 | ||
| Nickname | To'a Niue XV | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | Niue Rugby Football Union | |
| Head coach | Metric Ikitoelagi | |
| Captain | Luke Gibb | |
| ||
| World Rugby ranking | ||
| Current | 101 (as of 29 January 2024) | |
| Highest | 94 (23 November 2020) | |
| First international | ||
 Fiji 124–4Niue  (Apia, Samoa; 10 September 1983) | ||
| Biggest win | ||
Niue 87–0Nauru  (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; 31 August 2019) | ||
| Biggest defeat | ||
| Fiji 124–4Niue (Apia, Samoa; 10 September 1983) | ||
TheNiue Island national rugby union team is the national team of the third tierrugby union playing nation ofNiue Island. The team first started playing in 1983 in mainly competes in theOceania Cup, which it won in 2008.[1] Rugby union in Niue Island is administered by theNiue Rugby Football Union.
Niue's first international match was at the 1983 South Pacific Games in Suva against hostsFiji. The Niueans managed to score a try against the eventual tournament winners but were defeated by 124–4.[2] The team found success in the 2008Oceania Cup, defeatingNew Caledonia by 27–5 in the final on 1 September 2008.[1]
As of 29 May 2013, Niue was ranked 71st in theIRB world rankings. The team had played 10 international matches by that time, four against theCook Islands and three againstTahiti. Other matches have been againstFiji,New Caledonia andVanuatu.[2]
Some of Niue's best players are professionals inNew Zealand. Former Niue captainMatt Faleuka played forNorthland before moving to Italian clubOvermach Rugby Parma in 2007.
While the Niue and the Cook Islands teams did not compete in thePacific Tri-Nations competition, they did supply players to the squad for thePacific Islanders' tour in 2004 (but not in 2006).
TheNiue sevens team have been active in the IRB World Sevens and the Commonwealth Games.
| Rugby World Cup record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Qualification status | ||||||
  1987 | Not Invited | ||||||
     1991 | Did Not Enter | ||||||
 1995 | Did Not Enter | ||||||
| 1999 | Did Not Enter | ||||||
| 2003 | Did Not Qualify | ||||||
| 2007 | Did Not Qualify | ||||||
| 2011 | Did Not Qualify | ||||||
| 2015 | Did Not Qualify | ||||||
 2019 | Did Not Qualify | ||||||
| 2023 | Did Not Qualify | ||||||
| 2027 | Did Not Enter | ||||||
 2031 | To be determined | ||||||
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cook Islands | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 28.57% |
| Fiji | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Nauru | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 New Caledonia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Papua New Guinea | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
 Solomon Islands | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.33% |
 Tahiti | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75% |
 Vanuatu | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Total | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0 | 47.83% |
The squad was selected for the 2019 Oceania Rugby Cup.
| Player | Position | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Gibb (c) | Hooker | Paremata-Plimmerton RFC |
| Matthew Jackson | Hooker | Krueger Crocs |
| Samuel Ikihega | Prop | Moorabbin Rams |
| Stephen Tapuosi | Prop | Chicago Lions |
| Morre Tukuniu | Prop | Southern Marlins |
| Maloney Taleni | Prop | Otahuhu RFC |
| Pierce Makaola | Lock | Northern Panthers |
| George Pamatatau | Lock | North Brisbane Rugby Club |
| Auston Puhotau | Lock | North Brisbane Rugby Club |
| Sagele Harrison | Lock | Coomera Crushers |
| Quinton Strickland | Flanker | Footscray R.U.F.C. |
| Togatule Kose | Flanker | Mareeba Gladiators |
| Nick Laufoli | Flanker | Kava Club |
| Randy Liuvaie | Number 8 | Freyberg Old Boys RFC |
| Khalum Halo | Scrum-half | Manukau Rovers RFC |
| Gavin Patuki | Scrum-half | Southern Cross |
| Shaun-Adam Atamu | Fly-half | Bombay R.F.C. |
| David Pamatatau | Fly-half | Coomera Crushers |
| Anthony Liuvaie | Centre | Old Boys University RFC |
| Lepau Feau-Fuhiniu | Centre | Old Boys University RFC |
| Dawson Mele | Centre | Southern Cross |
| Cyruss Payne | Wing | Marist Saints |
| Tui Leatigaga | Wing | Camden Rugby |
| Dee Saele Nanai | Wing | Manukau Rovers |
| Tonga Tongotongo | Wing | Manukau Rovers |
| Kegan Tuhega | Fullback | Pine Rivers Bears Junior League Club |
| Logan Norman | Fullback | Bangor RFC |
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