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 Samoa national rugby union team represents Samoa in men's international rugby union and it is governed by the Samoa Rugby Union. They are also known as Manu Samoa, which is thought to derive from the name of a 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 12th in the world.
Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population of around 950,000.
Brian Pala LimaOM is a Samoan former rugby union player who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. He earned the nickname of "The Chiropractor" for his shuddering hits both on and off the pitch that supposedly rearranged the bones of the victim.
Rugby Samoa is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Samoa. Founded as the Apia Rugby Union in 1924, it was affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year. It joined the International Rugby Board as the Western Samoa Rugby Football Union in 1988. In 1997, when Western Samoa amended its constitution to change the country's name from Western Samoa to Samoa, the union also changed its name, and dropped the word football to become the Samoa Rugby Union. In November 2020, they changed their name to Lakapi Samoa which is Samoan for Rugby Samoa. They were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. The union is also a member of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU).
Sir Gordon Frederick Tietjens is head coach of the Samoa rugby sevens team, and a celebrated former coach of the New Zealand men's national team in rugby sevens, the All Blacks Sevens. When the International Rugby Board inducted him into the IRB Hall of Fame in May 2012, it said that "Tietjens' roll of honour is without peer in Sevens, and perhaps in the Game of Rugby as a whole." According to Spiro Zavos, Tietjens is "The greatest of all the Sevens coaches".
Palauli is a district and village of Samoa, with a population of 9,300. It consists of two sections on the southern side of Savai'i. The capital is Vailoa which is also referred to as Vailoa i Palauli.
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 sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 180,000, the team competes against some of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Samoa sevens team is overseen by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, which oversees all of rugby union in Samoa.
The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby, the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in rugby was disclosed in 2001 following the Annual Meeting of the International Rugby Board Council in Copenhagen, and the first ceremony was first awarded later that year. The International Rugby Players' Association also gives out awards, for Try of the Year, and Special Merit, as a part of the programme. As of 2021, they now present Women's Try of the Year.
Club de Rugby El Salvador, known as SilverStorm El Salvador for sponsorship reasons, is a Spanish rugby union club. The club was established in 1960 and currently competes in the División de Honor de Rugby competition, the highest level of Spanish club rugby. The club is based in Valladolid in central Spain, playing their matches at the Estadio Pepe Rojo. The club's colours are black and white.
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.
Lolo Lui is a Samoan rugby union player. He captained the Samoa Sevens team which won the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series.
Mikaele Pesamino is a rugby union player in the Samoa Sevens team. He was the highest point scorer in the 2009–2010 IRB Sevens World Series helping his country in securing their first World Series crown and was awarded the 2010 IRB World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year.
Zachary "Zack" Test is a retired American rugby union player who played for the United States national rugby sevens team. With 143 career tries in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Test led all U.S. players in tries scored until Perry Baker broke his record in early 2018. He is the current head coach of the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR).
Vailoa is a village on the island of Savai'i in Samoa. Vailoa is the capital of Palauli district on the south east of the island. The population is 784.
Stephen Betham is the former Head Coach of the Samoa national rugby union team, that regularly participated in the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. Betham, who played for Samoa U-20's at a young age, has spent most his rugby career as a coach.
Alafoti Fa'osiliva is a rugby union player for English club Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership and in the national Samoa team.
Wainuiomata Rugby Football Club (WRFC) is a rugby union club based in Wainuiomata, an outlying suburb of Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
The 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, was the ninth edition of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, the annual Tier 2 Rugby union tournament. Unlike previous competitions, the tournament was divided into two conferences of three teams each, with no interconference matches. Samoa emerged as the winner of the Pacific Islands conference title ahead of Fiji and Tonga, while Japan took out the Asia/Pacific conference remaining undefeated ahead of United States and Canada.
