The New Caledonia national rugby union team represents New Caledonia in rugby union. The team has been playing international rugby since the 1960s. All their matches have been against other teams from Oceania. [1] [2]
New Caledonia has competed at the South Pacific Games, winning a silver medal in 1966 [3] before finishing out of the medals at the 1969 games. [4] The team won the gold medal in 1987, defeating Cook Islands in the final in Nouméa, [5] and won gold again at the boycott-affected games in Papeete in 1995 where Tahiti was the only other competing team. [6]
More recently, the team has played for the FORU Oceania Cup. In 2008, their win over fellow Pacific rivals Vanuatu in Nouméa, 32–20, paved their way to the final of the competition, but New Caledonia lost the match to Niue, 5–27. [7] [8]
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre Le Caillou.
The Niue Island national rugby union team is the national team of the third tier rugby union playing nation of Niue Island. The team first started playing in 1983 in mainly competes in the Oceania Cup, which it won in 2008. Rugby union in Niue Island is administered by the Niue Rugby Football Union.
Niue Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in Niue. It was founded in 1952, and became affiliated to the World Rugby in 1999.
The Tahiti Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Tahiti. It was founded in 1989 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1994.
The Papua New Guinea national rugby union team, nicknamed the Pukpuks,, played its first international in 1966, defeating Vanuatu 47-3. Papua New Guinea have not so far qualified for a Rugby World Cup. They participated in the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournaments for the 2007, 2011 and 2015 World Cups, but did not qualify.
The Solomon Islands national rugby union team represent Solomon Islands in the sport of rugby union.
The American Samoa national rugby union team, also known as the "Talavalu", represents American Samoa in international rugby union.
Rugby union in American Samoa is a growing sport.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to New Caledonia:
The 2011 Pacific Games took place in Nouméa, New Caledonia, from August 27 to September 10, 2011. Nouméa was the 14th host of the Pacific Games. Upon closure of the registration for entries, "some 4,300 athletes" had registered from the twenty-two competing nations, although it was expected that not all would attend.
Rugby union in New Caledonia is a minor but growing sport.
Rugby union in Wallis and Futuna is a popular sport within the French overseas territory.
Archery at the 2011 Pacific Games in Nouméa, New Caledonia was held on 6–9 September 2019.
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.
The New Caledonia Rugby Committee is a committee under the umbrella of the French Rugby Federation which is the governing body for rugby union within New Caledonia.
The Wallis and Futuna Rugby Committee is a committee under the umbrella of the French Rugby Federation which is the governing body for rugby union within Wallis and Futuna.
Rugby union at the Pacific Games has been contested since 1963 when included as one of ten sports at the first games held in Suva, Fiji. Rugby sevens is the form of rugby now played at the Pacific Games, with men's and women's tournaments included in the current schedule. The women's competition was added for the first time at the 2011 Pacific Games held in Nouméa.
The 1966 South Pacific Games, held at Nouméa in New Caledonia from 8–18 December 1966, was the second edition of the South Pacific Games.
The 1987 South Pacific Games, held from 8–20 December 1987 at Nouméa in New Caledonia, was the eight edition of the South Pacific Games. Political events of the time affected the Games in 1987 and the number of competitors were down. Fiji had two military coups in 1987, and within New Caledonia itself, the Games became a focus of protest in the Kanak independence struggle. The French territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia had the largest teams and dominated the medal count, with Papua New Guinea finishing third ahead of a depleted Fijian team.
Beach volleyball at the Pacific Games has been contested since 1999 when the sport was included at the Eleventh South Pacific Games held in Guam. Since that time, Beach volleyball has been one of the core sports of the Pacific Games, required to be included for both men and women in every games. It has also been included in some of the Pacific Mini Games, starting with the seventh edition held in Palau in 2005.
