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The Pacific Islanders is an international rugby union team selected from players eligible for any of the nations in the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance—Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, as well as the Cook Islands and Niue (while players from the latter two countries are eligible, only one player, Tu Tamarua from the Cook Islands, has been selected for the Pacific Islanders).

From 2004, the team began a series of international rugby tours every two years. On the inaugural 2004 tour, they played Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. On the 2006 tour, they played Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and on the 2008 tour, England, France, and Italy.

The Pacific Islanders have not played since, following Samoa's withdrawal from the alliance in 2009, stating that the commercial venture would not generate sufficient revenue after the International Rugby Board had changed the schedule for the team to tour every four years instead of every two years.

Origins
When rugby union abandoned a century of amateurism for professionalism in 1995, the future of the game in the Pacific Islands looked bleak. Professional contracts enticed Pacific Islander players to clubs around the world

in every corner of the globe, Pacific rugby administration remained an amateur affair and officials feared that their countries' unique contribution to the sport was being marginalised by the commercial landscape. On the pitch Tier I nations vanquished Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga and other Tier II nationsinvcreasingly wide score-lines.

The increased appearance of Pacific Islander athletes in the New Zealand and Australian national teams rasied heated debates about "poaching" and eligibility. Attempts by the Paciic nations to organise tours and RWC qualifying campoaigns were hindered by a lack of sponsorship and above all by professional cl;ubs abroad that discouraged pacific Islander players from representing their national teams.

In response the Pacific nations highlighted their plight to the sporting press, fashioned strategic plans and pressured the IRB and the New Zealand and Australian rugby unions.

In 2002 the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was founded

The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was formed in 2002 to create an amalgamated Fiji, Samoa and Tonga side on the British Lions model. The team, it was hoped, would expose players to elite competition, generate income, and lobby for inclusion of a Pacific team in the Super 12 or Tri Nations competitions.

But after three Pacific Islander Tours, the project stalled when the Samoa Rugby Union withdrew its membership.

The coach is appointed by the Islanders board and in turn supported by the national coaches of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Its team, the Pacific Islanders, is drawn from the best Fijian, Tongan and Samoan players, and

2004—Tour of Australia and New Zealand
The team created far more interest on their inaugural 2004 tour than any of the three nations could have hoped to individually. Despite losing every test match, 14-29 vs Australia, 26-41 vs New Zealand and 24-38 vs South Africa, they were impressive in all three tests and played full strength teams, something that had rarely happened when major nations played Tonga, Fiji or Samoa. The Islanders did, however, beat a Queensland XV 48-29 at Ballymore and New South Wales 68-21 at Aussie Stadium.

2006—Tour of Europe
As the individual nations were primarily concerned with qualifying for the next World Cup the Islanders did not tour again until 2006. Scheduled matches against Italy and New Zealand in June 2006 did not take place, but they undertook a Northern Hemisphere tour in late 2006 with matches against Scotland, Wales and Ireland. PIRA had ruled in July 2006 that the team selected for that year's tour to Great Britain and Ireland would consist only of players who had previously played for Fiji, Manu Samoa or Tonga. This was intended to ensure that the Pacific Islanders team serves to develop players for the island nations only. Notably, two players on the 2004 tour, Sione Lauaki and Sitiveni Sivivatu (the latter the Islanders' leading scorer on that tour), went on to play for the All Blacks. During that tour, they were the last opponents of at their traditional home of Lansdowne Road before its redevelopment into a modern all-seater stadium. The Pacific Islanders were beaten in all three matches.

2008—Tour of Europe
In November 2008, the team toured Europe and played Tests against England, France and Italy. The team's manager was Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka, former Prime Minister of Fiji and author of two military coups in 1987. Though it began with two defeats, the tour ended with the Islanders' first ever win over European opposition, with a 25-17 victory in Italy.

2009—Samoa quits PIRA
The Samoa Rugby Union informed fellow Alliance members Fiji and Tonga that it has decided to quit the alliance because the merged Pacific Island team had failed to produce financial benefits sought by member unions. SRU Chairman, Peter Schuster, stated:

Future status
There was much speculation about what role the Islanders would play in international rugby. Many hoped that they would be admitted into an expanded Super 12 competition or perhaps the Tri Nations. These hopes were dashed for the time being when the organisers of the Super 12 and the Tri Nations, SANZAR, opted to expand the Super 14 by adding one team each in Australia and South Africa and add an extra round of fixtures to the Tri Nations without adding any new teams. As of 2006, it appears they will be similar to the British and Irish Lions but tour every two years instead of four. Touring once every four years would probably not generate enough revenue to transform the finances of Pacific rugby; the 2004 tour did make a modest profit, despite initial reports that the PIRA lost money.

A Super Rugby spot would provide a career path for island players so they wouldn't have to take their skills abroad. However there would need to be a clear differential between that team and one that plays international tests. It would also have to be clear that their status is lower than that of the three national sides.

If they joined the Tri Nations this might prevent the occasional player playing for New Zealand or Australia, but it might also prevent players playing tests for the three nations and their profiles and fixtures would decrease even further. If they played in the World Cup, the coaches of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga would become little more than provincial coaches.

2004
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2006
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