1.
Arecaceae
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The Arecaceae are a botanical family of perennial climbers, shrubs, acaules and trees commonly known as palm trees. They are flowering plants, a family in the monocot order Arecales, currently 181 genera with around 2600 species are known, most of them restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves, known as fronds, however, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts. Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families and they have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms, and palms are widely used in landscaping, making them one of the most economically important plants. In many historical cultures, palms were symbols for such ideas as victory, peace, for inhabitants of cooler climates today, palms symbolize the tropics and vacations. Whether as shrubs, trees, or vines, palms have two methods of growth, solitary or clustered, the common representation is that of a solitary shoot ending in a crown of leaves. This monopodial character may be exhibited by prostrate, trunkless, some common palms restricted to solitary growth include Washingtonia and Roystonea. Palms may instead grow in sparse though dense clusters, the trunk develops an axillary bud at a leaf node, usually near the base, from which a new shoot emerges. The new shoot, in turn, produces an axillary bud, exclusively sympodial genera include many of the rattans, Guihaia, and Rhapis. Several palm genera have both solitary and clustering members, Palms which are usually solitary may grow in clusters, and vice versa. These aberrations suggest the habit operates on a single gene, Palms have large, evergreen leaves that are either palmately or pinnately compound and spirally arranged at the top of the stem. The leaves have a sheath at the base that usually splits open on one side at maturity. The inflorescence is a spadix or spike surrounded by one or more bracts or spathes that become woody at maturity, the flowers are generally small and white, radially symmetric, and can be either uni- or bisexual. The sepals and petals usually number three each, and may be distinct or joined at the base, the stamens generally number six, with filaments that may be separate, attached to each other, or attached to the pistil at the base. The fruit is usually a single-seeded drupe but some genera may contain two or more seeds in each fruit, like all monocots, palms do not have the ability to increase the width of a stem via the same kind of vascular cambium found in non-monocot woody plants. This explains the shape of the trunk that is often seen in palms. The Arecaceae are notable among monocots for their height and for the size of their seeds, leaves, Ceroxylon quindiuense, Colombias national tree, is the tallest monocot in the world, reaching up to 60 m tall
2.
Fiji Rugby Union
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Fiji Rugby Union is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions, the Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, along with Samoa and Tonga. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a population of around 950,000. They sit 13th in the IRB world rankings as of 6 July 2013, Fiji has won the Rugby World Cup Sevens twice, in 1997 and the 2005. They also play in the IRB Sevens World Series, a circuit of eight tournaments around the world, winning the series in 2006. However, they lost the title to New Zealand in 2007, Fiji has shone in rugby sevens, finishing the 2013 HSBC Sevens World Series third behind New Zealand and South Africa. There is also an Indo-Fijian team, to compete in the Asian Games, the national provincial championship is the Digicel Cup competition. A professional six team competition, the Colonial Cup, ran from 2004 to 2008. Before this, Fiji had 12 Division One teams, the FRU also has developed a base pay for players at international level. Domestic competitions include the Farebrother-Sullivan Cup, and a domestic 7s tournament
3.
John McKee (rugby union)
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John Gregory McKee is a New Zealand rugby union coach, who is currently the head coach of Fijis national side. He is an Australian Rugby Union Level 3 coach and has a NZRU-Massey University Diploma of Management and he has an Australian Strength and Conditioning Association Level 1 Coaching certification, and has a Fitness Instructor Certification from Monash University. McKee has been coaching since the late 1990s in Australia, in doing so, he led the team to the final of the 2000–01 French Rugby Union Championship, but lost 34-22 to Toulouse. In 2002 he became assistant coach of Connacht under Michael Bradley and he left Ireland in 2005 to take over Cornish Pirates in the 2005–06 National Division One, finishing third behind Bedford Blues and Harlequins. In 2007 he returned to Australia as the coach of Central Coast Rays in the inaugural. The Rays finished second behind the Western Sydney Rams in the normal season, when the ARC became defunct, McKee travelled with the Pacific Islanders rugby union team on their 2008 European tour as a Specialist Coach. This tour included a record victory for the side, winning 25–17 against Italy. He furthered his international experience when he was named the Technical Advisor for Tonga in the leading up to. This also meant he was the assistant coach for the Australian Under-20s side in the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship in France, Australia finished seventh. In November 2013, McKee was appointed as the Fiji Rugby Union High Performance Unit general manager with the goal to get Fiji into the top eight of the IRB World Rankings. In McKees first match in charge, he led Fiji to a 25–14 win over Italy, in addition to this, he also led Fiji to first in the Pacific Islands conference of the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. This included a 45–17 win over Tonga and a 13–18 loss to Samoa and he coached the team to a 108–6 win over the Cook Islands in the 2015 Rugby World Cup Oceania qualification process, thus qualifying for England 2015, joining Pool A. During Fijis 2014 European tour, McKee led the team to just one victory and they had lost before this match, losing to France 40–15 and narrowly to Wales 17–13. In 2015, McKee led the team to victory in the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, the Fiji-Samoa game was repeated again in the final, which saw Fiji out score Samoa 5 tries to 3, winning 39–29. McKee was linked with the Japan post, but McKee dismissed the rumours announcing that he would seek renewal of is contract through to the 2019 Rugby World Cup. In 2016, McKee lead Fiji to their third consecutive Pacific Nations Cup title, having beaten Tonga 23–18, after being down 15–0 at half time, however, on 24 June, Fiji lost against Georgia for the first time, losing 14–3. During their 2016 end-of-year tour, Fiji gained a single win across 3 matches, the other games saw Fiji get defeated by England, 58–15 and the Barbarians 40–7. World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup Winners,2014,2015,2016
4.
Akapusi Qera
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Akapusi Qera is a Fijian professional rugby union player for Montpellier in the French Top 14. A Flanker or No.8, He is married to his sweetheart -Phillipha Talei and they have four children Alexes, Akapusi Jnr, Deborah and Rae-Anne. Qera is also from a Christian sporting family, his father was a cricketer for Fiji. He is also a first cousin of Fiji test international Viliame Veikoso, Qera is a current test international and 15s captain for Fiji Qera has also represented the Barbarians. Whilst playing for Pertemps Bees during the 2006–2007 season he was voted Fiji rugby player of the year, later in the season he was nominated for Fiji sportsman of the year, finishing second to golfer Vijay Singh. A key player for Fiji during their 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign in France, since his debut season at Gloucester, Qera has gone on to captain the Fijian national side and also be awarded the Gloucester Player of the Year award in 2010. Coastal Stallions and Pertemps Bees 2005–2007 born 24 April 1984 in Suva, during his time with the Stallions, Qera made numerous representative appearances for the Fiji U21 side and Fiji Warriors before progressing to the test squad in 2005. In total Qera made seven appearances for the Stallions scoring seven tries, Qera then relocated to play professional club rugby in England for the Pertemps Bees. During the 2006–2007 season at Pertemps Bees he was the top try scorer. Gloucester Rugby 2007–2008 Qera moved to Gloucester, who play in the Guinness Premiership and he scored his first try for the club against Bourgoin in a 51–27 victory for Gloucester at Kingsholm. On 17 January 2008, Qera signed a new contract with Gloucester until 2010, on 19 April 2008 Qera scored a hat-trick in Gloucesters Guinness Premiership match versus Leeds Carnegie. Dean Ryan said of Qeras debut Premiership season, Akapusis impact on the Premiership last season was tremendous, 2008–2009 In July 2008 Qera had surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament and as a result he missed the start of the 2008–2009 season. Qera marked his return from injury with a try, coming off the bench to score in the corner in Gloucesters 24–22 win over London Wasps in March 2009, as a result of injury he made just 6 appearances for Gloucester during the season. 2009–2010 On 24 January 2010 Qera scored his second hat-trick for Gloucester in the Heineken Cup win over Newport Gwent Dragons. He finished the 2009–2010 season with 10 tries from 31 first team appearances and he was voted Gloucester Rugby player of the season for 2009–2010. 2010–2011 After suffering from Bells Palsy towards the start of the season Qera scored his first try of the campaign against Exeter Chiefs, further scores came against London Irish in both the LV Cup and Premiership fixtures in February. He completed the season with 20 appearances in all competitions, Qera finished the club season having made 24 appearances in all competitions for Gloucester and was named in The Rugby Papers Premiership XV. 2012–2013 A permanent fixture in the Cherry and Whites side during throughout the season and he then scored in consecutive matches against London Welsh, Sale Sharks, Saracens and Harlequins
5.
