Vanuatu Rugby Football Union

The Vanuatu Rugby Football Union, or VRFU, is the governing body for rugby union in Vanuatu. It was established in the 1960s, but only became fully affiliated with World Rugby, then the International Rugby Board, in 1999.[1]

Vanuatu Rugby Football Union
SportRugby union
Founded1966; 58 years ago (1966) (est.) (1966; 58 years ago (1966) (est.))
World Rugby affiliation1999
Oceania Rugby affiliation2000
WebsiteVRFU

The Vanuatu Rugby Football Union is a full member of the Oceania Rugby, which is the regional governing body of the rugby union in Oceania.[2]

National teams

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Vanuatu's national team, the Tuskers, has not yet played in a world cup but has competed at the South Pacific Games, including winning a bronze medal for rugby 15s (as New Hebrides) in 1966.[3] Vanuatu fields teams in 7s competitions as well as 15s. The national women's 7s team was established in 2011.[4]

In 2015 the country sent an Under 20 team to the yearly regional tournament, Oceania Rugby Junior Trophy where the team would come against pacific neighbors like Fiji, Tonga and PNG. The team came into the competition with some confidence after boasting some top local players and was led by their captain who was based in New Zealand the team was hungry for success. Unfortunately the team proved to be undersized compared to their much larger opposition eventually finishing the tournament with 0 wins, 3 losses and recording only 1 scored in the whole tournament. This proved to be a disappointment to the team who were looking to play with a high tempo game due to their smaller stature. The final results from the 3 round tournament are as follows:

Round 1: Tonga 81 Vanuatu 0, Fiji 63 Papua New Guinea 0

Round 2: Tonga 55 Papua New Guinea 16, Fiji 109 Vanuatu 6

Round 3: Fiji 19 Tonga 10, Papua New Guinea 80 Vanuatu 7

See also

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Reference list

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  1. ^ "IRB Handbook" (PDF). International Rugby Board. 2013. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  2. ^ "Member Unions: Vanuatu Rugby Football Union". oceaniarugby.com. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Independence cup". Vanuatu Rugby Union. 21 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Women sevens pre-squad". Vanuatu Rugby Union. 10 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.