The Niue Island national rugby union team is the national team of the third tier rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 playing nation of Niue Island. They first started playing in 1983 and have played just 10 games to date, four against the Cook Islands

Cook Islands national rugby union team

The Cook Islands is a third tier rugby union playing nation. They began playing international rugby in the early 1971. Thus far, the Cook Islands have not made an appearance at any of the World Cups.-History:...

 and three against Tahiti

Tahiti national rugby union team

The Tahiti national rugby union team is a third tier rugby union team, representing the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. They first played in 1971 and have played just 12 games to date, four against the Cook Islands and three against Niue. Other games have...

. Other games have been played against Fiji

Fiji national rugby union team

The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...

, New Caledonia

New Caledonia national rugby union team

The New Caledonia national rugby union team represents New Caledonia in rugby union. They have not yet qualified for the Rugby World Cup, and all their matches have been against minor national Oceanian rugby teams. Their biggest win was 24–6 over Wallis and Futuna in 1966, and their biggest...

 and Vanuatu

Vanuatu national rugby union team

The Vanuatu national rugby union team represents Vanuatu in the sport of rugby union. The team is classified as a tier three nation by the International Rugby Board , and they have yet to qualify for a Rugby World Cup. They made their international debut in 1966. The team is nicknamed the Tuskers,...

. They have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

. Rugby union in Niue Island is administered by the Niue Rugby Football Union

Niue Rugby Football Union

Niue Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in Niue. It was founded in 1952 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1999.The Niue Rugby Football Union are also members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance....

.

While Niue and the Cook Islands

Cook Islands Rugby Union

The Cook Islands Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Cook Islands. It was founded in 1989 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1995.The Cook Islands Rugby Union are also members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance....

 are not members of the Pacific Tri-Nations

Pacific Tri-Nations

The Pacific Tri-Nations is the traditional rugby union series between Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. It was established in 1982 with the Samoan team, then known as Western Samoa, winning the tournament...

 competition, they did supply players to the squad for the Pacific Islanders'

Pacific Islanders rugby union team

The Pacific Islanders rugby union team is an international rugby union team, started in 2004, that represents Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. While Niue and the Cook Islands are not members of the Pacific Tri-Nations competition, they did supply players to the squad for the Pacific Islanders' tour in 2004...

 tour in 2004 (but not in 2006). Some of the best Niue players are professionals in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Matt Faleuka

Matt Faleuka

Matthew Faleuka Tagelagi , known as Matt Faleuka, is a Niuean rugby union footballer. He plays as a wing and as a fullback.-Career:...

, the teams capitan, played for Northland

Northland Rugby Union

The Northland Rugby Football Union is the governing body of rugby union in the Northland region of New Zealand.-History:Rugby was first played in Northland in the 1870s, and the first union was set up in the province in 1895, known as the Marsden Football Union. The Northland union was founded in...

, moving recently to Overmach Rugby Parma, in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Niue won the 2008 Oceania Cup

FORU Oceania Cup

The FORU Oceania Cup, where "FORU" stands for "Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions", is an international rugby union competition between nine countries and territories of Oceania: American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Wallis and...

 by defeating New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

27-5 in the final on 1 September 2008.

External links

• Report of the FORU Oceania Cup Final