Pacific Islanders rugby union team
 |
|
| Union |
Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance Fiji Rugby Union Samoa Rugby Football Union Tonga Rugby Football Union |
|---|---|
| Coach(es) |
 Quddus Fielea (2008) |
| Captain(s) |
 Moses Rauluni (2008) |
| First match | |
|
Queensland Reds 29 - 48 Pacific Islanders (20 June 2004) |
|
| Largest win | |
|
NSW Waratahs 21 - 68 Pacific Islanders (25 June 2004) |
|
| Largest defeat | |
|
Ireland 61 - 17 Pacific Islanders (26 November 2006) |
|
The Pacific Islanders is a combined international rugby union team that played from 2004 to 2008. It represented Fiji, Samoa and Tonga; Niue and the Cook Islands also supplied players to the squad for the Pacific Islanders' tour in 2004, despite not being members of the Pacific Tri-Nations competition. The team does not play at Rugby World Cups, where each of the nations represents itself.
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, 29-14 v Australia, 41-26 v New Zealand and 38-24 v 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 Australia Stadium.
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. During that tour, they were the last opponents of Ireland 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.
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