Fiji national rugby union team

Fiji
Nickname(s)	Flying Fijians
Emblem	Palm
Union	Fiji Rugby Union
Head coach	Vern Cotter
Captain	Semi Radradra
Most caps	Nicky Little (71)
Top scorer	Nicky Little (670)
Top try scorer	Vereniki Goneva (22)
Home stadium	ANZ National Stadium
First colours	Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	11 (as of 23 November 2020)
Highest	8 (2018)
Lowest	16 (2012)
First international
	Samoa 0–6 Fiji; (Apia, Samoa; 18 August 1924)
Biggest win
	Fiji 120–4 Niue ; (Apia, Samoa; 10 September 1983)
Biggest defeat
	New Zealand 91–0 Fiji ; (Auckland, New Zealand; 10 June 2005)
World Cup
Appearances	8 (First in 1987)
Best result	Quarter-finals, 1987 and 2007
show Medal record
Pacific Games
Website	fijirugby.com

The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union competes every four years at the Rugby World Cup, and their best performances were the 1987 and 2007 tournaments when they defeated Argentina and Wales respectively to reach the quarterfinals. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. Fiji also plays in the Pacific Tri-Nations, and has won the most Pacific Tri-Nations Championships of the three participating teams.

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 obstacle for Fiji is simply getting their rugby players to play for the national team, 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.

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[]

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 team in 1924

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.

Fiji team in 1932

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.

Fiji team in 1939

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 team in 1948

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.

Fiji team in 1964

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[]

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 close to beating France according to the match referee, at one point even leading 4-3, but were eventually ground down by the French 31-16. ^[1]

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 2005, 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. [1] 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 side's success.^{[citation needed]}

2011 Rugby World Cup[]

Fiji was placed in Pool D of the 2011 Rugby World Cup along with South Africa, Wales, Samoa and Namibia. Fiji won their first match against Namibia with 49–25. But it could not manage to repeat 2007 World Cup performance. They lost to South Africa, Wales, Samoa with a huge margin. Final scores were 3–49 against South Africa, 7–27 against Samoa & 0–66 against Wales.[8]

Wins against Tier 1 nations[]

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

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

14 June 1980	Fiji	16–3	Italy	National Stadium, Suva	show
					show

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

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

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

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

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

29 September 2007	Wales	34–38	Fiji	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes	show
	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: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)	show

7 June 2014	Fiji	25–14	Italy	National Stadium, Suva^[2]	show
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)	show

17 June 2017	Fiji	22–19	Italy	National Stadium, Suva	show
14:40 FJT (UTC+12)				Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)	show

24 June 2017	Fiji	27–22	Scotland	ANZ National Stadium, Suva	show
14:30 FJT (UTC+12)	Try: Yato 37' m Seniloli 62' c Con: Volavola (1/2) 63' Pen: Volavola (5/6) 25', 36', 46', 56', 68'		Try: Ford 30' c Jackson 53' c Brown 75' m Con: Jackson (2/3) 31', 54' Pen: Jackson (1/1) 61'	Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)	show

24 November 2018	France	14–21	Fiji	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	show
21:05 CET (UTC+1)	Try: Guirado 25'c, 45' c Con: Serin (2/2) 25', 46' Pen: Serin (0/1)		Try: Radradra 21' c Tuisova 31' m Con: Volavola (1/2) 21' Pen: Volavola (3/4) 44', 58', 82'	Attendance: 42 200 Referee: Matthew Carley (England)	show

Record[]

Men's World Rugby Rankings v t Top 20 as of 13 September 2021^[3]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	092.49
2		New Zealand	090.31
3		England	085.44
4		Ireland	084.85
5	2	Australia	084.11
6	1	France	083.87
7	1	Argentina	082.86
8		Scotland	082.02
9		Wales	080.59
10		Japan	079.13
11		Fiji	076.87
12		Georgia	073.73
13		Samoa	073.59
14		Italy	070.65
15		Tonga	068.57
16	1	United States	067.12
17	1	Uruguay	067.02
18		Romania	066.22
19		Portugal	065.67
20		Spain	064.82
21		Canada	062.08
22		Hong Kong	061.23
23		Russia	060.94
24		Netherlands	059.30
25		Namibia	059.04
26		Brazil	056.32
27		Belgium	056.16
28		Chile	055.20
29		Switzerland	054.12
30		Germany	053.13
* Change from the previous week
Fiji's historical rankings
See or edit raw graph data.
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 13 September 2021^[3]