Cap (sport)
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In British sport, a cap is a metaphorical term for a players appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in a match of association football. An early illustration of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1872 shows the Scottish players wearing cowls, and the English wearing a variety of school caps. These to be termed International Caps, the act of awarding a cap is now international and is applied to other sports. Thus, a cap is awarded for each game played and so a player who has played x games, the practice of awarding a physical cap varies from sport to sport. It may be awarded prior to a debut or, particularly for national teams. As an example, the England mens association football teams still awards physical caps, Players are awarded one cap for every match they play — unless they play in a World Cup or European Championship finals tournament. Then they are given a cap for the competition — with the names of all their opponents stitched into the fabric of the cap itself. In mens association football, the record belongs to former player Ahmed Hassan of Egypt, the first footballer to win 100 international caps was Billy Wright of Englands Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wright went on to appear 105 times for England,90 of them he obtained whilst he was a captain, however, it is a players choice to refuse to play for or retire from his or her national team. In cricket, there are two types of caps, firstly, there is the international type, as described above. Some countries also award a domestic type generally known as a county cap, the latter system is most commonly applied in English county cricket. Most counties do not automatically award caps to players on their first appearance, instead, indeed, one can play at the highest domestic level for several years, and have a quite significant career in first-class cricket, without ever winning a cap. The world record for the number of caps in Test cricket is held by Sachin Tendulkar of India, Tendulkar also holds the record for One Day Internationals, with 463 caps. In rugby union,35 players have reached 100 international caps as of 5 June 2012, Players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland are eligible for selection to the British and Irish Lions touring squad. Lions matches are classed as full international tests, and caps are awarded, the Pacific Islanders team, composed of players from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Cook Islands have a similar arrangement, although no players involved have so far reached 100 caps. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, the record for most caps is held by former Australian Kangaroos player & captain Darren Lockyer with 59 games and second place is former New Zealand Kiwis player & captain Ruben Wiki with 55 games. Players still active at Test level are in bold type, mens Records and Facts FIFA Players with 100+ Caps RSSSF Picture of International Football Cap National Museum of Scotland Gallery of International Caps and Honours Caps
6.
Nicky Little
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Nicky Tyrone Little in Tokoroa, New Zealand, is a rugby union footballer. He is a nephew of All Blacks centre Walter Little, and he has scored 652 points for Fiji and is the Pacific regions second highest point scorer of players who are currently active. He previously played for Canterbury and North Harbour in New Zealand provincial rugby and he signed with Dax in France, but soon moved to Pontypridd, before signing with the Saracens. Little made his test debut for Fiji in 1996 in a match against the Springboks in Pretoria and he finished the 2000 and 2001 Pacific Rim tournaments as the top points scorer. He entered the 2003 Rugby World Cup as Fijis all-time highest points scorer and he got four caps for Fiji at the 2003 World Cup, scoring a total of 45 points in those games. At the 2007 event he starred as Fiji defeated Wales to reach the quarter-finals, but was injured late in the final group game and missed the quarter-final. On 15 July 2009, it was announced that Little had signed a deal with Bath, with Head Coach Steve Meehan stating that he would be in the squad for the tour to Portugal in late July 2009. On 26 February 2010 it was announced that Little would be playing for Bristol Rugby from the 2010–11 season onwards, but at the end of the 2010/2011 season it was announced that Little would be part of the clearout of players departing Bristol Rugby. At the midpoint of the 2011/12 season, it was announced that Little was joining RFU Championship side Esher RFC, at the start of the 2012/13 season Little became part of a joint venture with Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, and The Canterbury High School. Canterburys Elite Rugby Player Development Centre, headed by Little, is the first of its kind within the country, Pontypridd profile Bath Rugby Fiji profile Scrum profile
7.
ANZ National Stadium
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The ANZ National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Suva, Fiji. ANZ Stadium is used primarily for rugby league, rugby union and football matches and it has undercover seating for 4,000 spectators, and an embankment that can accommodate an additional 15,000 people. Originally called Buckhurst Park, the stadium was constructed in 1951 on sixteen hectares of land given by William H. B, the stadium was first renovated in 1978–1979 for the Sixth South Pacific Games. Work commenced in April 1978 with the demolition of the grandstand, the stadium was renamed National Stadium upon reopening in 1979. A second renovation took place in 2012, sponsored by ANZ Fiji, Fijis largest bank, the stadium reopened in March 2013, with a rugby union game between the Fiji national team and Classic All Blacks. The 2012–2013 renovation also included the park and playing grounds behind the ANZ National Stadium, the Buckhurst and Bidesi grounds include three pitches primarily used for training and competition in rugby, rugby league, football, and cricket, and a small stadium and synthetic training track. Buckhurst Park was the site of the National Baseball Diamond used in the 2003 South Pacific Games, List of rugby league stadiums by capacity List of rugby union stadiums by capacity
8.
Rugby union equipment
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A traditional rugby union kit consists of a collared jersey, shorts, jockstrap / compression shorts, long rugby socks and boots with studs. Some modest padding is allowed on the head, shoulders and collarbone, most players also opt to wear a mouthguard to guard against concussion and chipping of the teeth. Traditionally, rugby boots were of a cut above the ankle. Over the years, such boots have become common, although many players still wear mid-cut boots. Additional ankle support was seen as appropriate given the nature of the game, particularly the stresses of forward play, higher cut boots also provided some protection against knocks. Modern boots are now similar to football boots, with a low cut offering less ankle support. It is essential for safety considerations, particularly in the scrum, the studs may be metal or plastic and must conform to Regulation 12 of World Rugby. This regulation dictates the permissible dimensions of the studs and also defines a standard for the hardness of the material, backs would be advised, on most ground types, to wear boots with some form of stud, to ensure adequate grip when changing direction. Referees are required to all players studs before a game. Any studs that are worn down so that the steel fixing is showing must be changed before the player is allowed to join in the game. The intent of the standard and these pre-match checks is to eliminate the potential for a stud to cause a cut if it comes into contact with a players skin, generally there are two types of stud pattern worn, the 8 stud or the 6 stud. The 8 stud is most often worn by the forwards to provide them with extra grip for scrummaging and mauling. The 6 stud is worn by backs as it allows for more agility, plastic blade studs, common in football, are an increasingly frequent choice among backs. Tackle bags are use during training and warm up in rugby union, tackle bags are padded equipment which allows players to tackle without another player being involved. Tackle bags come in two forms, the shield and the tackle bag. The rucking shield is held in the hand of a coach or fellow player, the tackle bag stands on the ground held loosely by another person, it allows the tackler to practice a full tackle
9.
World Rugby Rankings
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The World Rugby Rankings is a ranking system for mens national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sports governing body. The teams of World Rugbys member nations are ranked based on their game results, a point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of World Rugby-recognized international matches. Rankings are based on a performance, with more recent results. The ranking system was introduced the month before the 2003 Rugby World Cup, when the system was introduced England were the top team and maintained that position following victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. New Zealand took the lead from 7 June 2004, after winning the 2007 Rugby World Cup final, South Africa became the third team to achieve first place. New Zealand have been the most consistently ranked #1 team since the introduction of IRB World Rankings, South Africa and England make up the remainder. The point system is calculated using a Points Exchange system, in which sides receive points each other based upon the match result – whatever one side gains. The exchanges are based on the result, the ranking of each team. As the system aims to depict current team strengths, past successes or losses will fade, thus, it is thought that it will produce an accurate picture depicting the actual current strength and thus rank of the nations. The rankings are responsive to results and it is possible to climb to the top from the bottom in fewer than 20 matches, as all matches are worth a net of 0 points for the two teams combined, there is no particular advantage to playing more matches. A rating stays the same until the plays again. Although matches often result in points exchanges, predictable results lead to minor changes. The system ensures that it is representative of the teams performance despite playing differing numbers of matches per annum, Points exchanges are doubled during the World Cup Finals to recognise the unique importance of this event. All other full international matches are treated the same, to be as fair as possible to countries playing a different mix of friendly, matches that do not have full international status do not count. A win against a highly ranked opponent is a considerably greater achievement than a win against a low-rated opponent. Thus match results are more important than margins of victory in producing accurate rankings and this is because when a highly ranked team plays a lowly ranked team and manages to beat them by over 50 points, it does not necessarily indicate how either team will perform in the future. When calculating points exchanges, the side is handicapped by treating them as though they are three rating points better than their current rating. This results in the home side gaining fewer points for winning and losing points for losing
10.
Samoa national rugby union team
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The Samoa national rugby union team is the mens representative side of Samoa in rugby union. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the rugby unions of Samoa. The name Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior and they perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and they are ranked 12th in the world. Rugby was introduced to Samoa in the early 1920s and a body was soon formed. The first international was played as Western Samoa against Fiji in August 1924, along with Tonga, these nations would meet regularly and eventually contest competitions such as the Pacific Tri-Nations – with Western Samoa winning the first of these. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was known and competed as Western Samoa, Samoa have been to every Rugby World Cup since the 1991 tournament. That tournament, along with the 1995 competition saw them make the quarter-finals, under their new coach, the All Blacks legend Michael Jones, Samoa competed in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. However, Samoa had a dismal World Cup campaign, winning one match. Samoa showed a performance at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Manu Samoa play in blue and white uniforms and they do not train on Sundays because many of the team are devout Christians. The Marist Brothers brought the game of rugby to Western Samoa in 1924, on 18 August 1924, Western Samoa played its first international against Fiji in the capital Apia, the visitors winning 6–0. The match was played at 7am to allow the Samoans time to get to work afterwards and was played on a pitch with a tree on the halfway line. The return match was won 9–3 by Samoa to draw the series, in 1954 Western Samoan visited both Pacific Island neighbors Fiji and Tonga but had to wait a further 20 years before a tour of New Zealand took place. The Samoans won one of eight matches on that tour, the traditional tri-series between Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa was established in 1982 with Western Samoa winning the first tournament. Wales visited Western Samoa and won the test 32–16 at Apia, the tour led to a return visit to Wales which brought Western Samoa out of International limbo, although Western Samoa were not invited to the first Rugby World Cup in 1987. The following year a 14-match tour of Europe took place before a World Cup elimination series in Tokyo, the Scots won comfortably 28–6, but the Samoans were clearly the personality team of the tournament. Over the next two years the side had a number of notable wins, the most outstanding achievement were in Sevens where it won the 1993 Hong Kong and 1992 Middlesex Sevens
11.
