![]() South Africa vs Fiji during 2007 Rugby World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth name | Mosese Nasau Rauluni | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 26 June 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Suva, Fiji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 86 kg (190 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Jacob Rauluni Waisale Serevi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mosese Nasau Rauluni (born 26 June 1975) is a retired Fijian rugby union footballer. He usually plays at scrum half, and played for Saracens in the Guinness Premiership in England. He has played for Fiji, including captaining them. He is the younger brother of Jacob Rauluni and first cousin of Waisale Serevi.
Rauluni was brought up in Brisbane and played his club rugby for Easts from 1995 to 2004. He represented the Australian U-19s in 1993–94. [1] He made his test debut for Fiji on 1 November 1996 in a match against the New Zealand Māori. The following season he was capped another three times for Fiji, playing in test matches against Tonga, the Cook Islands and Samoa. The following season he played in a Test against the Wallabies.
Rauluni returned to the international scene for Fiji in May 1999, playing against the United States and then playing subsequent matches against Spain and Italy. He was included in Fiji's 1999 Rugby World Cup squad, and played in all four pool matches. [1] After the World Cup, he earned another five caps during the subsequent season for Fiji. He played only one test in 2001, on 25 May against Tonga.
In 2003 Rauluni played in a match against Tonga and in fixtures against Argentina and Chile. He was selected for Fiji's squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He represented Fiji in four matches at the World Cup. [1]
In 2004 Rauluni was capped twice for Fiji in games against Samoa and Tonga; these two games were actually 2007 World Cup qualifying matches, and Rauluni skippered Fiji on both occasions. In July of that year he was selected as part of the Pacific Islanders side, which was a touring team composed of the best Fijian, Samoan and Tongan players. The Pacific Islanders played matches against South Africa, Australia and the All Blacks. He was capped nine times during 2005.
In May 2006 he re-signed with the Saracens until the 2007/08 season. He was a key to help Fiji to reach the quarterfinal at the 2007 RWC. [2] [3] Some regarded him as the half back of the tournament. He captained the Pacific Islanders in 2008 on their European tour which included games against England, France and Italy. [4] [5]
Rauluni was forced to retire from rugby due to a serious knee injury in June 2010. [1] [6]
Rauluni was recruited by Sam Domoni, the Flying Fijians head coach, ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which would see him coach the backs. [2] In June 2010 he coached the Saracens academy side, with Kevin Sorrell, [6] before becoming head coach of Harrow School, an English private school.
Rauluni returned to Fiji in 2014, joining the new coaching set up under John McKee of which He and McKee guided Fiji to qualification to the 2015 Rugby World Cup. [7] He is now the Defensive and skills coach with the national team. [8]
In January 2024, he was appointed as the new Head Coach for the Fijian Drua Women in the Super Rugby Women's competition. [9] [10]
The Pacific Islanders was a combined international rugby union team that played from 2004 to 2008. It represented Fiji, Samoa and Tonga; Niue and the Cook Islands also supplied players to the squad for their tour in 2004. The team did not play at Rugby World Cups, where each of the nations continued to represent themselves.
The Samoa national rugby union team represents the Samoa Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior. They perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. They are ranked 11th in the world.
The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union. Fiji competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations and now competes in its successor tournament Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. They have beaten the major rugby playing sides of Wales, Scotland, Australia, France, Italy, Argentina and England. The only major sides Fiji are yet to beat are New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.
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Jacob Rauluni is a former International Rugby Union player who comes from a family of international halfbacks. His father, Taito, played halfback for Fiji, as did his brother Mosese and his first cousin Waisale Serevi, who also started his career at halfback. Rauluni played for the Queensland Reds from 1995 to 2002 and he played for Fiji from 1995 to 2006. He had an extended spell playing rugby in the UK, and is best known for helping Rotherham Titans win promotion to the Premiership. In 2006 he played three tests for The Barbarians. He retired from international rugby in 2007, having played 52 tests. He played his last test against Japan as Captain of the Fiji national team.
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John Gregory McKee is a rugby union coach from New Zealand. He is a former coach of the Fiji national rugby 15s team.
The 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, an annual international rugby union tournament. The 2015 title was contested between the Tier 2 nations of Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the United States.
The 2016 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the eleventh edition of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, an annual international rugby union tournament. The 2016 title was contested by the Pacific nations of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Fiji won title and was undefeated in the two matches the team played.
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The 2018 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup was the thirteenth edition of the Pacific Nations Cup annual international rugby union competition. All matches for the 2018 tournament, played over two rounds, were held in Fiji at the ANZ National Stadium in Suva.
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