Pio Bosco Tikoisuva (born 1947 in Taveuni) is a Fijian former rugby union footballer and diplomat.
Pio Bosco Tikoisuva (born 1947 in Taveuni) is a Fijian former rugby union footballer and diplomat.
Tikoisuva played 19 tests for Fiji between 1968 and 1979. [1] [2]
Tikoisiva won his first Test cap in 1968 against Tonga. [1] As he was aged 21, the Fijian selectors had decided that Tikoisuva was too young for Test rugby, and they omitted from the first Test of the series. After Tonga won 8-6, he was added to the side, and Fiji went on to win the series 2 -1, with a 12-10 victory in Lautoka and a 13-9 win in Suva.
After a lengthy tour to New Zealand, where Tikoisuva played in the 9-9 draw with the Maoris, in 1970 Fiji side then toured England for the first time in a 13-match tour. It was extended to 14 matches to allow a match against a Wales "Under 25" team. Fiji did not have much success in the early matches of the tour. They had a better result when played the traditional tour-ending match against the Barbarians.
As a result of Tikoisuva’s performance on that tour he was recruited to Harlequins. [3]
While playing with Harlequins, he was invited to play for the Barbarians again, against Leicester, an East Midlands team and France.
On his return to Fiji in 1977, Tikoisuva captained the national team, first to a 3-0 series win over Tonga, then to a 25-21 win over the British Lions. [4]
In 1978, Tikoisuva became manager and coach of the Fiji team to the Hong Kong 7s, where Fiji won for the second time in a row.
Tikoisuva retired from international rugby in 1979, playing his last match for Fiji against England in Suva, but continued to play for club rugby for the St John Marist team until the mid-1980s.
In December 2001 he was appointed the first professional CEO of the Fiji Rugby Union where he worked alongside Charlie Charters who was Deputy CEO and Marketing Director.
In December 2021 he published Emperor Bosco, an autobiography. [5] [4]
In March 2008, Bosco was appointed as His Excellency The High Commissioner for Fiji in London. [6]
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.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents the Tonga Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
The New Zealand Barbarian Rugby Club Inc., nicknamed the Barbarians, or Baa-Baas, is a rugby union club headquartered in Kingsland, Auckland. The idea came from the concept of the Barbarian F.C. The Barbarians played their home matches at Eden Park.
Rodger Siaosi Toutai Kefu is a Tongan-Australian professional rugby union coach and former player who has been coaching the Tonga national team since 2016.
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.
Australia A is the second national Rugby union team of Australia, behind the Wallabies. Matches played under the 'Australia A' title are traditionally non-test match fixtures and often offer a stepping-stone to Wallaby national selection. Aspiring Wallaby players were given a chance to impress selectors during these games. In the past, the team would also play touring sides, such as the British & Irish Lions, or play mid-week games when the Wallabies are on tour.
In 1977 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. The Lions played 26 matches, including four internationals against the All Blacks. They lost the series against the All Blacks by three matches to one. The team played as the British Isles in their internationals against the All Blacks and the British Lions for the non-international games. Unlike all previous tours to New Zealand, the Lions did not play any matches in Australia, though one game was also played at Buckhurst Park, Suva, against Fiji.
Chris Robshaw is an English former rugby union player. He was the captain of the England national rugby union team from January 2012 until December 2015. Robshaw's position of choice was in the back row of the scrum, usually flanker.
Charlie Charters is a former rugby union official and sports marketing executive turned thriller writer whose debut book Bolt Action was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2010. Charters was raised in Fiji where his mother was making a documentary film and met his father, a tobacco farmer. He is the son-in-law of well-known Fijian businesswoman and deposed Member of Parliament Mere Samisoni. He and his wife Vanessa divide their time between a house near Barton-le-Willows, North Yorkshire, and Suva, Fiji.
K. Manakaetau F. 'Otai is coach of the Tonga national team. He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland and played club rugby in Auckland. His playing position was as flanker. Otai represented Tonga, being capped for the first time on 11 February 1995 against Japan at Nagoya. Otai was the Tongan team captain in the 1995 Rugby World Cup competition, in which he scored a try. Otai was an All Black trialist in 1994.
For the most recent mid-year window go to 2024 mid-year rugby union tests
The 2014 mid-year rugby union internationals were international rugby union matches mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the June international window.
John Gregory McKee is a rugby union coach from New Zealand. He is a former coach of the Fiji national rugby 15s team.
The 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals, also known as the 2016 Autumn Internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were a series of international rugby union matches predominantly played between the visiting Southern Hemisphere countries: Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – and the European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
The Papua New Guinea women's national rugby union team played their first international against Fiji in 2016. They compete annually in the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship, and have not qualified for the Rugby World Cup as yet.
Marcus Sebastian Smith is a professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins. Born in the Philippines, he represents England at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.
Sairusi Naituku was a Fijian rugby union player. He played as a prop
Kaiava Salusalu, written also as Kaiyava Salusalu is a Fijian former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played as a centre.
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.
Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo is a Fijian rugby union player who currently plays for Toulon in the Top 14 competition in France and for the Flying Fijians 15s and 7s teams. During the 2020 Summer Olympics, he was a member of Fiji's Men's Rugby 7s team, which won the gold medal.