Apia
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Apia is the capital and the largest city of Samoa. From 1900 to 1919, it was the capital of German Samoa, the city is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoas second largest island. Apia is the city in Samoa and falls within the political district of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban Area has a population of 36,735 and is referred to as the City of Apia. The geographic boundaries of Apia Urban Area is mainly from Letogo village to the new industrialized region of Apia known as Vaitele, Apia was originally a small village, from which the countrys capital took its name. Apia village still exists within the modern capital of Apia which has grown into a sprawling urban area with many villages. Like every other settlement in the country, Apia village has its own matai chiefly leaders, the modern capital Apia was founded in the 1850s and has been the official capital of Samoa since 1959. All the ships were sunk, except the British cruiser Calliope, nearly 200 American and German lives were lost, as well as six ships sunk or damaged beyond repair. Western Samoa was ruled by Germany as German Samoa from 1900 to 1914 with Apia as capital, in August 1914, the Occupation of German Samoa by an expeditionary force from New Zealand started. In what became known as Black Saturday, a peaceful Mau gathering in the town resulted in the killing of paramount chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III by New Zealand constabulary on 28 December 1929, Apia is situated on a natural harbour at the mouth of the Vaisigano River. It is on a coastal plain with Mount Vaea, the burial place of writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Two main ridges run south on either side of the Vaisigano River, the more western of these is Cross Island Road, one of the few roads cutting north to south across the middle of the island to the south coast of Upolu. Apia features a tropical rainforest climate with consistent temperatures throughout the year, Apias driest months are July and August when on average about 80 millimetres of rain falls. Its wettest months are December through March when average monthly precipitation easily exceeds 300 millimetres, Apias average temperature for the year is 26 °C. Apia is part of the Tuamasaga political district and of election district Vaimauga West, there is no city administration for Apia. Apia consists of some 45 individual, independent villages, Apia proper is just a small village between the mouths of the Vaisigano and Mulivai rivers, and is framed by Vaisigano and Mulivai villages, together constituting Downtown Apia. The citys historical haphazard growth from village to colonial trading post to the major financial, problems of flooding are commonplace in the wet season, given the low flood-prone valley that the city is built on. In the inner-city village of Sogi, there are major shoreline pollution, the disparate village administrations of Apia has resulted in a lack of a unified and codified legislative approach to sewerage disposal
12.
Niue national rugby union team
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The Niue Island national rugby union team is the national team of the third tier rugby union playing nation of Niue Island. The team first started playing in 1983 in mainly competes in the Oceania Cup, Rugby union in Niue Island is administered by the Niue Rugby Football Union. Niues first international match was at the 1983 South Pacific Games in Suva against hosts Fiji, the Niueans managed to score a try against the eventual tournament winners but were defeated by 124–4. The team found success in the 2008 Oceania Cup, defeating New Caledonia by 27-5 in the final on 1 September 2008, as of 29 May 2013, Niue was ranked 71st in the IRB world rankings. The team had played 10 international matches by that time, four against the Cook Islands, other matches have been against Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Some of Niues best players are professionals in New Zealand, former Niue captain Matt Faleuka played for Northland before moving to Italian club Overmach Rugby Parma in 2007. While the Niue and the Cook Islands teams did not compete in the Pacific Tri-Nations competition, the Niue sevens team have been active in the IRB World Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. Squad to the FORU Oceania Cup, Rugby union in Niue Report of the FORU Oceania Cup Final
13.
New Zealand national rugby union team
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The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly called the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in mens rugby union, which is regarded as the countrys national sport. The side has won the last two Rugby World Cups, in 2011 and 2015, as well as the tournament in 1987. They have a 77% winning record in test match rugby, and are the international side with a winning record against every opponent. Since their international debut in 1903, they have lost to only six of the 19 nations they have played in test matches, since the introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in 2003, New Zealand has held the number one ranking longer than all other teams combined. The All Blacks are statistically the best side to have played the game, New Zealand competes with Argentina, Australia and South Africa in The Rugby Championship. The All Blacks have won the fourteen times in the competitions twenty-one-year history. As of the end of 2016 competition, they hold the Bledisloe Cup, which is contested annually with Australia, New Zealand have achieved a Grand Slam four times –1978,2005,2008 and 2010. Fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, All Black coaches have won World Rugby Coach of the Year nine times since the awards 2001 launch. The teams first match was in 1884, and their first international test match was in 1903 against Australia in Sydney, the following year they hosted their first ever home test, a match against a British Isles side in Wellington. This was followed by a 34-game tour of Europe and North America in 1905, New Zealands early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By the 1905 tour, they were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, the team perform a haka – a Māori challenge or posture dance – before each match. The haka performed has traditionally been Te Rauparahas Ka Mate, although since 2005 Kapa o Pango is often performed, the first recorded game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in Nelson between the Nelson club and Nelson College. The first provincial union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, was formed in 1879, NSW did not face a New Zealand representative team but played seven provincial sides – the tourists won four games and lost three. Two years later the first New Zealand team to travel overseas toured New South Wales, a privately organised British team, which later became the British and Irish Lions, toured New Zealand in 1888. No test matches were played, and the only played provincial sides. The British players were mainly from Northern England, but there were representatives from Wales. The first officially sanctioned New Zealand side toured New South Wales in 1893, the following year New Zealand played its first home international game, losing 8–6 to New South Wales. The teams first true test match occurred against Australia on 15 August 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of over 30,000 spectators, a representative New Zealand team first toured the British Isles in 1905
14.
Albany, New Zealand
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Albany is one of the northernmost suburbs of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It is located to the north of the Waitemata Harbour,15 kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre, the suburb is in the Albany ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland Council. Much of the land to the north of Albany is still semi-rural, the Māori name for the area was Okahukura. The town was known as Lucas Creek, but was renamed in 1890 after Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. The name Albany derives from Alba and its Latinisation and it would be home to 10,000 people. Authorities wanted sound-proofed apartments against outside noise, initial plans called for hotels, library, municipal swimming pool as well as the headquarters for the North Shore City Council. In some respects, development has proceeded accordingly, but the 2008–09 economic downturn has blunted some of this activity, the population was 3,057 in the 2013 Census, an increase of 888 from the 2006 Census. There were 1,092 occupied dwellings in Albany in 2013, and demographic makeup was 73% European, 5% Maori, 2% Pacific peoples, 22% Asian, 3% Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, and 1% other. The median income of $32,600 was higher than for the Auckland Region of $29,600, unemployment in Albany was 7. 0%, lower than the Auckland average of 8. 1%. 91% had internet access and 88% had cell phones, a near majority were born overseas. Ethnically, in keeping with the wider North Shore, Albany was predominantly Pakeha and Asian, Albany has become, in some respects, a substantial shopping and retail zone within the northwestern Auckland area. Through the 1990s industrial and retail areas were produced, predominantly owned and occupied by local. A major shopping hub was opened in the late 1990s and has since expanded. The so-called supermall opened in August 2007 on McKinnon Drive costing $210 million with 142 shops built by over 3500 workers, which features 1800 cinema seats, there is parking for 2300 vehicles. K-mart, Farmers, and New World stores are anchors, Albany has been the site of a $500 million so-called Super City showcase development project. Plans in 2006 featured a 200-room hotel, apartment complex with three 30-storey towers, and up to 15 office blocks rising 10 levels high. But in the downturn of 2008–09, the project was in dire straits. Albany has a site for Sky Televisions Prime TV, as well as the Broadcast Centre for Sky PPV, there are movie theatres including the 1800-seat multiplex inside the new mall, although there were reports of roof problems and weathertightness
15.
Rugby World Cup
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The Rugby World Cup is a mens rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand, New Zealand are the current champions, having defeated Australia in the final of the 2015 tournament in England. Four countries have won the trophy, New Zealand have won it three times, two teams have won twice, Australia and South Africa, while England have won it once, the tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sports international governing body. Sixteen teams were invited to participate in the tournament in 1987. Japan will host the event in 2019. Qualifying tournaments were introduced for the tournament, where eight of the sixteen places were contested in a twenty-four-nation tournament. The remaining twelve positions were filled by continental qualifying tournaments, positions were filled by three teams from the Americas, one from Asia, one from Africa, three from Europe and two from Oceania. Another two places were allocated for repechage, the second repechage position was determined between the runners-up from the Asia and Oceania qualifiers. The qualification system for the eight places is region-based, with a total eight teams allocated for Europe, five for Oceania. The last place is determined by an intercontinental play-off, the 2015 tournament involved twenty nations competing over six weeks. There were two stages, a pool and a knockout, Nations were divided into four pools, A through to D, of five nations each. The teams were seeded before the start of the tournament, with the seedings taken from the World Rankings in December 2012, the four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The next four highest-ranked teams were drawn into pools A to D. The remaining positions in each pool were filled by the qualifiers, Nations play four pool games, playing their respective pool members once each. A bonus points system is used during pool play, if two or more teams are level on points, a system of criteria is used to determine the higher ranked, the sixth and final criterion decides the higher rank through the official World Rankings. The winner and runner-up of each pool enter the knockout stage, the knockout stage consists of quarter- and semi-finals, and then the final. The winner of each pool is placed against a runner-up of a different pool in a quarter-final, the winner of each quarter-final goes on to the semi-finals, and the respective winners proceed to the final. Losers of the semi-finals contest for third place, called the Bronze Final, if a match in the knockout stages ends in a draw, the winner is determined through extra time
16.
