The Colonial Cup (named after sponsors The Colonial National Bank) is a defunct

rugby union football Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition that was played in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

between 2004 and 2008. The Colonial Cup was Fiji's first attempt at a professional rugby competition, but it did not draw sufficient crowds and ceased after five seasons.

History

In 2004, with the gap between provincial rugby in Fiji and test rugby at an unacceptable level, the

Fiji Rugby Union Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) 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 (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are ...

introduced a brand new, streamlined competition to identify and prepare local players for the international stage. The 30-odd provincial unions were grouped into four franchises along geographical lines. Players not selected for one team could be picked up by one of the others. Players were paid £40 a week plus lodgings. The new competition started on 3 April 2004 and finished 22 May 2004 in time for the international test window. The four teams played a round-robin followed by semi-finals and a grand final. The Coastal Stallions held off a late rally from the Suva Highlanders to claim the inaugural Colonial Cup 26-21 In 2005 an extra team was added, Northern Sharks, made of players from

Vanua Levu Vanua Levu (pronounced , , ), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of and a population of 135,961 . Geology Fiji lies in a tectonic ...

Taveuni Taveuni (pronounced ) is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated east of Vanua ...

and Ovalau. Previously the Northern Division had belonged to the Suva franchise. Suva Highlanders won the Grand final with a 35-27 win over Western Crusaders. In 2006, with the introduction of a Super 14 style tournament called the

Pacific Rugby Cup The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams (formed from the best locally based players, with most not alre ...

, the void in the Pacific Island competition pathway between club or provincial rugby in the respective islands and Test rugby was on its way to being filled. Coastal Stallions defeated Suva Highlanders 29-15 in a tough encounter to clinch the 2006 title. Bligh Roosters joined the 2007 competition, Western Crusaders gave up Tavua,

Vatukoula Vatukoula (, meaning "gold rock" in Fijian) is a gold mining settlement in Fiji, 9 km inland from the Town of Tavua on the island of Viti Levu. Colonial history Vatukoula may be viewed historically as the cradle of the modern gold mining i ...

, Ba and Ra to the new franchise. It was announced in 2008 that the competition would cease due to not achieving its player performance aims and low crowds.

Structure

Fiji’s best 150 players are divided up into 6 professionally run franchises. These franchises play each other over 10 weeks culminating in a semi-final and final. The league uses 4 points for a win; 2 for a draw; 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match; 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points or less. The top four teams then proceed to the semi-finals.

Franchises

* Bligh Roosters Tavua,

, Ba, Ra * Coastal Stallions Nadroga-Navosa, Namosi, Serua and Malolo * Northern Sharks

, Ovalau, and Island Zone * Suva Highlanders

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, Naitasiri, Kadavu * Tailevu Knights Tailevu, Northland, and Rewa * Western Crusaders

Lautoka Lautoka (, ) is the second largest List of cities and towns in Fiji#List, metropolitan area in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of ...

Nadi Nadi (, ) is the second-largest city in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 59,707 at the most recent census, in 2017. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Asians, India ...

, and Yasawa

Past winners

*2004 Coastal Stallions *2005 Suva Highlanders *2006 Coastal Stallions *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Coastal Stallions *2008 Western Crusaders

External links

Colonial Cup pages from Teivovo

Colonial Cup pages from Fiji Rugby Union

References