SYDNEY (AP) " A Fiji team will join Australia's National Rugby Championship in 2017, laying the platform for a potential future push for a Pacific island team in Super Rugby. To help Fiji keep some homegrown talent at home, World Rugby is underwriting the participation of the Fiji Warriors in Australia's NRC. Super Rugby has recently expanded beyond Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to Japan and Argentina. And the Pacific islands, a long-time nursery of rugby talent, would be a popular addition in any further expansion. World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said he was committed to working with the unions in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga because the "Pacific Islands play a major role in the sport's heritage and future."

Source: New Zealand Herald October 14, 2016 05:26 UTC