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The 1999 Rugby World Cup, was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship, the first World Cup to be held in the sport's professional era.
The Samoa national rugby union team represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa 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, Argentina and England. The only major sides Fiji are yet to beat are New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.
The Pacific Tri-Nations was the traditional rugby union series between Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. It was established in 1982 with the Samoan team, then known as Western Samoa, winning the tournament. In 2006 it was replaced by the IRB Pacific 5 Nations which was then renamed the Pacific Nations Cup.
Earl Va'a is a former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played internationally for Samoa. He has played as a fly-half in union and as a fullback and five-eighth in league.
Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala Pulelua Fesola'i, sometimes known as Inga Tuigamala, was a professional rugby union and rugby league footballer. Born in Samoa, he represented New Zealand in rugby union, winning 19 caps, and later Samoa in both rugby league and rugby union. He played in one rugby league and two rugby union World Cups.
Rugby Samoa is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. Founded as the Apia Rugby Union in 1924, it was affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year. It joined the International Rugby Board as the Western Samoa Rugby Football Union in 1988. In 1997, when Western Samoa amended its constitution to change the country's name from Western Samoa to Samoa, the union also changed its name, and dropped the word football to become the Samoa Rugby Union. In November 2020, they changed their name to Lakapi Samoa which is Samoan for Rugby Samoa. They were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. The union is also a member of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU).
The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams from the Asia-Pacific region. The tournament is run by World Rugby through Oceania Rugby.
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.
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.
Samoa rules is a game derived from Australian rules football and rugby union that is occasionally played in Samoa.
The American Samoa national rugby union team, also known as the "Talavalu", represents American Samoa in international rugby union. As of September 2023, it is the lowest ranked World Rugby team.
Apia Park is a multi-function sports complex located in Apia, the capital of Samoa. Primarily used for rugby union events, Apia Park is the home stadium of the Samoa national rugby union team, Manu Samoa. It is also a venue for association football. Manuma Samoa use the venue for rugby union matches.
The Samoa women's national rugby union team is a national sporting side of Samoa, representing the nation at rugby union. The side first played in 2000, and have competed in three Rugby World Cup's since their debut in the 2002 tournament in Spain. In 2023, they claimed their first Oceania Championship.
Rugby union in American Samoa is a growing sport.
Oceania Rugby, previously known as the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU), is the regional governing body for rugby union in Oceania. It was founded in 2000 to represent the interests of Oceania rugby within World Rugby, the international governing body. It presently encompasses fourteen full members and two associate members.
Filipo Levi is the former International Rugby Captain for Manu Samoa and has captained teams from a local and international stage since 2000 until 2013. Filipo experience and knowledge is understanding business leaders unique challenges from a local to international context. He is passionate in helping leaders build strong resilient teams and equipping, empowering people to overcome challenges.
The American Samoa national rugby sevens team has competed in the Pacific Games; they finished in 5th place at the 2011 Pacific Games. American Samoa finished in fifth place at the 2013 Oceania Sevens Championship which gave the opportunity to compete for the World Series core team qualifier at the 2014 Hong Kong Sevens.
The American Samoa Rugby Union, or ASRU, is the governing body for rugby union in American Samoa. It was established in 1990, and became fully affiliated to the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 2012.
Samoa A is a national representative rugby union team of the Samoan rugby union. It is the second-tier side to the Samoa national rugby union team. Samoa A competes in the Pacific Challenge, formerly known as the Pacific Rugby Cup, against teams including Tonga A and Fiji Warriors. Since 2016, the team has also competed in the Americas Pacific Challenge.
References
- ↑ Player Profile Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
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