Fiji News
The Fiji national Rugby League test side have represented the country since 1992 from where they have evolved into one of the strongest test sides in the world.
Nicknamed the Bati, Fiji are always well represented by players born in the country and even plying their trade there but also lots of NRL stars.
No matter if you are Fijian wanting to keep up to date with all of the latest news, if you are interested in the team/country or if your country are about to play the Bati, here at 13v13, we will brin you all of the latest Fiji Bati news headlines from around the world.
Fiji Breaking News
As a leading country on the global stage, there is always lots of news regarding the Bati and as soon as the next news story breaks, we will bring it to your right here via our Fiji Bati breaking news service.
Fiji Latest News Today
If you have heard a rumour and are wanting to see if it is true or not or if you have simply been away from the internet and are looking to keep up to date, don’t worry, as we save you from having to search for the latest news from today.
Stadium
Most of the ‘home’ matches for Fiji unfortunately take place in Australia but when they do get to welcome teams, it is at the National Stadium in Suva where the action will likely take place.
The stadium is a modern multi-sport stadium, with a main stand capable of hosting around 4,000 fans and with an overall capacity between 10-15,000.
Confederation
Fiji are part of the Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation (APRLC) which governs the majority of teams in the southern hemisphere.
About
Fiji may have been late comers to the 13-man code on the international stage but there have been lots of players who have swapped the 15-man code for the 13-man one and with great success.
Players such as Joe Levula and Laitia Ravouvou became stars of the sport for the Rochdale Hornets in the 1960’s.
History
Rugby League on the international level in Fiji can be traced back to 1992, when a representative side went to Samoa and battle to a 32-18 loss.
Fiji have always enjoyed success in the 7s version of Rugby Union, and it was no surprise to see that athleticism and skill quickly transfer over to the 13-man code as the sport started to become hugely popular in the country.
The first big home-grown superstar of the modern era was Noa Nadruku who would go on to join the Canberra Raiders and who would become the top try scorer for them in 1993.
In 1994, they took on and defeated a Great Britain Amateur (BARLA) side and they would also go onto to defeat France.
They made the step up to the global stage for the first time in 1995 where they met both England and Australia at the Rugby League World Cup.
They would see the same fete at the 2000 event, so it was no surprise to see them struggle at both, although they did pick up a big win against South Africa in 95.
Fiji qualified for the 2008 world cup by defeating Tonga and the Cook Islands and they would go on to have a much more successful tournament starting with a big win over France.
Despite a loss to Scotland, they would make it to the knockout stage for the first and after beating Ireland in the quarterfinals, they would lose to Australia in the semi-final.
Fiji would once again make the knockout stages of the 2013 RLWC and they once again made the semi-finals after defeating Samoa in the quarters. They would lose heavily to Australia at the iconic Wembley Stadium at the semi-final stage.
Over the next few years, they would lose to Samoa and PNG but also pick up the inaugural Melanesian Cup in 2015 against the Kumuls.
At the 2017 Rugby League World, they would record one of the biggest shocks in international Rugby League history when they took on and defeat New Zealand in the group stage, but they would once again lose to the Kangaroos at the semi-final stage.
In 2020, the country got a huge boost as the Kaivit Siltails, a club based in Lautoka, were granted permission to join the New South Wales competition over in Australia and after a year in the Ron Massey Cup development league, they made the step up to the New South Wales Cup.
That allows for the leading domestic Fijian players to play as a full time professional whilst still been based in the country.
It also allows big names with NRL experience to head over to Fiji and to help spread the game even more in the country and that should only lead to improvements on the international stage as local players get to prove themselves and hopefully make the step up to the NRL or Super League level.
Fiji News Headlines
Here at 13v13 we bring you all the latest Fiji Bati news headlines from outlets around the globe. If a story breaks regarding the country, we will bring it to you so no longer do you need to keep searching the web, as we do all the work for you.
Fiji News Update
When a story does break, the chances are that their will be a number of updates as more becomes known and when those updates do happen, we will also bring them to you.
In the era of 24-hour news channel and the rush for online sources to be the first to post a story in the hope of it going viral, stories often break when only a part of the information is known.
That can be frustrating for fans as you must search out the rest of the story later, with the original news outlet often not even bothering to update things.
Here are 13v23, we bring you all the updates from all of the outlets we feature to give you the full picture in one place.