The Tahiti national rugby union team is a 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...

 team, representing the island of Tahiti

Tahiti

Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...

 in French Polynesia

French Polynesia

French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...

, an overseas collectivity of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. They first played in 1971 and have played just 12 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 Niue

Niue national rugby union team

The Niue Island national rugby union team is the national team of the third tier rugby union playing nation of Niue Island. They first started playing in 1983 and have played just 10 games to date, four against the Cook Islands and three against Tahiti. Other games have been played against Fiji,...

. Other games have been played against Samoa

Samoa national rugby union team

The Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...

, Wallis and Futuna

Wallis and Futuna national rugby union team

The Wallis and Futuna national rugby union team represents Wallis and Futuna in rugby union. They have not yet qualified for the rugby world cup. Their first international was against Papua New Guinea, who beat them 54-5 in 1966. Wallis and Futuna recorded their first, and as yet only, victory...

, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea national rugby union team

The Papua New Guinea national rugby union team represent Papua New Guinea in the sport of rugby union. Nicknamed the Pukpuks, , they played their first international in 1966, defeating Vanuatu 47-3. Papua New Guinea have not so far qualified for a Rugby World Cup...

 and Tonga

Tonga national rugby union team

The Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed Ikale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Kailao . They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and Samoa...

. France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

 played a match against Tahiti at the end of their 1979 tour

1979 France rugby union tour of Fiji and New Zealand

The 1979 France rugby union tour of Fiji New Zealand was a series of ten matches played in June and July 1979 by the France national rugby union team in Fiji, New Zealand and Tahiti. The team won seven matches and lost three, including defeats to provincial teams Waikato and Southland...

 and won 92-12. Plans to have annual "test" match series against Pacific island neighbours, New Caledonia have been put on hold, due to time, availability, finances, and coaching and refereeing resources. 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 Tahiti is administered by the Fédération Tahitienne de Rugby de Polynésie Française

Fédération Tahitienne de Rugby de Polynésie Française

The Tahiti Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Tahiti. It was founded in 1989 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1994.-See also:*Tahiti national rugby union team*Rugby union in Tahiti...

. Currently, players who have not yet represented or played for the Tahiti national rugby team, are still eligible to represent France. However, playing at a professional level can only enable this. At present there are no fulltime professional rugby players abroad in any professional competition.

World Cup

• 1987 Rugby World Cup
  1987 Rugby World Cup
  The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. New Zealand and Australia agreed to co-host the first ever tournament with New Zealand hosting seventeen pool stage matches, two quarter-finals and the final with Australia being the junior partner hosting seven pool matches, two...
  
  : Not Invited
• 1991 Rugby World Cup
  1991 Rugby World Cup
  The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France; at that time, the five European countries that participated in the Five Nations Championship making it the first Rugby World Cup to be staged in the...
  
  : Did Not Qualify
• 1995 Rugby World Cup
  1995 Rugby World Cup
  The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
  
  : Did Not Qualify
• 1999 Rugby World Cup
  1999 Rugby World Cup
  The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
  
  : Did Not Qualify
• 2003 Rugby World Cup
  2003 Rugby World Cup
  The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
  
  : Did Not Qualify
• 2007 Rugby World Cup
  2007 Rugby World Cup
  The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
  
  : Did Not Qualify

Notable players

• Timi Frogier
• Richard Mapuhi
• Tauirai Bessert
• Apolosi Foliaki
• Tihoti Tamarono
• Maxime Mermoz
• Sebastien Va'amahina