Rugby union in Fiji is a popular team sport and is considered to be the national sport of the country. The sport was introduced to Fiji in the 1880s. Fiji is defined as a tier two rugby nation by World Rugby. The national team has competed at the Rugby World Cup and made it as far as the quarter-finals. Their sevens team is also noted for their success, winning multiple Olympic gold medals, World Rugby Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Governing body
Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport. It was founded in 1913, and joined the IRB in 1987. 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. The FRU was originally established as the Fiji Rugby Football Union, with the change in title coming about in 1963. The FRFU was formed in 1913 as the sport begun to grow. Fiji were awarded 'second tier' status by the International Rugby Board.
By 1976, the union contained 750 clubs.
For a number of years, Fiji rugby suffered from a degree of racial segregation - the Native Rugby Union was formed in 1915, but did not merge with the national union until 1945.
History
Early history
Rugby football was introduced into Fiji in the 1884 if not earlier, by Britons and New Zealanders, and Fijian soldiers of the Native Constabulary at Ba, on Viti Levu. By the early 1890s, the sport had started to draw attention from media outlets, such as newspaper and other print, and the game started to establish itself as a sport in the country.
In its early years, it faced off strong competition from association football, but by 1904, rugby had won out as the stronger code in Fiji, and remains so today.
At the turn of the twentieth century, a lot of the regular players were expatriates, however, by 1904, a domestic club competition had been organised; in the early years, there were racially segregated leagues with whites and native Fijians playing separately.
The first formally organised club, Pacific, was formed in 1913 by New Zealander PJ Sheehan, a tradesman. The idea to form a rugby club came about from Sheehan and his co-workers, most who were New Zealand or Australian expatriates, and had no organised sporting club or competition. The club was founded with around 40 members.
These matches became popular with the locals, as well as the European population in Fiji. Sheehan was approached by a European to consider the formation of a governing body. Thus, the Fiji Rugby Football Union was soon formed. The Cadets club and the United Services club were also established in this period. Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott, the governor of the colony at the time, donated the Escott Shield, with the purpose for competitive club competition. The first championship was won by the Pacific club. During this period, Sheehan arranged for the All Blacks to stop in Fiji on their way home from a tour of California in the United States. A match was organised between the All Blacks and a Fijian representative side. The All Blacks won 67 to 3, with Sheehan, the captain-coach getting the only points for the Fijian representative side.
The Fijian team was made up of Europeans, as were most of the clubs at this point, though by now the locals had taken an enthusiastic interest in the game. Several Fijian locals approached Sheehan and asked him to teach the sport to the locals. Sheehan subsequently organised a match between two sides, all made up of local players. The game was played on a rainy afternoon, that, along with different interpretations of the rules, made the game difficult. By the following year, locals had formulated their own competition, and the clubs Taipou, Tarirere, Hill and Ofisa (police) had been established. Local businessman J Davies presented the Davies Cup for competition in 1915, which was first won by Tarirere. A governing body for the competition was established through the main Rugby union.
On 18 August 1924, the national team played their first ever test, playing Western Samoa. The match was played in Samoa at 7 in the morning, so the Fijians could later continue onto Tonga that same day, as well, so the Samoans could work after the game. Fiji won the match 6 to nil, and continued on to a nine match tour of Tonga. The team actually wore black jerseys, as opposed to their now-traditional white ones. Spectators at their first game praised the visiting Fijians for their speed and agility.