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Fiji national XV at test level up until 18 July 2021.^[4]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	4	1	3	0	25.0%	96	130	−34
Australia	22	2	19	1	9.0%	269	650	−381
Barbarian	3	1	2	0	33.37%	59	114	−55
Belgium	1	1	0	0	100.0%	76	0	+76
British and Irish Lions	1	1	0	0	100.0%	25	21	+4
Canada	12	9	3	0	75.0%	409	221	+188
Canada XV	1	1	0	0	100.0%	13	3	+10
Chile	1	1	0	0	100.0%	41	16	+25
Classic All Blacks	1	1	0	0	100.0%	33	14	+19
Cook Islands	2	2	0	0	100.0%	161	13	+148
England	7	0	7	0	0.0%	109	303	−194
England XV	3	0	3	0	0.0%	38	92	−54
France		1	9	0	10.0%	132	371	−239
France XV	1	0	1	0	0.0%	4	13	−9
Georgia	5	4	1	0	75%	147	82	+65
Hong Kong	3	3	0	0	100.0%	155	33	+122
Ireland	4	0	4	0	0.0%	51	172	−121
Ireland XV	2	0	2	0	0.0%	15	24	−9
Italy		6	6	0	50.0%	275	282	−7
Japan		14	4	0	77.8%	488	346	+142
Namibia	2	2	0	0	100.0	116	43	+73
Māori All Blacks	29	7	20	2	24.1%	383	517	−134
New Zealand	7	0	7	0	0.00%	86	481	−395
New Zealand XV	5	0	5	0	0.00%	25	155	−130
Niue	1	1	0	0	100.0%	120	4	+116
Papua New Guinea	3	3	0	0	100.0%	253	3	+250
Portugal	2	2	0	0	100.0%	62	30	+32
Romania	3	2	1	0	66.7%	70	42	+28
Samoa	53	30	20	3	59.4%	1049	921	+128
Scotland		2	6	0	25.0%	189	258	−69
Scotland XV		0	2	0	0.0%	22	53	−31
Solomon Islands	2	2	0	0	100.0%	199	13	+186
South Africa	3	0	3	0	0.0%	41	129	−88
Spain	1	1	0	0	100.0%	39	20	+19
Tonga	92	62	27	3	67.4%	1809	1237	+572
United States	6	5	1	0	83.3%	143	97	+46
Uruguay	4	3	1	0	75.0%	181	76	+105
Wales	12	1	10	1	8.33%	162	358	−196
Wales XV	3	0	3	0	0.0%	33	67	−34
Total	349	169	170	10	48.42%	7500	7357	+143

World Cup record[]

World Cup record								World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Quarter-finals	4	1	0	3	72	132	Automatically qualified
1991	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	27	63	Automatically qualified
1995	Did not qualify							2	1	0	1	26	34
1999	Play-off	4	2	0	2	148	113	2	2	0	0	73	17
2003	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	98	114	4	3	0	1	123	80
2007	Quarter-finals	5	3	0	2	134	173	4	3	0	1	74	83
2011	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	59	167	Automatically qualified
2015	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	84	101	1	1	0	0	108	6
2019	Pool stage	4	1	0	3	110	108	4	4	0	0	101	60
2023	Qualified							Automatically qualified
Total	9/10	32	11	0	21	732	971	17	14	0	3	505	280

Kit history[]

Fiji traditionally plays with a home kit consisting of a white shirt, black shorts and black and white hooped socks. The away kit traditionally used to be a white and black hooped shirt with white shorts and hooped socks, although since KooGa's tenure as supplier, colours such as light blue or black were used. Since 2010, some jerseys started to have patterns similar to those found on the masi cloths on the jersey designs.

