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Encyclopedia: Pacific Islander, Pacific Islanders rugby union team, Talk:Pacific Islanders rugby union team

Pacific Islanders rugby union team (usually known as just Pacific Islanders) are an international rugby union team that represents the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. While Niue and the Cook Islands are not members of the Pacific Tri-Nations competition, they did supply members to the Pacific Islanders' tour in 2004 (but not in 2006). The team does not play at Rugby World Cups, but tour every two years.

Rugby union is the most popular sport in Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, but with the advent of professionalism they have been unable to compete with richer nations. They play fewer Tests and lose by greater margins as more of their top players play in New Zealand, Australia, Japan or Europe and don't return to play for their countries, or transfer their allegiance to other international sides, most frequently New Zealand.

History

Australia/New Zealand 2004

The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was formed in 2003. The coach is appointed by the Islanders board and in turn supported by the national coaches of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Its team, the Pacific Islanders, is drawn from the best Fijian, Tongan and Samoan players, and created far more interest on their inaugural 2004 tour than any of the three nations could have hoped to individually. Despite losing every game, 14-29 vs Australia, 26-41 vs New Zealand and 24-38 vs South Africa, they were impressive in all three tests and played full strength teams, something that rarely happens when major nations play Tonga, Fiji or Samoa. The Islanders did, however, beat a Queensland XV 48-29 at Ballymore and NSW Waratahs 68-21 at Aussie Stadium.

British Isles 2006

As the individual nations were primarily concerned with qualifying for the next World Cup the Islanders did not tour again until 2006. Scheduled matches against Italy and New Zealand in June 2006 did not take place, but they undertook a Northern Hemisphere tour in late 2006 with matches against Scotland, Wales and Ireland. PIRA had ruled in July 2006 that the team selected for that year's tour to Great Britain and Ireland would consist only of players who had previously played for Fiji, Manu Samoa or Tonga. This was intended to ensure that the Pacific Islanders team serves to develop players for the island nations only. Notably, two players on the 2004 tour, Sione Lauaki and Sitiveni Sivivatu (the latter the Islanders' leading scorer on that tour), went on to play for the All Blacks.http://www.planet-rugby.com/News/story_52751.shtml "Pacific Islanders' choice restricted", Planet-Rugby.com, 31 July 2006. During that tour, they were the last opponents of at their traditional home of Lansdowne Road before its redevelopment into a modern all-seater stadium. The Pacific Islanders were beaten in all three matches.

Future status

There was much speculation about what role the Islanders would play in international rugby. Many hoped that they would be admitted into an expanded Super 12 competition or perhaps the Tri Nations. These hopes were dashed for the time being when the organisers of the Super 12 and the Tri Nations, SANZAR, opted to expand the Super 14 by adding one team each in Australia and South Africa and add an extra round of fixtures to the Tri Nations without adding any new teams. As of 2006, it appears they will be like the British and Irish Lions and tour every two years. Touring once every four years would probably not generate enough revenue to transform the finances of Pacific rugby; the 2004 tour did make a modest profit, despite initial reports that the PIRA lost money.

A Super 14 spot would provide a career path for island players so they wouldn't have to take their skills abroad. However there would need to be a clear differential between that team and one that plays international tests. It would also have to be clear that their status is lower than that of the three national sides.

If they joined the Tri Nations this might prevent the occasional player playing for New Zealand or Australia, but it might also prevent players playing tests for the three nations and their profiles and fixtures would decrease even further. If they played in the World Cup, the coaches of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga would become little more than provincial coaches.