1987 Rugby World Cup
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The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby Union World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the tournament, New Zealand hosted 20 matches —17 pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final. Australia as the junior partner hosted 12 matches — seven pool matches, the event was won by co-hosts New Zealand who were the strong favourites, and won all their matches comfortably. Sixteen teams competed in the inaugural tournament, seven of the 16 places were automatically filled by the International Rugby Football Board members—New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France. South Africa was unable to compete because of the sports boycott due to apartheid. There was no process to fill the remaining nine spots. Instead invitations were sent out to Argentina, Fiji, Italy, Canada, Romania, Tonga, Japan, Zimbabwe and this left Western Samoa controversially excluded, despite their better playing standard than some of the teams invited. The USSR were to be invited but they refused the invitation on political grounds, the tournament witnessed a number of one-sided matches, with the seven traditional IRFB members proving too strong for the other teams. Half of the 24 matches across the four pools saw one team score 40 or more points, New Zealand defeated France 29–9 in the final at Eden Park in Auckland. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk, and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox, the tournament was seen as a major success and proved that the event was here to stay. It also led to many countries joining the International Rugby Football Board which in turn led the IRFB to become the authority for the running of international rugby union. There was no qualification for the inaugural World Cup so the tournament comprised the seven then-members of the IRFB, South Africa was excluded due to its pro apartheid policies. Soviet Union were to be invited but declined, Western Samoa was not invited despite having a better record than some of the other invited nations. There was no qualifying tournament to determine the participants, and instead the 16 nations were invited by the International Rugby Football Board to compete, the runners-up of each pool faced the winners of a different pool in the quarter finals. The winners moved on to the finals, with the winners then moving onto the final. Fiji qualified for the highest number of tries France qualify as pool winner having scored three tries while Scotland scored two in their drawn match 20 all, the event was broadcast in Australia by ABC and in the United Kingdom by the BBC. Official Rugby World Cup Site Full Results and Statistics at ESPN Origins of the 1987 World Cup
17.
2007 Rugby World Cup
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The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days,42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, the top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage qualified automatically for the 2011 World Cup. The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. The stadium was also the venue of the final, played between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won 15–6 to win their second World Cup title, both England and France bid to host the tournament. The tender document for the 2007 bidding process was due out on 31 October 2001, both England and France were invited to re-submit their plans. The International Rugby Board stated that countries must comply with tender document terms in one bid, but in their second option. The IRB said Englands original proposal contained three plans for hosting the tournament with a traditional, new and hybrid format all on offer. The French bid, while complying with the document in all other respects. Englands bids included a tournament and altering the structure of the qualifying tournament. It was announced in April 2003 that France had won the right to host the tournament, the tournament was moved to the proposed September–October dates with the tournament structure remaining as it was. It was also announced that ten French cities would be hosting games, the eight quarter-finalists from the 2003 World Cup all received automatic entry, with the other 12 nations coming from qualifying series around the world. Ten of the 20 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers, the qualifying tournament was divided into five regional groups, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Qualifying matches began in 2004 and were completed in early 2007, including the automatic qualifiers, over 90 nations were in qualifying contention for the final tournament. In July 2005, both Samoa and Fiji were confirmed as the qualifiers from Oceania, as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively, in July of the following year, Argentina qualified as Americas 1 by defeating Uruguay 26–0 in Buenos Aires. Americas 2 was filled in August when Canada defeated the United States 56–7 in Newfoundland, the United States went on to qualify as Americas 3 after beating Uruguay in a two-legged tie in early October. Namibia qualified for their third consecutive World Cup after they earned their spot in France by defeating Morocco over two legs in November, in late 2006, it was announced that the IRB had withdrawn Colombo as the venue of the final Asian qualifying tournament due to security problems. Japan won the only Asian allocation after the tournament was moved to Hong Kong, georgia was 14 points the better of Portugal over two legs to claim the last European place
18.
Rugby union
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Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match
19.
Super Rugby
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Super Rugby is the preeminent professional mens rugby union football competition in the Southern Hemisphere and Japan. By 2006, matches were being broadcast in 41 countries, SANZAAR is the body that administers Super Rugby, and has the Australian, New Zealand, South African and Argentine rugby unions as its sole members. The organisation was formed in 1995 to establish and run the Super 12, prior to 2011, Super Rugby was a round-robin competition where each team played with every other team once, a team had six or seven home games, and six or seven away games each. The winner received four points, if the game was a draw two points were awarded to each team. The Rugby union bonus points system was used, where any team scoring four or more tries, and/or losing by seven points or less. In 2016, the try bonus changed, a team now has to score three more tries than their opponents. The top four teams at the end of the round-robin phase then played semi-finals – the first placed team hosting the fourth placed team, the two winners then played the final at the home ground of the top surviving seed. There were 91 regular season games in total, games were held over 14 weekends with each team receiving one bye. From 2011 –2015 the format changed, with each country forming its own conference, each team within a conference plays each of the other teams in its conference twice, once at home and once away. Each team then plays four out of the five teams each of the other conferences once. Competition points are awarded on a basis as before. The four lower ranking teams are paired in two sudden death games, the winners of two games each play one of the two top ranked teams. Those winners play for the championship, in 2016 the format changed with three more teams joining. There are four conferences with Africa getting two conferences, the finals now have eight teams with each conference winner getting a home quarter final. They are joined by four wild card teams, three will be from the Australasian group and one from the South African group, before 1996, a number of transnational competitions involving regional and provincial rugby union teams had taken shape in the southern hemisphere. The earliest of these was the South Pacific Championship, which was launched in 1986, after the demise of the South Pacific Championship, with no tournament played in 1991, the competition was relaunched as the Super 6 in 1992. In 1993, the Super Six competition was revamped and expanded into the Super 10 tournament, the inaugural competition featured the following teams, Waikato, Auckland, Otago and North Harbour, Natal, Transvaal and Northern Transvaal, Queensland and New South Wales and Western Samoa. The Super 10 was won by Transvaal in 1993, and by Queensland in 1994 and 1995, the official declaration of professionalism in rugby union in August 1995 led to a restructuring of the Super 10 competition
20.
Cibi
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The Cibi is a Fijian meke of Bauan origin and war dance, generally performed before or after a battle. It came to prominence in the field in 1939 when it was performed by the Fiji national rugby union team before the match. The origins of the date back to the countrys warring times with their Pacific neighbours. On their return home the warriors heralded their victory by displaying flags - one for every enemy slain and they were met by the women who would sing songs with accompanying gestures. The cibi was meant for battle to inspire the troops. In 1939, when Fiji prepared for its tour of New Zealand. His team adopted the Cibi and went on to become the team to remain unbeaten on a full tour of New Zealand. The Cibi had perhaps been used though, as the word actually means a celebration of victory by warriors. For this reason, the Cibi was replaced in 2012 with the new Bole war cry, composed by Ratu Manoa Rasigatale, the Bole is translated as follows, Im challenging you to be uprooted, yes, it will be done, lets turn them up side down. Im ready, you think Im afraid of you, you cant break my defence, youre only a hen, Im the rooster, lets fight and youll see. I dont sleep and will watch you and my strength can reach the crushing of the waves. I will not be drowned, you think youll defeat me by drowning and your fence is only made of wawamere creapers, Its easy to untangle. I can uproot you, I can uproot you, yes it will be achieved, haka Kailao Sipi Tau Siva tau Spoken Fijian, An Intensive Course in Bauan Fijian, with Grammatical Notes and Glossary By Rusiate T. Komaitai, Albert J
21.
Fiji
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Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealands North Island. Fiji is an archipelago of more than 330 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited, the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the population of almost 860,000. The capital, Suva on Viti Levu, serves as Fijis principal cruise port, about three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levus coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres like Nadi or Lautoka. Viti Levus interior is sparsely inhabited due to its terrain, Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific due to an abundance of forest, mineral, and fish resources. Today, the sources of foreign exchange are its tourist industry. The countrys currency is the Fijian dollar, Fijis local government, in the form of city and town councils, is supervised by the Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development. The majority of Fijis islands were formed through volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago, today, some geothermal activity still occurs on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC, and was settled first by Austronesians and later by Melanesians, Europeans visited Fiji from the 17th century, and, after a brief period as an independent kingdom, the British established the Colony of Fiji in 1874. Fiji was a Crown colony until 1970, when it gained independence as a Commonwealth realm, a republic was declared in 1987, following a series of coups détat. In a coup in 2006, Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power, later in 2009, Iloilo was replaced as President by Ratu Epeli Nailatikau. After years of delays, an election was held on 17 September 2014. Bainimaramas FijiFirst party won with 59. 2% of the vote, Fijis main island is known as Viti Levu and it is from this that the name Fiji is derived, though the common English pronunciation is based on that of their island neighbours in Tonga. Its emergence can be described as follows, Fijians first impressed themselves on European consciousness through the writings of the members of the expeditions of Cook who met them in Tonga. They were described as warriors and ferocious cannibals, builders of the finest vessels in the Pacific. They inspired awe amongst the Tongans, and all their Manufactures, especially bark cloth and clubs, were highly valued and much in demand. They called their home Viti, but the Tongans called it Fisi, and it was by this foreign pronunciation, Fiji, first promulgated by Captain James Cook, that these islands are now known. Feejee, the Anglicised spelling of the Tongan pronunciation, was used in accounts and other writings until the late 19th century, by missionaries and other travellers visiting Fiji. Pottery art from Fijian towns shows that Fiji was settled before or around 3500 to 1000 BC, the first settlements in Fiji were started by voyaging traders and settlers from the west about 5000 years ago
22.