Kit Suppliers:

1970s–2003 Canterbury
2004–2005 Cotton Traders
2005–2016 KooGa–BLK
2017–2021 ISC
2021-PresentNike-Sports

Sponsors:

1994–1998: National Bank of Fiji
1998–2003: Vodafone
2004–2005: Digicel
2005–2007: Fiji Flour Mills
2009–2014: Fiji Airways
2014: Vodafone
2018: Fiji Airways

Current squad[]

On 15 June 2021, a 33-man squad was named for the All Blacks test matches.^[5]

Head Coach: Vern Cotter
Caps Updated: 22 July 2021

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Mesu Dolokoto	Hooker	(1995-01-21) 21 January 1995 (age 26)	10	Glasgow Warriors
Sam Matavesi	Hooker	(1992-01-13) 13 January 1992 (age 29)	16	Northampton Saints
	Hooker	(1997-06-10) 10 June 1997 (age 24)	1	Brive
Lee Roy Atalifo	Prop	(1988-05-10) 10 May 1988 (age 33)	14	Edinburgh
Mesake Doge	Prop	(1993-01-04) 4 January 1993 (age 28)	4	Brive
	Prop	(1997-07-10) 10 July 1997 (age 24)	2	Bay of Plenty
Eroni Mawi	Prop	(1996-06-02) 2 June 1996 (age 25)	14	Saracens
Peni Ravai	Prop	(1990-06-16) 16 June 1990 (age 31)	35	Clermont
	Prop	(1997-06-23) 23 June 1997 (age 24)	1	Stade Français
	Lock	(1997-11-09) 9 November 1997 (age 23)	3	Lyon
Leone Nakarawa	Lock	(1988-04-02) 2 April 1988 (age 33)	64	Glasgow Warriors
Tevita Ratuva	Lock	(1995-05-08) 8 May 1995 (age 26)	8	Scarlets
Albert Tuisue	Lock	(1993-06-06) 6 June 1993 (age 28)	10	London Irish
	Back row	(1992-02-06) 6 February 1992 (age 29)	4	Biarritz
	Back row	(1996-04-27) 27 April 1996 (age 25)	1	Brive
Mesulame Kunavula	Back row	(1995-10-31) 31 October 1995 (age 25)	3	Edinburgh
Peceli Yato	Back row	(1993-01-17) 17 January 1993 (age 28)	22	Clermont
	Scrum-half	(1999-01-02) 2 January 1999 (age 22)	2	Tailevu
Frank Lomani	Scrum-half	(1996-04-18) 18 April 1996 (age 25)	17	Melbourne Rebels
Moses Sorovi	Scrum-half	(1996-01-15) 15 January 1996 (age 25)	1	Queensland Reds
Teti Tela	Fly-half	(1991-03-07) 7 March 1991 (age 30)	1	GPS
Ben Volavola	Fly-half	(1991-01-13) 13 January 1991 (age 30)	39	Perpignan
Levani Botia	Centre	(1989-03-14) 14 March 1989 (age 32)	20	La Rochelle
Vilimoni Botitu	Centre	(1998-06-16) 16 June 1998 (age 23)	0	Castres
	Centre	(1997-01-23) 23 January 1997 (age 24)	2	Brive
Waisea Nayacalevu	Centre	(1990-06-26) 26 June 1990 (age 31)	23	Stade Français
Manasa Mataele	Centre	(1996-11-27) 27 November 1996 (age 24)	2	Crusaders
Nemani Nadolo	Wing	(1988-01-31) 31 January 1988 (age 33)	32	Leicester Tigers
Eroni Sau	Wing	(1990-05-02) 2 May 1990 (age 31)	4	Edinburgh
Kini Murimurivalu	Fullback	(1989-05-15) 15 May 1989 (age 32)	33	Leicester Tigers
	Fullback	(1995-09-07) 7 September 1995 (age 26)	4	Brive