An oppidum is a large fortified Iron Age settlement. Oppida are associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretching from Britain and Iberia in the west to the edge of the Hungarian plain in the east, they continued to be used until the Romans conquered Western Europe. In regions north of the rivers Danube and Rhine, such as most of Germania, where the populations remained independent from Rome, oppida continued to be used into the 1st century AD. Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome, applied more in Latin to smaller urban settlements than cities, equating to "town" in English; the word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space" from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint". In his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age settlements he encountered in Gaul during the Gallic Wars in 58 to 52 BC as oppida.

Although he did not explicitly define what features qualified a settlement to be called an oppidum, the main requirements emerge. They were important economic sites, places where goods were produced and traded, sometimes Roman merchants had settled and the Roman legions could obtain supplies, they were political centres, the seat of authorities who made decisions that affected large numbers of people, such as the appointment of Vercingetorix as head of the Gallic revolt in 52 BC. Caesar named 28 oppida. By 2011, only 21 of these had been positively identified by historians and archaeologists: either there was a traceable similarity between the Latin and the modern name of the locality, or excavations had provided the necessary evidence. Most of the places that Caesar called oppida were city-sized fortified settlements. However, for example, was referred to as an oppidum, but no fortifications dating to this period have yet been discovered there. Caesar refers to 20 oppida of the Bituriges and 12 of the Helvetii, twice the number of fortified settlements of these groups known today.

That implies that Caesar counted some unfortified settlements as oppida. A similar ambiguity is in evidence in writing by the Roman historian Livy, who used the word for both fortified and unfortified settlements. In his work Geographia, Ptolemy listed the coordinates of many Celtic settlements. However, research has shown many of the localisations of Ptolemy to be erroneous, making the identification of any modern location with the names he listed uncertain and speculative. An exception to, the oppidum of Brenodurum at Bern, confirmed by an archaeological discovery. In archaeology and prehistory, the term oppida now refers to a category of settlement. In particular, Dehn suggested defining an oppidum by four criteria: Size: The settlement has to have a minimum size, defined by Dehn as 30 hectares. Topography: Most oppida are situated on heights, but some are located on flat areas of land. Fortification: The settlement is surrounded by a wall consisting of three elements: a facade of stone, a wooden construction and an earthen rampart at the back.

Gates are pincer gates. Chronology: The settlement dates from the late Iron Age: the last two centuries BC. In current usage, most definitions of oppida emphasise the presence of fortifications so they are different from undefended farms or settlements and from urban characteristics, marking them as separate from hill forts, they could be referred to as "the first cities north of the Alps". The period of 2nd and 1st centuries BC places them in the period known as La Tène. A notional minimum size of 15 to 25 hectares has been suggested, but, flexible and fortified sites as small as 2 hectares have been described as oppida. However, the term is not always rigorously used, it has been used to refer to any hill fort or circular rampart dating from the La Tène period. One of the effects of the inconsistency in definitions is that it is uncertain how many oppida were built. In European archaeology, the term'oppida' is used more to characterize any fortified prehistoric settlement. For example older hill-top structures like the one at Glauberg have been called oppida.

Such wider use of the term is, for example, common in the Iberian archaeology. The Spanish word'castro' used in English, means a walled settlement or hill fort, this word is used interchangeably with'oppidum' by archaeologists. According to prehistorian John Collis oppida extend as far east as the Hungarian plain where other settlement types take over. Central Spain has sites similar to oppida, but while they share features such as size and defensive ramparts the interior was arranged differently. Oppida feature a wide variety of internal structures, from continuous rows of dwellings to more spaced individual estates; some oppida had internal layouts resembling the insulae of Roman cities. Little is known, about the purpose of any public buildings; the main features of the oppida are the walls and gates, the spacious layout, a commanding view of the surrounding area. The major difference with earlier structures was their much larger size. Earlier hill forts were just a few hectares in

The American Samoa Rugby Union, or ASRU, is the governing body for rugby union in American Samoa. It was established in 1990, became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 2012; the ASRU is a full member of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions, the regional governing body for rugby in Oceania. It was chaired by Republican politician Te'o J. Fuavai for several decades. Rugby union has been played in American Samoa since the 1920s, but no governing body existed for the sport for more than 60 years thereafter; when American football was introduced to high schools in the 1970s it became the dominant game, while rugby union was only played in village competitions. The ASRU was formally incorporated in 1990, but it took more than 20 years before the union applied for full membership of the IRB in 2011; the Executive Council of the IRB granted American Samoa full membership in 2012. As of 2015 American Samoa's Rugby team has been ranked 102nd best team in the world, therefore making it the worst team in the world.

American Samoa's national team, known as the Talavalu, has not competed in a Rugby World Cup but has competed at the South Pacific Games, including winning a silver medal for rugby 15s in 1991. American Samoa fields teams in 7s competitions as well as 15s. Rugby union in American Samoa American Samoa national rugby union team American Samoa national rugby sevens team American Samoa on IRB.com American Samoa on OceaniaRugby.com

Andriy Mykolayovych Nesmachniy is a retired Russian-born Ukrainian footballer. He has spent his entire career at Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League, he was a skillful, attacking left-back who could played as central defender and left midfielder. Nesmachniy played for the Ukrainian national football team and is the most capped foreign-born player for Ukraine with 67 matches. Andriy Mykolayovych Nesmachniy was born on 28 February 1979 in Bryansk, Soviet Union, he started as a graduate of the Tavriya Simferopol school. He joined Dynamo Kyiv for the 1997–98 season, he was intended for the main team, but spent the next two seasons at the reserve team Dynamo-2 Kyiv. Beginning in the 2000–01 season, Nesmachniy appeared much more on the main team, where he has stayed until 2011. Nesmachniy retired in 2011 to concentrate on his religious beliefs as he became one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Nesmachniy joined Blackburn Rovers of the English Premier League during the January 2007 transfer window. Manager Mark Hughes had confirmed his interest saying that he had "good football intelligence" and "a great international experience".

He confirmed that the defender was training with the squad in late December 2006. However, he did not make a promise. Nesmachniy in the end, did not join Blackburn. Nesmachnyi was first called up to the Ukraine national football team in 2000. Since he has been capped 63 times, his career was highlighted in 2006, when Ukraine made it to their first FIFA World Cup. Ukraine made it to the quarterfinals. During the World Cup in Germany, Nesmachnyi noticeably did not sing Ukraine's national anthem and place his hand on his heart; when asked about this in an interview, Nesmachnyi announced that "My parents and I are Jehovah's Witnesses for a long time. Our Bible-based beliefs does not allow us to idolize anyone and anything, such as a flag and an anthem, to put my hand on my heart. All glory and praise belongs to God, Jehovah."On 17 March, Nesmachnyi announced that he decided to retire from the Ukraine national football team, that he continues to have good relations with head coach Oleksiy Mykhailychenko.

He explained his decision by saying that he wants to concentrate on his club career in Dynamo as well as on his spiritual and family life. Upon retiring, Nesmachniy has played 67 games for Ukraine, the first being against Bulgaria on 26 April 2000, the last being on 10 February 2009 against Slovakia. Dynamo-2 Kyiv Ukrainian First League: 1998–99, 1999–2000Dynamo Kyiv Ukrainian Premier League: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09Ukrainian Cup: 1999–2000, 2002–2003, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07Ukrainian Super Cup: 2004 According to Andriy Nesmachny, he is a Jehovah's Witness and for this reason did not hold his hand on his heart while performing the anthem of Ukraine and does not sing a hymn. "Nesmachniy" is a homonym for the Ukrainian "not tasting good". Profile on website Football Ukraine