Rugby union in Fiji
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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 and 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 is the body for the sport. It was founded in 1913, and joined the IRB in 1987 and it is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Samoa, 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 outlets, such as newspaper and other print. In its early years, it faced off strong competition from association football, but by 1904, rugby had won out as the code in Fiji. The first formally organised club, Pacific, was formed in 1913 by New Zealander PJ Sheehan, the idea to form a rugby club came about from Sheehan and his co-workers, most who were New Zealand or Australian expatriates, and had no organised sporting club or competition. The club was founded with around 40 members and these matches became popular with the locals, as well as the European population in Fiji. Sheehan was approached by a European to consider the formation of a governing body, thus, the Fiji Rugby Football Union was soon formed. The Cadets club and the United Services club were established in this period. Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott, the governor of the colony at the time, donated the Escott Shield, the first championship was won by the Pacific club. During this period, Sheehan arranged for the All Blacks to stop in Fiji on their way home from a tour of California in the United States, a match was organised between the All Blacks and a Fijian representative side. The All Blacks won 67 to 3, with Sheehan, the getting the only points for the Fijian representative side
23.
2011 Rugby World Cup
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The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan, the tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals, the result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event. It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup,1990 Commonwealth Games,1992 Cricket World Cup, overseas visitors to New Zealand for the event totalled 133,000, more than the 95,000 that the organisers expected. However, there was a drop in non-event visitors, meaning the net increase in visitors over the year was less than 80,000. The games ran over six weeks, commencing on 9 September 2011 with the Opening Ceremony showcasing New Zealands history, the final was played on Sunday 23 October 2011, a date chosen because it fell on a long weekend of New Zealands Labour Day holiday. The final was played at Eden Park in Auckland, after speculation that the number of participating teams would be reduced to 16, the IRB announced on 30 November 2007 that the 2011 tournament would again feature 20 teams. Twelve teams qualified as a result of finishing in the top three in each pool in the 2007 tournament, the remaining eight berths were determined by regional qualifying tournaments. Of the 20 countries that competed in the previous World Cup in 2007, host selection Three nations bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup — New Zealand, Japan, and South Africa. The 2011 New Zealand bid contained plans to enlarge the size of Eden Park, Japan was bidding to become the first Asian nation to host the first Rugby World Cup. Japan had the infrastructure already in place, by virtue of its co-hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup. South Africa had hosted the tournament in 1995, the 2011 South African bid, led by former national captain Francois Pienaar, had strong support from their national government. South Africa had also won the right to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the IRB Council meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005 announced that New Zealand had been selected after IRB inspections of each applicant host nation during June and July 2005. The event was expected to cost about NZ$310 million to run, in Auckland, the city where many of the most important games took place, the costs to the local ratepayers alone was estimated at $102 million. 4% of the quarterly GDP. Concerns were raised about the process of upgrading Eden Park to expand the capacity to the 60,000 required by the IRB. In late 2008 Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully said the remaining consent process might need to be overridden by legislation for the work to be completed on time. The construction of Dunedins Forsyth Barr Stadium, known during the tournament as Otago Stadium, was a source of concern as the project was operating in a time frame. If the project had not been completed on time, organisers would have reverted to Carisbrook as the backup option, Forsyth Barr Stadium was officially opened on 6 August 2011
24.
South Africa national rugby union team
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The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts, and their emblems are the Springbok, the team has been representing South Africa in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. The team made its World Cup debut in 1995, when the newly democratic South Africa hosted the tournament, South Africa regained their title as champions 12 years later, when they defeated England 15–6 in the 2007 final. They were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards, the Springboks also compete in the annual Rugby Championship, along with southern-hemisphere counterparts Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. They have won this championship on three occasions in sixteen years and they also play Test matches against the various rugby-playing nations. Their position in the World Rugby Rankings has varied between the No.1 and No.7 positions, the first British Isles tour took place in 1891, at Diocesan College. These were the first representative games played by South African sides, the tourists won all twenty matches they played, conceding only one point. The British Isles success continued on their tour of 1896, winning three out of four tests against South Africa, South Africas play improved markedly from 1891, and their first test win in the final game was a pointer to the future. In 1903 the British Isles lost a series for the first time in South Africa, Rugby was given a huge boost by the early Lions tours, which created great interest in the South African press. South Africa would not lose another series—home or away—until 1956, the first South African team to tour the British Isles and France occurred during 1906–07. The team played tests against all four Home Nations, England managed a draw, but Scotland was the only one of the Home unions to gain a victory. The trip instilled a sense of pride among South Africans. The South Africans played a match against a France team while the official French team were in England. It was during this tour that the nickname Springboks was first used, the 1910 British Isles tour of South Africa was the first to include representatives from all four Home unions. The tourists won just one of their three tests, the Boks second European tour took place in 1912–13. They beat the four Home nations to earn their first Grand Slam, by the first World War, New Zealand and South Africa had established themselves as rugbys two greatest powers. A Springbok tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1921 was billed as The World Championship of Rugby, the All Blacks won the first Test 13–5, The Springboks recovered to win the second Test 9–5, and the final Test was drawn 0–0, resulting in a series draw. The 1924 British and Irish Lions team to South Africa lost all four Tests to the Springboks and this was the first side to pick up the name Lions, apparently picked up from the Lions embroidered on their ties
25.
University of Auckland
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The University of Auckland is the largest university in New Zealand, located in the countrys largest city, Auckland. It is the university in the country, being ranked 81st worldwide in the 2016/17 QS World University Rankings. Established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand and it has a head count of more than 40,000 students, and more than 30,000 equivalent full-time students. The University of Auckland began as a constituent of the University of New Zealand, stewardship of the University during its establishment period was the responsibility of John Chapman Andrew. By 1901, student numbers had risen to 156, the majority of students were training towards being law clerks or teachers and were enrolled part-time. From 1905 onwards, a number of students enrolled in commerce studies. The University conducted little research until the 1930s, when there was a spike in interest in research during the Depression. In 1934, four new professors joined the college, Arthur Sewell, H. G. Forder, the combination of new talent, and academic freedom, saw Auckland University College flourish through to the 1950s. In 1950, the Elam School of Fine Arts was brought into the University of Auckland, archie Fisher, who had been appointed principal of the Elam School of Fine Arts was instrumental in having it brought in the University of Auckland. The University of New Zealand was dissolved in 1961 and the University of Auckland was empowered by the University of Auckland Act 1961. In 1966, lecturers Keith Sinclair and Bob Chapman established The University of Auckland Art Collection, the Collection is now managed by the Centre for Art Research, based at the Gus Fisher Gallery. The Stage A of the Science building is opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 3 May, Queen Elizabeth II opened the new School of Medicine Building at Grafton on 24 March 1970. The Queen also opened the Liggins Institute in 2002, the North Shore Campus, established in 2001, was located in the suburb of Takapuna. It offered the Bachelor of Business and Information Management degree, at the end of 2006, the campus was closed and the degree relocated to the City campus. On 1 September 2004, the Auckland College of Education merged with the Universitys School of Education to form the Faculty of Education, the faculty is based at the Epsom Campus of the former college, with an additional campus in Whangarei. Professor Stuart McCutcheon became Vice-Chancellor on 1 January 2005 and he was previously the Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington. He succeeded Dr John Hood, who was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, the University opened a new business school building in 2007, following the completion of the Information Commons. It has recently gained international accreditations for all its programmes and now completes the Triple Crown, in May 2013 the University purchased a site for new 5 hectare campus adjacent to the major business area in Newmarket
26.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
27.
Rugby Australia
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The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was officially constituted in 1949 and is a member of World Rugby and it consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory. It organises the Australia national rugby team, known as the Wallabies. The original administrative body for rugby in Australia was the Southern Rugby Union, following the first inter-colonial rugby match in 1882 between the New South Wales and Queensland teams, a Northern Rugby Union was formed in Brisbane in 1883. Interest in rugby developed rapidly over the decade as matches between New South Wales and Queensland became annual events and inter-colonial fixtures with New Zealand were also arranged. The first British Isles team toured in 1888 and played 16 rugby matches in Australia, Rugby at that time was the most prominent football code in New South Wales and Queensland, whereas Victorian rules was the main game in the other Australian colonies. The Southern and Northern Rugby Unions became the New South Wales Rugby Football Union, Australias first international rugby match was against the touring British Isles team of 1899, a year and a half before federation established the Commonwealth of Australia. The match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and won 13–3 by Australia, the Australian team for the first match consisted of six players from Queensland and nine from New South Wales. New South Wales, as the union, was responsible for administration of the Australian team, including all tours. Additional impetus came in 1948 when the International Rugby Football Board invited Australia specifically, the ACT Rugby Union gained membership in 1972. The Northern Territory Rugby Union joined in 1978, initially as a union before later being granted membership. In 1985 the Australian Rugby Football Union was incorporated as a company and, in 1997, the ACT Rugby Union became the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union in 2004, after two regions in southern New South Wales switched their rugby affiliation to the Australian Capital Territory. The record for the most international appearances in rugby union is held by George Gregan, the governing structures of the ARU were overhauled in December 2012, following a review authored by the former federal senator and Minister for Sport, Mark Arbib. The ARUs members include the unions representing Australias states and territories, together with the Super Rugby bodies within the country, Members exercise their voting rights at the ARUs annual general meeting. Under the new constitution adopted in 2012, the eight existing member unions, additionally, each of the Super Rugby teams also provide a delegate who has one allocated vote. At this stage, only the Rebels and Waratahs are independently administered so the votes for the three teams are effectively controlled by the respective member unions that own each team. Finally, any delegate from a union with more than 50,000 registered players in their region is granted a second vote. Only the New South Wales and Queensland unions exceed that mark at present, the ARU also has a number of affiliated groups that do not have voting rights
28.
