Rugby union in Fiji

Rugby union in Fiji
Children playing rugby in Fiji
Country	Fiji
Governing body	Fiji Rugby Union
National team	Fiji
First played	1884
Registered players	37,570 (total) 8,770 (adult)
Clubs	560
National competitions
Rugby World Cup Pacific Nations Cup Rugby World Cup Sevens IRB Sevens World Series
Club competitions
Pacific Rugby Cup Colonial Cup Digicel Cup
Audience records
Single match	10

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 IRB Sevens World Series once.

Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport. It was founded in 1913, and joined the IRB in 1987. 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. The FRU was originally established as the Fiji Rugby Football Union, with the change in title coming about in 1963. The FRFU was formed in 1913 as the sport begun to grow. Fiji were awarded 'second tier' status by the International Rugby Board.

By 1976, the union contained 750 clubs.

For a number of years, Fiji rugby suffered from a degree of racial segregation - the Native Rugby Union was formed in 1915, but did not merge with the national union until 1945.

Rugby football was introduced into Fiji in the 1884 if not earlier, by Britons and New Zealanders, and Fijian soldiers of the Native Constabulary at Ba, on Viti Levu. By the early 1890s, the sport had started to draw attention from media outlets, such as newspaper and other print, and the game started to establish itself as a sport in the country.

In its early years, it faced off strong competition from association football, but by 1904, rugby had won out as the stronger code in Fiji, and remains so today.