Fiji national rugby union team

The final 12 spots will qualify through the Olympic Reaper Charge tournament in June 2028, where eight men's and eight women's teams will contest to book their tickets to Los Angeles.

The Flying Fijians have named four debutants to face Canada in the Pacific Nations Cup semi-final in Osaka tomorrow.

Head coach Steni Rusi Seruvukula says the four join a number of experienced players from the Fijian Undurua Club.

Meanwhile, Canada have also named their line-up with coach Stephen Meehan, saying their game plan will be to disrupt Fiji's attacks and stop the Islanders from controlling the ball.

The two teams clash in the first Pacific Nations Cup semi-final on Saturday night with Japan and USA meeting in the second semi-final on Sunday.

That's your latest news and sport from RNZ Pacific.

The US have momentum and Fiji are trying to rediscover their best form.

So let's begin with the Flying Fijians because Fiji's relationship with this competition is extraordinary.

They'd won the PNC a record seven times, and they enter the 2026 competition as back-to-back champions.

Fiji defeated Japan in the final in 2024, then did exactly the same thing again in 2025.

Before we finish, here are five players or storylines I'll be watching particularly closely.

Number one, Teru Kamani from Fiji.

An elite sevens player stepping into the flying Fijians environment.

His acceleration, footwork and ability in broken field are obvious.

So every- everyone, every, every young Fijian aspiring to become a, a professional rugby player sees rugby as, as, as a ticket to, to help their families, you know? A ticket to, to get out of the village and bring their families out of poverty and all that type of stuff, you know? And I think the draw, the draw is big set up to-- for, for that gives them every hope, you know? And, you know, a good, good friend of mine, Nemani Nandolo over there running the pathways, and he, he, he's constantly every day seeing so much talent, and he's, he's baffled in his mindset trying to think, "Who, who do I pick here?" [chuckles] There's so much talent out there, you know? And it's just great to see that, that the draw have formed this and, and give an opportunity for our people to get out, you know? And or not to get out, but to showcase Fijian flair, you know, Fijian rugby, you know, and it's just one of the probably the most entertaining teams in the world.

And for me to go and be a part of that, you know, is, is probably just a, a massive, a massive honor and privilege for me, you know? And just to be a part of a, an organization that's, that's, that's gonna be producing the next crop of guns, that's gonna be becoming the next Flying Fijian, you know? And that's the draw.

The draw has been formed to, to create that pathway from professional rugby into the national team, you know? And for myself to be able to, to, to go and be a part of that and, and, and give my lifelike experience and, and mentor and, and coach, you know, these, these young players to come through is, is, is probably an honor for me.

You know, it's a huge honor for myself in- especially in my career, you know? I never, I never thought that I'd see-- I never thought that the draw would probably be where I start my career.

You know, like y- they, they, they don't pay a lot of attention to it, you know, line-- to line-out mauling and stuff like that.

But every offload is, is, is spot on, you know? And then it's crazy because it's, it's, it's something that Fiji rugby needs to get right and, and it's definitely, it's definitely on the rise.

And, and I think, I believe, you know, when, when I joined the, when I joined the Flying Fijians a long time ago, and we, we weren't actually perceived as, as a set-piece type of country, uh, in, in terms of the way we play rugby, and I, I made it my, my mission to change that and, and, and we, we done-- we've gone, we've done really, really well, and I believe we started a legacy with that, with that, with that, you know, moving forward.

And me being brought into this system now with the draw, I think I have so much to offer in terms of making players, and especially f- the front rowers and the tight five in general, be- being more knowledgeable to set piece in terms of scrummaging, line out, and giving them the artillery to understand what are we doing here, what are we doing there, why are we doing this, you know? And then changing behaviors in terms of trying to love mauling, trying to love scrummaging, putting your head in a dark place, you know? The Fijians aren't too prone into it, you know? But, but when they get it right, you know, they, they, they're definitely, they're definitely world-class, you know? And we've seen it before, and it's been there before, but we've sort of dropped off in the last couple years, and it's, it's probably a huge responsibility of mine, as mine especially, joining on with the Drua next year to try and get that back on par and, and see how, how well we can go with it.

I wear it with pride, a lot of gratitude.

It's a pretty surreal feeling that growing up I've always been watching the Fijian Rugby, Fijian Rugby Sevens and to have that same logo on my, same flag on my jersey is a pretty surreal feeling to be honest.

Now, let's look at your

last 12 months.

That was Fiji.

And that's worth discussing because the Flying Fijians' relationship with the Pacific Nations Cup tells us something about the transformation of Fiji rugby itself.

For many years, Fiji were famous for unpredictability, extraordinary athletes, attacking rugby, seven superstars, but consistency in fifteen-a-side rugby could be difficult.

Over time, that changed.

Maybe the question is, has international rugby finally grown beyond the structure that the PNC was originally created to provide? And then we arrive at Fiji.

Because Fiji now occupy a completely different position.

The Flying Fijians are no longer simply part of rugby's emerging group.

Their performances have pushed them closer to the top table.

The money will be split across forty-eight states, plus the District of Columbia and three other states, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

In sport, Highlanders rep Izaac Ratumaitavuki, uh, Ni- Nipkins hasn't been named in the Flying Fijians squad to play at the upcoming Pacific Nations Cup.

He is one of seven new caps in the squad for the cup, which will be hosted by Japan next month.

The twenty-five-year-old, who qualifies to play for Fiji through s- Fijian heritage, has been a key player for the Highlanders in the Super Rugby Pacific competition since twenty twenty-two.

The Flying Fijians will meet Canada on twelfth September, while Japan will face the US Eagles in the other game of the day in Osaka.

[mouse clicking] So, um, Mau couldn't hold back the tears after retieri-- uh, after achieving his dream of becoming an All Black.

The Highlanders prop made his debut off the bench in the forty-one, thirty-five win over the Lions in Johannesburg yesterday and helped steady the All Blacks scrum after some earlier troubles.