Rugby union 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 ...

is played in

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

. Unlike most South Pacific islands, rugby union is largely played on an informal basis,. alongside

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, which is the main sport played by Tuvaluans. The

Tuvalu Rugby Union The Tuvalu Rugby Union, or TRU, is the governing body for rugby union in Tuvalu. It also organises the Rugby Sevens competitions. It was established in 2007 and is a full member of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU), which is the region ...

, an organising body for Rugby Union, was established in 2007 with the intention of forming a national team.

Rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

was first introduced to Tuvalu in 2007.

History

Rugby is played at the two secondary schools; Fetuvalu Secondary School, a day school located on

Funafuti Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...

, and Motufoua Secondary School, a boarding school located on

Vaitupu Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,077 people (2022 Census) living on with the main village being Asau. History Discovery and settlement The exa ...

. They have their own internal tournaments. The club level rugby competition has eight clubs, all based on the main island of

. However all teams attract supporters based on the home island of the team members, such as the 'Niutao Sharks'. The

Tuvalu Sports Ground Tuvalu Sports Ground is a multi-use stadium in Funafuti, Tuvalu. It is currently used mostly for football and rugby matches. The stadium holds 1,500 people. It is the only stadium in Tuvalu, and therefore all football tournaments are played ...

is shared with the

competition. Training activities are also carried out on the

Funafuti International Airport Funafuti International Airport is an airport in Vaiaku on Funafuti, an atoll that serves as the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It is the sole international airport in Tuvalu. Fiji Airways operates between Suva, Nadi and Funafuti. It i ...

, which is a shared facility, used for sport and recreational activities. The Tuvalu Rugby Union also selects a national team. Tuvalu participated in the

Rugby Sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

competition in the XIVth

Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continent, continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 South Pacific Games, 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently i ...

in 2011. It is also a featured sport at the Tuvalu Games. Tuvalu's main problems are geographical - its population of 11,992 makes it the third-least-populated independent country in the world, with only

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

and

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

having fewer inhabitants. It is also one of the smallest member by population of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. In terms of physical land size, at just Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the

—0.44 km²;

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

—1.95 km² and

—21 km². It comprises four reef islands and five true

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

s. All of this makes a rugby infrastructure difficult to construct. Tuvalu's close relationship with

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, however, ensures that rugby union gets a lot of media coverage in Tuvalu.

External links

Rugby union starts up
* ( Tuvaluan
Lakapii ko kamata i Tuvalu

Federation of Oceania Rugby UnionsRugby sevens at the 2011 Pacific Games

References

{{Oceania in topic, Rugby union in

History

See also

External links

References