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Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km (190 mi) to the east. It further lies northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast of the Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the Marshall Islands. With only a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) area, Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic. Additionally, its population of 10,670 is the world's second smallest, after Vatican City.
Rugby union, widely known simply as rugby, is a full-contact team sport that originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
World Rugby is the world 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 rugby competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC's members consist of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and several Pacific Island countries; it promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
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 national rugby union team is a third tier rugby union team, representing the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. They first played in 1971 and have played numerous games to date, most against rivals Cook Islands and several against Niue. Other games have been played against Samoa, Wallis and Futuna, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. France played a match against Tahiti at the end of their 1979 tour and won 92–12. Plans to have annual "test" match series against Pacific island neighbours, New Caledonia have been put on hold, due to time, availability, finances, and coaching and refereeing resources. They have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Tahiti is administered by the Fédération Tahitienne de Rugby de Polynésie Française. Currently, players who have represented or played for the Tahiti national rugby team, are eligible to represent France. However, playing at a professional level can only enable this. At present there are several Tahitian professional rugby players abroad in France's Top 14 and Pro D2 professional competition.
Rugby union in the Cook Islands is a popular sport. It is a tier three rugby playing nation. They began playing international rugby in 1971 and have yet to make the Rugby World Cup. They are currently rated 55th, with 2,258 registered players and 21 clubs.
The Solomon Islands national rugby union team represent Solomon Islands in the sport of rugby union.
Papua New Guinea is a tier three rugby union playing nation. They began playing international rugby union in 1966 and have yet to make the Rugby World Cup. Teams from Papua New Guinea have competed in the Commonwealth games.
Australian rules football in Oceania is the sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Oceanian continent.
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.
Rugby union is played in Tuvalu. Unlike most South Pacific islands, rugby union is largely played on an informal basis alongside football (soccer), which is the main sport played by Tuvaluans.
The most popular sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular sport in Australia is cricket, the most popular sport among Australian women is netball, while Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby is the most popular sport among New Zealanders. In Papua New Guinea, the most popular sport is the Rugby league.
The Oceania Women's Sevens is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Oceania. The tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend. It is sanctioned and sponsored by Oceania Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region.
The Junior Wallabies is the national under-20 team that represents Australia playing rugby union. The team has been competing at the annual World Rugby U20 Championship since it began in 2008, replacing the previously held under-19 and under-21 championships. The team also competes at the Oceania U20 Championship as of 2015.
The Australia women's national rugby sevens team were champions of the inaugural Women's Sevens World Cup in 2009. The team plays in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series as one of the "core teams" on the world tour, of which they were crowned Champions in 2015–16. The team also played in the preceding competition to the current world series, the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup. In 2016, they won the inaugural gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
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 Nauru national rugby sevens team made its international debut at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Bond Sports Park is a multi-purpose sporting facility on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The precinct includes a rugby union stadium which has hosted professional and international matches, including National Rugby Championship playoffs and the annual Oceania Rugby Under 20 Championship tournament. It is located on the Bond University campus.
The Nauru national rugby union team is the national team of the third tier rugby union playing nation of Nauru. The team made its full international debut in the 2019 Oceania Cup. Rugby union in Nauru is administered by the Nauru Rugby Union.
References
- ↑ "Inaugural Oceania Rugby SuperWeek". Oceania Rugby. 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015.
- ↑ "Nauru Becomes Newest Member Of Global Rugby Family". RugbyRedefined.com. 5 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
