The FRU was originally established as the Fiji Rugby Football Union, with the change in title coming about in 1963.

[2] Rugby football was introduced into Fiji in the 1884 if not earlier, by Britons and New Zealanders, and Fijian soldiers of the Native Constabulary at Ba, on Viti Levu.

In its early years, it faced off strong competition from association football, but by 1904, rugby had won out as the stronger code in Fiji, and remains so today.

[2] At the turn of the twentieth century, a lot of the regular players were expatriates, however, by 1904, a domestic club competition had been organised; in the early years, there were racially segregated leagues with whites and native Fijians playing separately.

During this period, Sheehan arranged for the All Blacks to stop in Fiji on their way home from a tour of California in the United States.

[3] The Fijian team was made up of Europeans, as were most of the clubs at this point, though by now the locals had taken an enthusiastic interest in the game.

By the following year, locals had formulated their own competition, and the clubs Taipou, Tarirere, Hill and Ofisa (police) had been established.

The match was played in Samoa at 7 in the morning, so the Fijians could later continue onto Tonga that same day, as well, so the Samoans could work after the game.

[2][4] In 1926, two overseas sides visited Fiji, being the Auckland University College and the national team of Tonga.

This became the first time that the national side of Fiji would wear their now traditional white jerseys and black shorts.

The team became famous for becoming the first side to leave New Zealand without losing a match - winning seven and drawing one of their eight fixtures.

After their final match against the New Zealand Maori, a newspaper wrote that "Fiji is destined to play a big part in world rugby".

[2] Fiji returned two years later, achieving the same test series result, and breaking further crowd records.

[1] Despite its isolation and small population, Fiji has regularly punched above its weight,[1] and threatened to challenge the "Big Eight" - one of the most recent examples of this was in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

They were subsequently defeated by the All Blacks, 74 to 13, and Italy, 18 to 15, but they still finished second in their group, which allowed them to go through to the quarter-finals where they lost to France, 16 to 31.

Fiji found itself increasingly excluded from the Tri-Nation group - Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - which denied them entry to the Super 12, and hindered development of the game internationally.

On the one hand, it meant that the Fiji team could call on professional talent, and on the other, it meant a "brawn drain", as players such as Serevi, Rosari, Bale and Vidiri were drawn out of Fiji, and into the leagues of Japan and New Zealand, which diminished the domestic competition.

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup Fiji were grouped in pool B with Australia, Wales, Japan and Canada.

[1] Some notable Fijian players include - Two Fijian players were chosen for the President's Overseas XV squad, selected to play England at the anniversary of the English Rugby Football Union: Skipper Cup This is the top tier domestic competition in Fiji.

The Colonial Cup was introduced by the Fiji Rugby Union to identify and prepare local players for the international stage.

Fiji also participate in the IRB Pacific 5 Nations, again with Samoa and Tonga, as well as Japan and the Junior All Blacks.

However, at the 2006 event, Fiji put an end to their winning streak, becoming the 2006 World Sevens Series champions.