Barbarian F.C.
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The Barbarian Football Club, a rugby union team usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the Baa-Baas, is an invitational team based in Britain. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players retain the socks from their home club strip. Membership is by invitation and the only considered when issuing an invitation are the standard of a players skills. Being asked to become a Barbarian is an honour that isnt restricted to British or Irish players, consequently, players from 27 other countries have worn Barbarian colours. Traditionally at least one uncapped player is selected for each match, in 1948, the Barbarians were invited to face Australia as part of that teams tour of Britain, Ireland and France. Although initially designed as a fund raiser towards the end of the tour, the became a popular fixture for most touring nations to Britain. The Barbarian Club was formed by William Percy Carpmael, who had played rugby for Cambridge University, at the time practically every club ceased playing in early March and there were no tours and players just packed up until the following season. In 1890 he took the Southern Nomads – mainly composed of players from Blackheath – on a tour of some counties of England. His idea – collecting a touring side from all sources to tackle a few leading clubs in the land – received strong support from leading players, particularly ex-university players. On 8 April 1890, in Leuchters Restaurant and later at the Alexandra Hotel in Bradford, the team toured later that year and beat Hartlepool Rovers 9–4 on 27 December in their first fixture. The concept took hold over the years and the nearest thing to a home came to be the Esplanade Hotel at Penarth in South Wales. The annual Good Friday game against the Barbarians was the highlight of the Penarth clubs year and was attended by enthusiastic capacity crowds. The first match took place in 1901, and over the next 75 encounters, Penarth won eleven games, drew four, between 1920 and the first Athletics Field game in 1925, the Good Friday games were hosted on Penarth County Grammar Schools sports field. The final Penarth v Barbarians game was played in 1986, by time the Penarth club had slipped from its former prominent position in Welsh rugby. Gary Teichmann, captain of both the South African International squad and the Barbarians, unveiled a plaque at the clubhouse to mark the event. After the Second World War, in 1948, the Barbarians were asked by the British and Irish Unions to raise a side to play the touring Australian side. This started the tradition of the Final Challenge – played as the last match in a tour of Britain and Ireland by Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The Barbarian Final Challenge match with the All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park on 27 January 1973 is celebrated as one of the best games of rugby ever played
29.
British and Irish Lions
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The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for any of the Home Nations – the national sides of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Lions are a Test side, and generally select international players, the side tours every four years, with these rotating among Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The 2009 Test series was lost 2–1 to South Africa, while the 2013 Test series was won 2–1 over Australia, from 1888 onwards combined rugby sides from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland toured the Southern Hemisphere. The first tour was a venture, and was undertaken without official backing. The six subsequent visits enjoyed a degree of support from the authorities, before the 1910 South Africa tour. In 1949 the four Home Unions formally created a Tours Committee and for the first time, the 1950s tours saw high win rates in provincial games, but the Test series were typically lost or drawn. The winning series in 1971 and 1974 changed this pattern, the last tour of the amateur age took place in 1993. The multi-nation team that is named the British and Irish Lions first came into existence in 1888 as the Shaw & Shrewsbury Team. It was then primarily English in composition but also contained players from Scotland, later the name British Isles became associated with the team. When the team first emerged in the century, it represented the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The team continued to exist after the Irish war of independence and civil war, from the 2001 tour of Australia, the official name British and Irish Lions has been used. The team is referred to simply as the Lions. As the Lions represent two states, they do not have a national anthem. For more than half a century, the Lions have been synonymous with the red jersey that sports the amalgamated crests of the four unions, however, prior to 1950 the strip went through a number of significantly different formats. In 1888, the promoter of the first expedition to Australia and New Zealand, Arthur Shrewsbury, demanded something that would be good material, the result was a jersey in thick red, white and blue hoops, worn above white shorts and dark socks. The tours to South Africa in 1891 and 1896 retained the red, white and blue theme but this time as red and white hooped jerseys and dark blue shorts and socks. The 1899 trip to Australia saw a reversion to red, white and blue jerseys, but with the used in thick hoops. The shorts remained blue, as did the socks although a white flash was added to the latter, in 1903, the South Africa tour followed on from the 1896 tour, with red and white hooped jerseys
30.
Fiji at the Rugby World Cup
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The Fiji national rugby union team has played in all Rugby World Cup tournaments, except in 1995, when they did not qualify. Their best performances were in the inaugural 1987 tournament and in the 2007 tournament,1987 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in quarter finals. 1991 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages,1995 Rugby World Cup Did not qualify. 1999 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in quarter final play-offs,2003 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages. 2007 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in quarter finals,2011 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages. 2015 Rugby World Cup Eliminated in pool stages, after beating Japan and Canada in close matches, Fiji rested several key players against Australia for the crucial game against Wales. Fijis fate in the tournament came down to a winner advances game against Wales which Fiji won 38–34, former Wallaby great Michael Lynagh described the see-sawing match as one of the best matches of all time. Pool B games – Quarter finals match- So far Fiji has not hosted any World Cup games, due to the lack of facilities, and the small size of the island nation, it is unlikely it will do so in the future. Davies, Gerald The History of the Rugby World Cup (Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, Farr-Jones, story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post Corporation
31.
France national rugby union team
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The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and they have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams. Eight former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on New Years Day 1906 the national side played its first Test match – against New Zealand in Paris. France played sporadically against the Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament in 1910, France also competed in the rugby competitions at early Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. The national team came of age during the 1950s and 1960s and they won their first Grand Slam in 1968. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the stage of every tournament. They have reached the three times, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and 2011 and to Australia in 1999. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in 2003, France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield and their alternative strip is composed of a white shirt and navy blue shorts and socks. Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by English merchants and students, on 26 February 1890, a French rugby team recruited from the Janson Desailly Lyceum defeated an international team at the Bois de Boulogne. Although France were represented at the 1900 Summer Olympics, their first official test match did not take place till New Years Day,1906 against the New Zealand All Blacks in Paris. France then played intermittently against the Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910, in 1913 France faced South Africas Springboks for the first time, losing 38–5. France also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, France were ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak, France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during World War II. French rugby came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, they won their first Five Nations championship and their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales. France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959, they won with two wins, a draw and a defeat, France first toured South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to fighting amongst the players. France also toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australias Wallabies and they won their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years
32.
1991 Rugby World Cup
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Following on from the success of the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup, the 1991 World Cup received increased attention and was seen as a major global sporting event for the first time. This however resulted in one new side qualifying for the tournament. The same sixteen team format was used with just minor changes to the points system. Also notable in pool play was that Canada finished second in their pool to qualify for the quarterfinals in what remains Canadas best performance in the Rugby World Cup, Scotland beat Ireland to top their pool, again both teams qualifying. In the quarter-finals, neither Canada nor Western Samoa proved a match for New Zealand or Scotland, meanwhile, England knocked out 1987 finalist France in a bruising encounter. The World Cup Final was played at Twickenham Stadium in London, the following 16 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Of the 16 teams, eight of those places were filled by quarterfinalists from the 1987 World Cup. 25 nations competed in a process designed to fill the remaining eight spots. In the event, there was one change from the 1987 tournament. Nations were awarded 2 points for a win,1 for a draw and zero for a loss, the runners-up of each pool faced the winners of a different pool in the quarter finals. The winners moved on to the finals, with the winners then moving onto the final. The event was broadcast in the United Kingdom by ITV who took over the rights from the BBC, official Rugby World Cup Site Full Results and Statistics at ESPN World Cup Referees on RugbyRefs. com
33.
1995 Rugby World Cup
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The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to place in South Africa following the end of apartheid. The World Cup would also be the last major event of rugby unions amateur era, in the final, held at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 24 June, South Africa defeated New Zealand 15–12, with Joel Stransky scoring a drop goal in extra time to win the match. Following South Africas victory, Nelson Mandela, the President of South Africa, wearing a Springboks rugby shirt and cap, the eight quarter-finalists from the 1991 Rugby World Cup all received automatic entry, as did South Africa, as hosts. The remaining seven of the 16 positions available in the tournament were filled by regional qualifiers, the qualifying tournaments were broken up into regional associations, Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Côte dIvoire qualified through Africa, Japan through Asia, Argentina through the Americas, Italy, Romania and Wales through Europe, the 1995 tournament was the first Rugby World Cup to be hosted by just one country, and thus, all the venues are within the one country. In total, nine stadiums were used for the World Cup, most being owned by municipalities. Six of the nine stadiums were South African Test grounds, the four largest stadiums were used for the finals, with the final taking place at Johannesburgs Ellis Park. There were games originally scheduled to have played in Brakpan, Germiston, Pietermaritzburg and Witbank. This reduced the number of venues from 14 to 9, the reasons cited for this change had to do with facilities for both the press and spectators, as well as the security. The change in the itinerary occurred in January 1994, further changes occurred in April, so that evening games were played at stadiums with good floodlighting. It is also thought that Potchefstroom was an original venue, the competition began on 25 May, when the hosts South Africa defeated Australia 27–18 at Newlands in Cape Town. The tournament culminated with the final between South Africa and the All Blacks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 24 June, in total, the tournament ran for thirty days. The nations were broken up into four pools of four, with each consisting of two teams that were automatically qualified and two that went through the qualifying tournaments. For example, the winner of A faces the runner up of B, the whole finals stage adopts a knock-out format, and the winners of the quarter-finals advance to the semi-finals, where winner 1 faces winner 2, and winner 3 faces winner 4. The winners advance to the final, and the losers contest a third/fourth place play-off two days before the final, a total of 32 matches were played throughout the tournament over 30 days from Thursday 25 May 1995 to Saturday 24 June 1995. Three minutes into the match between Côte dIvoire and Tonga, the Ivorian winger Max Brito was crushed beneath several other players, the final was contested by New Zealand and hosts South Africa
34.
