In a historic move, the Wallabies and Flying Fijians will now compete for the Vuvale Bowl - which will be presented to the winners by the Prime Ministers of Australia and Fiji on July 5.
The attendance of the Hon Anthony Albanese and the Hon Sitiveni Rabuka at next week's Test in Newcastle has been viewed by both as an opportunity to deepen relations - both personally and between the two nations - with Prime Minister Rabuka being a former Fijian Test front-rower.
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“Rugby Australia is delighted to welcome Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Rabuka to Newcastle to watch our proud national teams battle for the Vuvale Bowl,” Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said.
“The meeting of the Prime Ministers at the Wallabies-Fiji Test to celebrate the game is a powerful statement of the diplomatic, economic and cultural bonds Australia and Fiji share through rugby.
“Rugby Australia and the Australian Government ‘s PacificAus Sports program continue to work closely with our great friends in Fiji to grow the Fijian Drua’s men’s and women’s programs and the community game.
“We look forward to deepening cooperation and engagement between our two countries and evolving our partnership through rugby.”
Fiji and Australia previously competed for the men's Kava Bowl, as it was then named, which was first presented to Australia following their successful tour to Fiji in 1984.
Rugby Australia later gifted the bowl to Ilivasi Tabua, the Fiji-born flanker who represented the Wallabies at the 1995 World Cup.
Tabua has since returned the bowl to the Fijian Rugby Union, who agreed for it become the prize between the two nations once again under the new name 'Vuvale' - translating from Fijian to mean 'my home is your home.'
The Vuvale Bowl is also contested by the Wallaroos and Fijiana. Australia currently hold the women's Vuvale Bowl following their 43-7 win at HFC Stadium in Suva on May 3.
“I am so honoured to welcome my friend, the Prime Minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka, to Australia in July,” Prime Minister Albanese said in an official statement.
“I was with the Prime Minister only a few weeks ago, and reiterated the importance of our strong economic, security and people-to-people relationships with Fiji.
“I also noted, however, that for 80-odd minutes in July that friendship will become a very competitive one, as we watch Fiji take on the Wallabies in Newcastle – one of Australia’s great sporting cities.
“This will be a fantastic match and I know it will be well supported by Novocastrians and those travelling to see these two great rugby nations in action.”
“I look forward to attending the Fiji vs Wallabies match next week and standing in support of our national team,” Prime Minister Rabuka added.
“Sport is a powerful tool of diplomacy that continues to strengthen our renewed and elevated Vuvale Partnership with Australia and unites our people through shared passion and respect.”
PacificAus Sports is an Australian Government sports diplomacy initiative developing pathways for Pacific teams and athletes to compete in elite competitions and access high performance coaching in Australia and internationally.
The program partners with Australian national sports organisations to support a range of Pacific sports, including rugby league, rugby union, netball, football, AFL, cricket and Olympic/Paralympic sports, with funding split evenly between women and men.
PacificAus Sports also partners with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to promote Pacific sport through ABC Television’s That Pacific Sports Show and ABC Radio’s Fresh Off the Field.
The high performance outcomes of PacificAus Sports are complemented by the Australian Government’s Team Up program, which focuses on sport for development in the Pacific.
For more information about PacificAus Sports and its initiatives, visit https://www.pacificaussports.gov.au/ and follow PacificAus Sports on Facebook.
