Union | Fédération Tahitienne de Rugby de Polynésie Française |
---|---|
Coach(es) | Teiki Dubois |
First international | |
Tahiti 0 - 3 Wallis and Futuna (1971-09-01) |
|
Largest win | |
Tahiti 41 - 6 Niue (2001-06-16) |
|
Largest defeat | |
Cook Islands 86 - 0 Tahiti (2001-06-02) |
The Tahiti national rugby union team is a third tier rugby union team, representing the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. They first played in 1971 and have played just 12 games to date, four against the Cook Islands and three against Niue. Other games have been played against Samoa, Wallis and Futuna, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. France played a match against Tahiti at the end of their 1979 tour and won 92-12. Plans to have annual "test" match series against Pacific island neighbours, New Caledonia have been put on hold, due to time, availability, finances, and coaching and refereeing resources. They have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Tahiti is administered by the Fédération Tahitienne de Rugby de Polynésie Française. Currently, players who have not yet represented or played for the Tahiti national rugby team, are still eligible to represent France. However, playing at a professional level can only enable this. At present there are no full-time professional rugby players abroad in any professional competition.
Tahiti are currently ranked 99th on the World Rugby Rankings table.