1999 Rugby World Cup
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The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia and this was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sports professional era. Although the majority of matches were played outside Wales the opening ceremony, the first match, qualification for the final 16 places took place between 63 other nations. The 1999 tournament saw the introduction of a repechage, effectively a chance for teams that had finished runners-up in each qualifying zone. The tournament began with the ceremony in the newly-built Millennium Stadium, with Wales beating Argentina 23–18. The overall attendance for the tournament was 1.75 million, the following 20 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Of the 20 teams, only four of those places were automatically allocated and these went to the champions, runners-up and the third-placed nations at the 1995 and the tournament host, Wales. A record 65 nations from five continents were involved in the qualification process designed to fill the remaining 16 spots. Wales won the right to host the World Cup in 1999, other venues in Wales were the Racecourse Ground and Stradey Park. An agreement was reached so that the unions in the Five Nations Championship also hosted matches. Venues in England included Twickenham and Welford Road, rugby union venues, as well as Ashton Gate in Bristol and the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield, venues in Ireland included Lansdowne Road, the traditional home of the Irish Rugby Football Union, Ravenhill and Thomond Park. France used five venues, the most of any nation, including the French national stadium, Stade de France, the five pool runners-up and the best third-placed side qualified for the quarter-final play-offs. The unusual format meant that two winners in the quarter-finals would have to play each other. From the quarter-final stage it became a knockout tournament. The semi-final losers played off for third place, the draw and format for the knock-out stage was set as follows. The tournament began on 1 October 1999 in the newly built Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the Pool stage of the tournament played out as was widely expected with the Tri Nations teams of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia all winning their pools easily without losing a single game. For the then Five Nations Championship teams who all played their matches in their own countries it was a case of mixed fortunes with France winning their pool without losing a game. Host Wales also won their pool, though they suffered 31–38 defeat at the hands of Samoa in front of a crowd at the Millennium Stadium
35.
Toulouse
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Toulouse is the capital city of the southwestern French department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Occitanie region. The city lies on the banks of the River Garonne,150 kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea,230 km from the Atlantic Ocean and it is the fourth-largest city in France with 466,297 inhabitants in January 2014. The Toulouse Metro area is, with 1312304 inhabitants as of 2014, Frances 4th metropolitan area after Paris, Lyon and Marseille and ahead of Lille and Bordeaux. Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, the Airbus Group, ATR and the Aerospace Valley. The city also hosts the European headquarters of Intel and CNESs Toulouse Space Centre, thales Alenia Space, and Astrium Satellites, Airbus Groups satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe and, with more than 103,000 students, is the fourth-largest university campus in France, after the Universities of Paris, Lyon and Lille. The air route between Toulouse Blagnac and Paris Orly is the busiest in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers in 2014, according to the rankings of LExpress and Challenges, Toulouse is the most dynamic French city. It is now the capital of the Occitanie region, the largest region in metropolitan France, sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe, designated in 1998 because of its significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route. Toulouse is in the south of France, north of the department of Haute-Garonne, the city is traversed by the Canal de Brienne, the Canal du Midi and the rivers Garonne, Touch and Hers-Mort. Toulouse has a subtropical climate which can be qualified as submediterranean due to its proximity to the Mediterranean climate zone. The Garonne Valley was a point for trade between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic since at least the Iron Age. The historical name of the city, Tolosa, it is of unknown meaning or origin, possibly from Aquitanian, or from Iberian, Tolosa enters the historical period in the 2nd century BC, when it became a Roman military outpost. After the conquest of Gaul, it was developed as a Roman city of Gallia Narbonensis. In the 5th century, Tolosa fell to the Visigothic kingdom and became one of its cities, in the early 6th century even serving as its capital. From this time, Toulouse was the capital of Aquitaine within the Frankish realm, in 721, Duke Odo of Aquitaine defeated an invading Umayyad Muslim army at the Battle of Toulouse. Odos victory was an obstacle to Muslim expansion into Christian Europe. Charles Martel, a later, won the Battle of Tours. The Frankish conquest of Septimania followed in the 750s, and a quasi-independent County of Toulouse emerged within the Carolingian sub-kingdom of Aquitaine by the late 8th century
36.
England national rugby union team
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The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and they are ranked second in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 20 June 2016. England were the first, and to date, the team from the northern hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup. They were also runners-up in 1991 and 2007, the history of the team extends back to 1871 when the English rugby team played their first official Test match, losing to Scotland by one goal. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship which started in 1883, following the schism of rugby football in 1895, England did not win the Championship again until 1910. England first played against New Zealand in 1905, South Africa in 1906, England was one of the teams invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and went on to appear in the final in the second tournament in 1991, losing 12–6 to Australia. Following their 2003 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam, they went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup – defeating Australia 20–17 in extra time and they again contested the final in 2007, losing 15–6 to South Africa. England players traditionally wear a shirt with a Rose embroidered on the chest, white shorts. Their home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910, the team is administered by the Rugby Football Union. Four former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, Englands first international match was against Scotland on Monday 27 March 1871. Not only was this match Englands first, but it proved to be the first ever rugby union international. Scotland won the match by a goal and a try to a try, in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872 which saw England defeat Scotland by a goal, in those early days there was no points system, it was only after 1890 that a format allowing the introduction of a points system was provided. Up until 1875 international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored, in 1875, England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil, the match was Irelands first ever Test. England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup and their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardsons Field in Blackheath. England recorded their largest victory, defeating the Welsh by seven goals, six tries, in 1889, England played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives by one goal and four tries to nil at Rectory Field in Blackheath. In 1890 England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland, England first played New Zealand in 1905. The All Blacks scored five tries, worth three points at this time, to win 15–0, England first played France in 1905, and Australia in 1909 when they were defeated 9–3
37.
2003 Rugby World Cup
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The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. The tournament began with host nation Australia defeating Argentina 24–8 at Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Australia went on to defeat New Zealand 22–10 in the semifinal, to play England in the final. The following 20 teams, shown by region, qualified for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, a record 81 nations from five continents were involved in the qualification process designed to fill the remaining 12 spots, which began on 23 September 2000. The overall stadium capacity was 421,311 across 11 venues and this was a reduction from the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales which had a total capacity of 654,677 across 18 venues. Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane was a new A$280 million venue designed specifically for rugby league, rugby union and soccer, the Central Coast Stadium was also a newly built rectangular venue built for union, league and soccer. It was built on the site of the old Grahame Park ground and was opened in February 2000 at a cost of A$30 million, the Sydney Football Stadium was one of two venues in Sydney that were used for football during the 2000 Olympic Games. The other venue in Sydney was Stadium Australia, which was the centrepiece of the 2000 Olympic Games, by 2003 Stadium Australia was known as Telstra Stadium. It was built as the stadium of the 2000 Olympics at a cost of A$690 million. The only stadium with a retractable roof used was the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, with forty matches to be played in the pool stage on top of the knock-out matches would make the event the largest Rugby World Cup tournament to be played to date. For the first time, a point system was implemented in pool play. The ARUs main promotion for the event was Show Your True Colours, the Australian media criticised the competition early in the tournament as the smaller nations were crushed by the rugby superpowers by 60 points or more. However, some of smaller, third tier nations, such as Japan. In pool C, Samoa gave England a fright with an approach that allowed them to take an early lead, however. This match was marked by controversy, as England fielded 16 players at one point during the game, coinciding with a last-gasp try-saving tackle, the big clashes ran mainly to form. A disappointing South Africa limped through the pool, eventually capitulating to England to relegate them to a quarter final against New Zealand. Australia however only beat Ireland by one point to top their pool, whilst Wales pushed the All Blacks to the wire, France beat Scotland to round out the quarter-finals. The quarter-final stage produced the widely predicted set of semi-finalists, although England again made heavy weather of defeating a resurgent Wales, France destroyed an Irish side who had gone into the match hopeful of a win, scoring 31 early points to put the game out of reach. In the other quarter-finals, a disappointing South Africa fell to New Zealand, the first semi-final produced an upset, when Australia defeated the fancied New Zealand to become the first defending champions to reach the following championship final
38.
