The national side is ranked 91st in the world (as of June, 2009)[2] and has played just 8 matches.
The governing body is the Vanuatu Rugby Football Union based at Port Vila.
Rugby union reached Vanuatu via both the French and the British, as well as contacts with neighbouring islands.
Before independence in 1980, the New Hebrides were a unique form of colonial territory in which sovereignty was shared by two great powers - Britain and France - instead of exercised by just one.
This divide continues even after independence, with schools either teaching in one language or the other, and between different political parties.