Rugby Samoa ( sm, Lakapi Samoa) is the governing body of the sport of
rugby union in
Samoa. Founded as the ''Apia Rugby Union'' in 1924, it was affiliated to the
New Zealand Rugby Football Union the same year.
[Jones, p10] It joined the
International Rugby Board as the ''Western Samoa Rugby Football Union'' in 1988. In 1997, when Western Samoa amended its constitution to change the country's name from ''Western Samoa'' to ''Samoa'', the union also changed its name, and dropped the word football to become the ''Samoa Rugby Union''. In November 2020, they changed their name to ''Lakapi Samoa'' which is
Samoan for ''Rugby Samoa''. They were formerly members of the
Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), 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 ...
and
Tonga.
The union is also a member of the
Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU).
There are 12 provincial unions made up of around 120 clubs and boasting nearly 5,000 senior and twice as many junior players in a country with a population of just under 175,000 people.
The main domestic tournament is the
Samoa National Provincial Championship.
National teams
The
Samoa national rugby union team perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the
siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the
Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), 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 ...
and
Tonga.
The
Samoa national rugby sevens team competes in the annual
World Rugby Sevens Series, and won the
2009–10 World Series. Samoa were crowned winners of the 2010 Edinburgh Sevens. The historic victory followed three consecutive tournament wins in the world series, the
Hong Kong Sevens, the
USA Sevens and the
Adelaide Sevens
The Australia Sevens is an international rugby sevens tournament that was first played in 1986. Currently hosted as the Sydney Sevens, the event is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was held in Brisbane, in Adelaide, and o ...
.
Financial problems
In November 2017, Samoa's prime minister and union chairman
Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi announced that the organisation was bankrupt,
although those claims were denied by world governing body
World Rugby.
Notes
References
*
External links
Official websiteWebsite for supporters of the Manu Samoa
{{Authority control
Rugby union in Samoa
Rugby union governing bodies in Oceania
World Rugby members
Sports organizations established in 1924