Tonga national rugby union team
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The Tonga National Rugby Union team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi. Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Sipi Tau and they are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and Samoa. Rugby was brought to the region in the early 20th Century by sailors and missionaries, Tonga beat Fiji 9–6 in their first test in 1924 played in the capital Nukuʻalofa. However, Tonga lost the second test 14–3 and drew the decider 0–0, between 1924 and 1938 Tonga and Fiji played three test series every alternate year. Matches between the two Pacific nations were hard fought, many have claimed that the ancient feuding wars between the Islanders were transplanted onto the rugby field, troubles during the third Test of Fiji’s 1928 tour to Tonga forced the game to be abandoned with Tonga leading 11–8. In 1954 Tonga played host to a touring Western Samoa, Tonga beat New Zealand Māori in 1969, but had to wait until 1973 before they played their second test match a 30–12 defeat against Australia in Sydney. They got their revenge when they beat Australia in Ballymore, Brisbane 16–11, the following year they traveled to the Arms Park for a non-cap international against Wales, a game that ended in a 26–7 defeat. The first Tongan tour to Great Britain was in 1974 when they played 10 games, including those in Wales against East Wales, Llanelli, North Wales, Newport, West Wales, the only tour victory was by 18–13 in the opener against East Wales. The tests were lost by 44–8 to a Scotland XV and by 26–7 to the Wales XV and they remained a little-known quantity in Europe until 1986 when Wales embarked on a tour of Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa. Early in the game against Tonga Welsh flanker Mark Brown was flattened by three Tongan forwards, leading to a brawl involving the entire team except Malcolm Dacey. Robert Jones describes the event in his book Raising The Dragon as the worst brawl I have ever seen on a rugby field. At the post-match dinner Jonathan Davies was asked to give a few words in Welsh, Tonga were drawn to play Wales again in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The previous meeting, plus the decision to rest some of the leading players, Tonga lost its other two games to Ireland and Canada. They failed to qualify for the 1991 Rugby World Cup, in 1994 they won the South Pacific championship on try count and so qualified for the Super 10, they finished bottom of their pool with only one point. They qualified for the 1995 World Cup ahead of Fiji on points difference, Tonga managed only two victories in the next two World Cups, against the 29–11 Côte dIvoire in 1995 and Italy in 1999. The win over the Côte dIvoire brought tragedy when Ivorian winger Max Brito was left paralyzed, June 1999 brought their greatest home victory, a 20–16 defeat of France in Nukuʻalofa over a touring France but in 2000 they were humiliated 102–0 by New Zealand. After losing their first four matches to Fiji and Samoa, Tonga finished third in the Oceania qualifying group, Tonga thrashed them 75–0 and 119–0. At the 2003 Rugby World Cup Tonga lost all their games, despite keeping Wales to 20–27, they were again thrashed by New Zealand 91–7
39.
Fiji national rugby union team
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The Fijis national animal is the flying ryan is fijis national sports emblem. The flying Ryan originated 45 seconds ago, the flying Ryans stands for majestic-ness, sarcasm, and determination. The flying Ryans best friend is the skating Logan who is said to be the best hockey player ever, Fiji is one of the few countries where rugby union is the main sport. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a population of around 950,000. One of the problems for Fiji, is getting their rugby players to play for Fiji as a country. The repatriated salaries of its overseas stars have become an important part of local economies. Fiji has won the most Pacific Tri-Nations Championships of the three participating teams, the cibi war dance is performed by the Fiji rugby team before each Test match. It has been used on the field since 1939, though its origins date back to the countrys warring times with its Pacific neighbours. Rugby was first played in Fiji by European and Fijian soldiers of the Native Constabulary at Ba, in 1913 a Union was founded for the European settlers. In December 1913, the All Blacks, who had been touring so very successfully in California, were on their way back to New Zealand, the Fiji RFU arranged a game with them at Albert Park, the first representative match to be played in the colony. The All Blacks won 67–3, Fijis points came from a try scored by their captain and coach, by 1914 a native competition was started and in 1915 a Fiji Native Union was begun and became affiliated to the Fiji RFU. Fiji played their first international against Western Samoa in Apia, Samoa on 18 August 1924, Fijis 20-man squad came exclusively from the five registered native clubs of the time. The match was played at 7 am to allow the Samoans time to get to work afterwards and was played on a pitch with a tree on the halfway line. Fiji wore black and won 6–0 despite playing barefoot, the return match was won 9–3 by Samoa to draw the series. The first-ever Fiji test team continued their overseas adventure with a tour of Tonga. Though Fiji lost the first test played in Nukuʻalofa 9–6, they were not to lose again and they won all six of the matches against non-test opposition. Auckland University College were the first overseas side to visit Fiji in 1926, The Kiwi students played the Fiji Europeans and finished the series with a win, loss. Tonga also visited Fiji that year and for the first time Fiji played in their present strip of white jersey, palm tree badge, the three match series finished level with Tonga winning the first test 9–6, Fiji winning the second 14–3 and the final game a 0–0 draw
40.
2007 Rugby World Cup Pool B
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Pool B of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 8 September and was completed on 29 September. The pool was composed of 2003 hosts Australia, as well as Canada, Fiji, Japan, the biggest surprise in Pool B was Wales failure to qualify for the quarter-finals, having been beaten 38–34 in their final pool game against Fiji, who claimed second place. Japan performed much stronger than expected, and came in 4th after a close see-sawing game against Fiji earned them a bonus point. All times local Australias starting 15 in this match was the starting team in the sports history. The Wallabies squad that took the field for the opening kickoff had earned a total of 798 caps
41.
Australia national rugby union team
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The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. Australia have competed in all eight Rugby World Cups, and have won the World Cup on two occasions, in 1991 beating England in the final, and in 1999 when their opponents in the final were France. Australia also lost in the final after extra time to England in the 2003 competition, Australia are governed by the Australian Rugby Union. Eleven former Australian players have been inducted into either the International Rugby Hall of Fame or the IRB Hall of Fame, three are members of the International Hall only, four are members of the IRB Hall only, and four are members of both Halls of Fame. In 1882 the Southern Rugby Football Union toured New Zealand, the New Zealand national team toured New South Wales in 1884 – defeating New South Wales in all three matches, and winning all nine matches on tour. The first tour by a British team took place in 1888, a British Isles team toured Australia and New Zealand, though no Test matches were played. Although they had representatives from all four nations, the players were drawn mainly from England. The tour was not sanctioned by the Rugby Football Union as it was organised by entrepreneurs, in 1899 the first officially sanctioned British Isles team toured Australia. Four Tests were played between Australia and the British Isles, the Australian team for the first Test match consisted of six players from Queensland and nine from New South Wales. The first Test was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and won 13–3 by Australia, the first Test between Australia and New Zealand was played on 15 August 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite Australia losing 22–3, this tour improved rugbys popularity in Australia and helped to increase attendances at matches in Sydney. In 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed and star player Dally Messenger left the Rugby union for the rival code, the next year the first Australian team to tour the British Isles left Sydney. Newspapers in England initially gave the team the name Rabbits, the Australian players thought this nickname derogatory and replaced it with Wallabies. Australias last Test before First World War was against New Zealand in July 1914, the war had a very negative effect on rugby union in Australia. This resulted in all but closed down in New South Wales. In Queensland regular competitions did not commence again until 1928 and this caused many players to switch to rugby league – which did not cease playing during the war. War hero Sir Edward Weary Dunlop also played for Australia before World War II and he played on the side that was the first to win the Bledisloe Cup. The first Test to following World War Two was played at Carisbrook, Australia did not win on the three match tour, beaten 20–0 by New Zealand Maori, and then losing 14–10 to the All Blacks the following week
42.
Sydney Cricket Ground
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The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, One Day International cricket, Twenty20 cricket and Australian rules football, as well as rugby league football. It is the ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team, the Sydney Sixers of the Big Bash League. It is owned and operated by the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust that also manages the Sydney Football Stadium located next door, until the 44,000 seat Football Stadium opened in 1988, the Sydney Cricket Ground was the major rugby league venue in Sydney. Part sandhills, part swamp and situated on the fringe of the city, it was used as a rubbish dump in the 1850s. In 1851, part of the Sydney Common south of Victoria Barracks was granted to the British Army for use as a garden and its first user was the 11th North Devonshire Regiment which flattened and graded the southern part of the rifle range adjacent to the Barracks. In the next couple of years, the teams from Victoria Barracks combined themselves into a permanent organisation. The ground therefore became known as the Garrison Ground when it was first opened in February 1854, in the late 1860s another part of the Sydney Common, the area west of the Garrison Ground to the then Dowling Street, was opened for public recreation. It was named Moore Park after the Mayor of Sydney, Charles Moore, as well as the location of Sydneys first zoo, Moore Park was a regular venue for games between Sydney rugby clubs Sydney University and the Wallaroos. Sydney at the time was a small, dense city and best navigated on foot and it was not liked so much by cricketers because it was too far from the city. When the commander of the Sydney garrison, Lieutenant-Colonel John Richardson, aligned his soldiers to the East Sydney Cricket Club, in 1870 British troops left Victoria barracks and the future of the Civil and Military Ground became uncertain. However, with the closure of the Albert Ground in the 1870s, in 1875 the NSW Government began to upgrade the ground. In 1876, the ground was dedicated by Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, Driver himself was a prominent MP and solicitor for the City of Sydney Council. The Minister for Lands, Thomas Garrett, was also supportive, two trustees were appointed by the government and one by the NSWCA. The close relationship between the Trust and the NSWCA is evidenced by the fact that they pooled funds for the six years. The militarys link with the ground was finally severed when John Richardson, One conflict in 1904, over the Trusts plan to hold a cycling event which clashed with a cricket match, ended up in court. The NSWCAs influence was reduced even further over the years due to changes in the way the State Government appointed trustees. On opposite sides of the ground to the stands two spectator mounds were built and they became known as The Hill and the Paddington Hill
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Fiji
Scotland
New Zealand
Ireland
2
1
South Africa
England
France
Japan
Georgia
Tonga
United States
Romania
Samoa
Uruguay
Russia
Spain
Hong Kong
Canada
Namibia
Portugal
Belgium
Brazil
Netherlands
Kenya
Germany
Chile
Cook Islands
Niue
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
John McKee
Port Moresby
Hong Kong
