| In
2004 the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) formed a Rugby
team that went to Australia and New Zealand and in quick succession
proceeded to play the powerhouse Rugby nations of Australia,New Zealand
and South Africa. The Team was made up of players from the three Pacific Island nations that have Rugby as the national sport: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. All three of these countries had first played Pacific Rugby internationals in 1924. The team started with two provincial games against a Queensland XV and NSW and then they were facing the three top teams out of the top 5 in the world, one week it was the great Wallabies from Australia..twice winners of the World Cup, the next week it was the famous All Blacks of New Zealand...winners of the first World Cup and the last week was against the uncompromising Springboks of South Africa, winners of the 1995 World Cup. The team was named the Pacific Islanders and the history of how they came to be will be revealed over the next few installments..... |
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History
Our
new pages on history will cover the journey up to
the present day Pacific Islanders Rugby team.
We welcome any info re Pacific Islands Rugby history that you may care
to share....if you would like to send info or images please email:
history@pacificislanders.co.nz
All contributions will be acknowledged with thanks.
Thank you for your interest.
three wonderful Nations of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.
©
Pacific Islanders.co.nz 2004-2006
Pacific
Islanders.co.nz - The Rugby Team and the People...