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World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long career in fifteen-a-side rugby at both club and national team levels. Nicknamed "The Wizard" by commentators, he is widely considered to be the greatest rugby sevens player in the history of the game. A biography of Serevi titled Waisale Serevi: King of Sevens by Nick Darvenzi was published in 2018.
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs. In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players".
Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) 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.
Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.
The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed Toa Samoa.
Bryan Gary Habana OIS is a South African former professional rugby union player. Playing mainly as a wing, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He played for the Golden Lions, the Blue Bulls and Western Province in South Africa, for the Bulls and the Stormers in Super Rugby, and for Toulon in the French Top 14, and won 124 caps for the South Africa national team.
Sir Gordon Frederick Tietjens is head coach of the Samoa rugby sevens team, and a celebrated former coach of the New Zealand men's national team in rugby sevens, the All Blacks Sevens. When the International Rugby Board inducted him into the IRB Hall of Fame in May 2012, it said that "Tietjens' roll of honour is without peer in Sevens, and perhaps in the game of rugby as a whole." According to Spiro Zavos, Tietjens is "The greatest of all the Sevens coaches".
The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states.
Petrus Fourie du Preez is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a scrum half for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls in Super Rugby between 2002 and 2011, and for Japanese Top League side Suntory Sungoliath between 2011 and 2016. He represented South Africa between 2004 and 2015, winning 76 caps, playing in three Rugby World Cup tournaments, and winning the 2007 competition.
The Cook Islands is a third tier rugby union playing nation. They began playing international rugby in early 1971. Thus far, the Cook Islands have not made an appearance at any of the World Cups.
Namulauulu Alama Ieremia is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former international player for Western Samoa and New Zealand.
Rugby union in Samoa is the country's most popular sport. The national teams in both the standard 15-man game and rugby sevens are consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations.
Donal Gerard Lenihan is a retired Irish rugby union player. He appears regularly as a co-commentator on TV and radio for rugby matches and writes for the Irish Examiner. He also works as a financial consultant in Cork. Lenihan was inducted into the Munster Rugby Hall of Fame in April 2019. He was inducted into the Rugby Writers of Ireland Hall of Fame in November 2013. He was adjudged Irish rugby’s ‘Player of the Decade’ for the 1980s by the Irish Times. Lenihan was elected President of Cork Constitution Rugby Club in 2020-2021.
The Samoa national rugby sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 202,000, the team competes against some of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Samoa sevens team is overseen by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, which oversees all of rugby union in Samoa.
The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby, the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in rugby was disclosed in 2001 following the Annual Meeting of the International Rugby Board Council in Copenhagen, and the first ceremony was first awarded later that year. The International Rugby Players' Association also gives out awards, for Try of the Year, and Special Merit, as a part of the programme. As of 2021, they now present Women's Try of the Year.
John Gregory McKee is a rugby union coach from New Zealand. He is a former coach of the Fiji national rugby 15s team.
References
- ↑ Brian Pala Lima at New Zealand Rugby History
- ↑ "RWC legends inducted into IRB Hall of Fame" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 26 October 2011. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
- 1 2 "Brian Lima". World Rugby Hall of Fame. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ Ashfak Mohamed (26 May 2020). "The Glory of '95: Brian Lima is a true legend of the game". IOL. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ Bronwyn Hardick (9 June 2015). "The knock that Hougaard still feels today". jacarandaFM. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ Cherelle Jackson (22 June 2007). "'Chiropractor' of Samoan rugby to retire". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ Maciu Malo (7 March 2009). "Serevi, Vunibaka still stand tall". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ "Munster's Latest Addition – Brian Lima". Munster Rugby. 11 March 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ "Brian Lima Returns Home". Munster Rugby. 3 May 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ "Brian Lima and David Lemi Join Bristol". EPCR. 12 July 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ Morgan Tait (18 December 2013). "Rugby hero bashed me, says ex-wife". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ "Samoa's Lima quits in shame". Sport24. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ Matt Manukia (20 June 2014). "Rugby star Lima avoids jail for assaulting ex-wife". 1News. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ "Muliagatele Brian Lima Named Manu Samoa Sevens Head Coach". DJ Coil Rugby. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ↑ "Honours conferred". Samoa Observer. 22 December 2014.
