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...

 in 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...

is a minor but growing sport.

History

Rugby union was first introduced into New Caledonia by the French, and has been played there for at least a century. New Caledonia is still a French colony, and this has proven a mixed blessing, as players have the prospect of "promotion" to French professionalism/semi-amateurism, but this also potentially weakens the New Caledonian system, removing players, and disallowing them to represent their own country.

Rugby Sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

 has been a sport in the South Pacific Games

South Pacific Games

The Pacific Games is a multi-sport event, much like the Olympics , with participation exclusively from countries around the South Pacific. It is held every four years and began in 1963, hosted by Suva, Fiji.- Concept :The idea of holding the South Pacific Games originated with Dr A.H...

 since the late 1990s.

There is also a semi-formal league structure.

New Caledonia took part in a rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

 tournament in the Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

in June, 2009.

External links

• Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions, New Caledonia page
• New Caledonia scenes and its rugby team
• The Fiji Women’s U-19 rugby team tours New Caledonia.
• Wallisian rugby player in New Caledonia murder trial
• Oceania Nations, New Caledonia
• Colonial Rugby ! Noumea, New Caledonia c.1905
• Two days of rugby union sevens Archives du Rugby: Nouvelle Caledonie