3	3	0	0
Portugal	2	2	0	0
Romania	3	2	1	0
Samoa	54	32	18th	4th
Scotland	8th	2	6th	0
Solomon Islands	2	2	0	0
South Africa	3	0	3	0
Spain	1	1	0	0
Tonga	89	59	27	3
Uruguay	3	3	0	0
United States	6th	5	1	0
Wales	11	1	9	1
Total	321	165	145	11

World championships

• World Cup 1987 : quarter-finals
• World Cup 1991 : preliminary round (no win)
• World Cup 1995 : not qualified
• World Cup 1999 : intermediate round (two preliminary round wins)
• World Cup 2003 : preliminary round (two wins)
• World Cup 2007 : quarter-finals
• World Cup 2011 : preliminary round (one win)
• World Cup 2015 : preliminary round (one win)
• WM 2019 : preliminary round (one win)
• WM 2023 : qualified

Pacific Tri-Nations

Winner: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004

Pacific Nations Cup

Winner: 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017

player

Current squad

The following players make up the squad during the 2019 World Cup :

Back line (backs) player position society International matches Frank Lomani Half of the crowd Fijian Latui 10 Nikola Matawalu Half of the crowd Glasgow Warriors 35 Henry Seniloli Half of the crowd Fijian Latui 26th Alivereti Veitokani Interconnects London Irish 7th Ben Volavola Interconnects Racing 92 31 Levani Botia Inner three quarters Atlantique Stade Rochelais 13 Josh Matavesi Inner three quarters Newcastle Falcons 20th Semi Radradra Inner three quarters Union Bordeaux Bègles 5 Jale Vatubua Inner three quarters Section Paloise 15th Vereniki Goneva Outer three-quarters Harlequins 56 Filipo Nakosi Outer three-quarters Castres Olympique 1 Waisea Nayacalevu Outer three-quarters Stade Français 17th Joshua Tuisova Outer three-quarters Lyon Olympique Universitaire 8th Kini Murimurivalu Goalkeeper Atlantique Stade Rochelais 26th

Striker (forwards) player position society International matches Lee Roy Atalifo pier Jersey Reds 11 Campese Ma'afu pier without a club 58 Eroni Mawi pier Fijian Latui 8th Peni Ravai pier Union Bordeaux Bègles 28 Manasa Saulo pier without a club 42 Kalivati ​​Tawake pier Biarritz Olympique 13 Mesu Dolokoto hooker Glasgow Warriors 6th Sam Matavesi hooker Cornish Pirates 7th Tuvere Veremalua hooker Fijian Latui 5 Tevita Cavubati Second row striker Harlequins 25th Leone Nakarawa Second row striker Racing 92 56 Api Ratuniyarawa Second row striker Northampton Saints 31 Tevita Ratuva Second row striker Union Bordeaux Bègles 2 Semi Kunatani Third row striker Harlequins 9 Viliame Mata Third row striker Edinburgh rugby 12 Moses Voka Third row striker Fijian Latui 8th Dominiko Waqaniburotu Third row striker Section Paloise 45 Peceli Yato Third row striker ASM Clermont Auvergne 16

Known players

Seremaia Bai Sireli Bobo Rupeni Caucaunibuca Vilimoni Delasau Alifereti Doviverata Bill Gadolo Sisa Koyamaibole Norman Ligairi Nicky Little

Alifereti Mocelutu Apenisa Naevo Seru Rabeni Simon Raiwalui Jacob Rauluni Moses Rauluni Ifereimi Rawaqa Radike Samo

Viliame Satala Waisale Serevi Koli Sewabu Greg Smith Aisea Tuilevu Alfred Uluinayau Joeli Veitayaki Marika Vunibaka

Web links

Commons : Fijian National Rugby Union Team  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Fiji Rugby Union
• Rugby News ( Memento of May 9, 2008 on the Internet Archive )
• International match statistics for Fiji on rugbydata.com

Individual evidence

1. ^ World Rugby Rankings. world.rugby, February 4, 2020, accessed November 26, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Teams played by Fiji. Rugby Data, accessed August 21, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Flying Fijians squad for 2019 Rugby World Cup. Fiji Rugby, August 16, 2019, accessed August 21, 2019 .