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Rugby union in the northern Mariana Islands is a minor but growing sport.
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Rugby union in the northern Mariana Islands is a minor but growing sport.
Rugby came to the Marianas via three separate streams, firstly, through the visits of British, New Zealand and Australian sailors; secondly, through the American presence, which has been there from the turn of the twentieth century; and thirdly through contact with neighbouring Pacific islands, where the game is popular.
Rugby is strongest in Saipan, where there is a formally established rugby club, which plays games against touring sides, and visiting ships. [1] However, dominance by US media, tends to mean that rugby gets little media coverage. In addition, geography and population cause other problems. Saipan RFC has players from Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Fiji. [2]
In 1995, Guam Rugby Club undertook tours to Saipan, Palau, Pohnpei (Micronesia), and continental Asia. [3] The main rivalry tends to be between Saipan and Guam, and they have played each other a number of times since 1990. [4]
Rugby Sevens has been a sport in the South Pacific Games since the late 1990s.
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory. The Northern Mariana Islands were listed by the United Nations as a non-self governing territory until 1990.
Saipan is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Census Bureau, the population of Saipan was 43,385. Its people have been United States citizens since the 1980s. Saipan is one of the main homes of the Chamorro, the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands.
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Marianas. Tinian's largest village is San Jose. Tinian is just south of the most inhabited island Saipan, but north of the populated Rota to the south. The island is home to many WW2 historical sites, cattle ranches, and beaches. There was a 5-star casino that operated from 1998 to 2015; remaining are other hotels/resorts and a golf course. The main access to Saipan is by a short airplane ride from the international airport, or by a charter boat.
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, building on competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986. The Super 12 was established by SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 only included teams from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.
The Mariana Islands, also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east. They lie south-southeast of Japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea, and east of the Philippines, demarcating the Philippine Sea's eastern limit. They are found in the northern part of the western Oceanic sub-region of Micronesia, and are politically divided into two jurisdictions of the United States: the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and, at the southern end of the chain, the territory of Guam. The islands were named after the influential Spanish queen Mariana of Austria following their colonization in the 17th century.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
Rugby union has been played in New Zealand since 1870 and is the most popular sport in the country as well as being its national sport.
Rugby union is a moderately popular sport in Canada; it is quite strong as a participation sport, particularly in several hotspots like British Columbia, Atlantic Canada, the West Island of Montreal, Quebec City and Ontario but does not attract the same level of spectator support yet, likely because the CFL's popular brand of Canadian Football is still similar to rugby in many ways, whilst also being the dominant football code in the country. Rugby Canada is the administrative body for rugby union in Canada. Every province also has its own union.
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.
The Northern Mariana Islands national football team represents the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in international men's football. The team is controlled by the governing body for football in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, which is a member of the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) and since December 2020 a full member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The association is not a member of the world governing body FIFA, although it had applied for membership, and so while the national team is eligible to enter AFC and EAFF-run competitions, they are currently ineligible for global competitions such as the FIFA World Cup. As such, they do not have an official FIFA ranking. However, the team have been consistently ranked as one of the worst teams in the world on the Elo ratings and were in fact, in July 2016 rated as the worst men's senior international team in the world in a ratings system that also includes a number of other non-FIFA teams.
The Mariana fruit dove or Marianas fruit dove, totot on Guam or Paluman totut in Northern Marianas Islands, also known as mwee’mwe in the Carolinian language, is a small, up to 24 cm (9.4 in) long, green fruit dove native and endemic to Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands in the Pacific. It has a red forehead; greyish head, back and breast; and yellow belly patch and undertail coverts.
The Micronesian Games are a quadrennial international multi-sport event within the Micronesian region. The Games were first held in 1969 in Saipan. The 2010 Micronesian Games were initially due to be held in Majuro, until the hosts withdrew. The 2010 Games were hosted by Palau. The Federated States of Micronesia won the bidding to host the 2014 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei State, and later won again against CNMI for the 2018 Micronesian Games, held in Yap State.
The Refaluwasch people are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in Oceania, in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people in the Northern Mariana Islands. They are also known as Remathau in the Yap's outer islands. The Carolinian word means "People of the Deep Sea." It is thought that their ancestors may have originally immigrated from Asia and Melanesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language is Carolinian, called Refaluwasch by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Refaluwasch have a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs. Most Refaluwasch are of the Roman Catholic faith.
Rugby union in Guam is a minor but growing sport. They are currently ranked 82nd by the IRB. Although Guam is often considered part of Oceania, it tends to take part in Asian rugby tournaments.
Rugby union in French Polynesia, particularly on the main island of Tahiti, is a popular team sport. Rugby union was first introduced by British, Kiwi and Australian sailors, and also through the French and the strong presence of the game amongst Pacific Nations. Top Tahitian clubs participate in the domestic club league, the Championnat de Tahiti. Clubs also competed in friendlies vs foreign club teams from neighboring nations as far across the Pacific to Chile.
Rugby union in Palau is a minor but growing sport.
Rugby union in the Federated States of Micronesia is a minor but growing sport.
Sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular playing sport for men in Australia is Australian rules football, while for women is netball. Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby union is the most popular sport among New Zealanders, while in Papua New Guinea rugby league is the most popular. Cricket is another popular sport throughout the Oceania region.
Typhoon Hagibis, known in Japan as Typhoon No.19 or Reiwa 1 East Japan Typhoon, was a large and costly tropical cyclone that caused widespread destruction in Japan. The thirty-eighth depression, nineteenth tropical storm, ninth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season, it was the strongest typhoon to strike mainland Japan in decades, and one of the largest typhoons ever recorded, with a peak gale-force diameter of 825 nautical miles. The typhoon raised global media attention, as it greatly affected the 2019 Rugby World Cup being hosted by Japan. Hagibis was also the deadliest typhoon to strike Japan since Typhoon Fran in 1976.
Markus Toves is a Northern Mariana Islands international footballer who currently plays Kanoa FC of the Marianas Soccer League 1 and the Northern Mariana Islands national team.