Union | Samoa Rugby Union | |
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Emblem(s) | the Southern Cross | |
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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. [1] Since 2016, the team has also competed in the Americas Pacific Challenge.
Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which 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 between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line.
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 union team is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. The name Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous 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 16th in the world.
Between 2006 and 2010, Samoa was represented by two teams at the Pacific Rugby Cup; Upolu Samoa and Savaii Samoa. The two teams were replaced in 2011 by Samoa A which is now the sole Samoan representative in the Pacific Challenge. The tournament is now mainly contested by national 'A' teams.
Upolu Samoa is a former Samoa rugby union representative team that played in the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Samoan team in the Cup was Savaii Samoa. The players for Upolu Samoa were selected from all rugby union competitions in Samoa.
Savaii Samoa is a former Samoa rugby union representative team that played in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2006 to 2010. The other Samoan team in the Cup was Upolu Samoa. Savaii Samoa and Upolu Samoa were selected from tournaments that took place in Samoa. Most of the players selected in these two teams were local players.
Matches against national teams or national 'A" teams up to and including 2014 Pacific Rugby Cup:
22-03-2011 | Samoa A | 12–23 | Fiji Warriors | Churchill Park, Lautoka |
26-03-2011 | Tonga A | 15–13 | Samoa A | Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka |
11-10-2012 | Samoa A | 18–20 | Tonga A | Teufaiva Stadium, Nuku'alofa |
15-10-2012 | Fiji Warriors | 42–34 | Samoa A | Teufaiva Stadium, Nuku'alofa |
04-03-2014 | Samoa A | 27–18 | Tonga A | TG Milner Field, Sydney |
11-03-2014 | Pampas XV | 38–24 | Samoa A | David Phillips Field, Sydney |
Pacific Challenge (formerly Pacific Rugby Cup)
Year | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | TB | LB | Pts | Final | Notes | ||
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2018 |
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2017 | |||||||||||||||
2016 | |||||||||||||||
2015 | |||||||||||||||
2014 | 4th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 82 | 91 | -9 | 1 | 2 | 7 | — | Finished 4th in Pool B | ||
2013 | 2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 134 | 198 | -64 | 1 | 1 | 10 | — | Runner-up on league table (no final) | ||
2012 | 2nd | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 191 | 238 | -47 | 0 | 1 | 13 | — | Runner-up on league table (no final) | ||
2011 | 2nd | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 135 | 171 | -36 | 1 | 2 | 15 | — | Runner-up on league table (no final) |
Americas Pacific Challenge
The Fiji national rugby union team competes every four years at the Rugby World Cup, and their best performances were the 1987 and 2007 tournaments when they defeated Argentina and Wales respectively to reach the quarterfinals. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. Fiji also plays in the Pacific Tri-Nations, and has won the most Pacific Tri-Nations Championships of the three participating teams.
The Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – 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 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.
The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has been participating in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa prior to 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed Toa Samoa.
The Samoa Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. They were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga.
The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific nations: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held in 2006, the tournament is intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby nations by providing competitive test matches in a tournament format.
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.
Toutai Kefu is a Tonga-born rugby coach, who earned 60 caps playing at number eight for the Australian national team. Kefu is currently the head coach of the Tongan national team having previously coached them as a caretaker in 2012. He is also the Assistant Coach of the First 15 at Brisbane Boys College. He is additionally the head coach of the Australian side Queensland Country in the National Rugby Championship, while there is a break between international windows.
Rugby union is the national sport of Tonga. Tonga are considered to be a tier 2 rugby nation by the International Rugby Board.
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, and have won the Rugby World Cup Sevens twice and the World Rugby Sevens Series three times.
Aleki Lutui in Tofoa, Tonga, is a Tongan rugby union international player. His position is hooker. He is currently playing club rugby for Ampthill in National League 1.
The Fiji Warriors, also referred to as Fiji A, is a national representative rugby team of rugby union in Fiji. It is the second-tier side to the Fiji national team. The Warriors team is selected from players in the Fijian domestic competitions and competes in the World Rugby Pacific Challenge against Samoa A and Tonga A. Since 2016, the Fiji Warriors team has played in the Americas Pacific Challenge against national A teams from North and South America.
Rugby union is the national sport in Tonga. Sumo has a following, while football, judo, surfing, volleyball, and cricket have gained popularity in recent years. Rugby league and Australian football are also played.
John Gregory McKee is a New Zealand rugby union coach, who is currently the head coach of the Fiji national team.
Tonga A is a national representative rugby union team of the Tongan rugby union. It is the second-tier side to the Tonga national rugby union team. Tonga A competes in the Pacific Challenge, formerly known as the Pacific Rugby Cup, against teams including Samoa A and Fiji Warriors. Since 2017, the team has also competed in the Americas Pacific Challenge.
Junior Japan is a national representative rugby union team of the Japan rugby union. It is a second-tier side to the Japan national rugby union team. Junior Japan competes in the World Rugby Pacific Challenge against teams such as Samoa A, Fiji Warriors, and Argentina's Pampas XV.
The World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge is a rugby union tournament that serves as a development competition for Americas and Pacific island nations. The competition has been hosted by the Uruguayan Rugby Union since 2016, with all games played in Montevideo.
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