Learn more about Rugby Australia’s partnership with PacificAus Sports here.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Teuila International 7s, hosted annually by Lakapi Samoa, has become a showcase of
\nPacific rugby talent, and for the Indigenous Australian women, this marks their first-ever international tour.<\/p>\n
The Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team, or \u2018Lloydies\u2019, played a pivotal role in
\npreparing the squad.<\/p>\n
For more than two decades, Lloydies have created pathways for young Indigenous athletes, continuing the legacy of Lloyd McDermott \u2013 the second First Nations player to represent Australia as a Wallaby.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving our First Nations women\u2019s team tour Samoa for the first time is incredibly
\nspecial,\u201d said Rugby Australia\u2019s First Nations Rugby Manager, Matthew Sonter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese players are representing their families, communities, and culture with pride, while also showing the next generation of young Indigenous women what\u2019s possible through rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the players is team captain Renae Nona, who has represented both the Queensland Reds and Western Force, and described the opportunity to pull on a Lloydies jersey overseas as “a dream come true”. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always looked up to the women who paved the way in rugby, and now to wear the
\nLloydies jersey in Samoa feels amazing,\u201d said Nona.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about more than just playing, it\u2019s about representing who we are, our stories, and where we come from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the rugby field, the tour also includes a strong community engagement program, providing players a chance to connect with Samoan communities on a deeper level \u2013 building friendships, learning from local traditions, and proudly showcasing First Nations culture in return.<\/p>\n
Australian High Commissioner to Samoa, Will Robinson, said tours like this highlight the power of sport to strengthen the Samoa\u2013Australia relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cSport is one of the strongest bridges we have between our two countries,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough PacificAus Sports, Australia is delighted to support this historic First Nations women\u2019s tour, which will deepen our friendship with Samoa, share culture, and open up new opportunities for young athletes. It\u2019s about building lasting ties that go well beyond the rugby field.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sense of connection was evident during last year\u2019s First Nations men\u2019s tour to Samoa,
\nwhere players not only bonded with local communities but also gained invaluable experience on the international stage.<\/p>\n
Kye Oates and Jarrah McLeod went from representing the Lloydies in the Pacific to signing Super Rugby contracts with the ACT Brumbies, while teammate Gage Phillips secured a full-time deal with the Australian Men\u2019s Sevens program. <\/p>\n
The women\u2019s side are now expected to follow in those footsteps \u2013 using the tour to showcase their talent, embrace cultural exchange, and build even closer connections with Samoa.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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’s and men’s sports.<\/p>\n
PacificAus Sports also partners with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to promote Pacific sport through ABC Television\u2019s That Pacific Sports Show and ABC Radio\u2019s Fresh Off the Field.<\/p>\n
The high-performance outcomes of PacificAus Sports are complemented by the Australian Government\u2019s Team Up program, which focuses on sport for development in the Pacific.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To build on the strong rugby union ties between Samoa and Australia, an Indigenous Australian Women\u2019s national rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,81693,760,85],"class_list":["post-134534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-pacificaus-sport","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}