TEIVOVO.COM – FMF FLYING FIJIANS

The elusive running Norman Ligairi came onto the scene with the NZ Fijians at the Fiji 7s in 1998, though he had played for Fiji U21s in 1996.

While with Nadroga, he made the Fiji U23 team against Canada in 1999. He played in the winning team at the 2000 Hong Kong 10s and the Melrose 7s before making his Test debut against Tonga that May.

The following year, Ligairi was promoted to the run-on team and showed terrific pace to score great tries against Samoa and Tonga. He played in all eight Tests of 2002, scoring a brace of tries against the All Blacks and two more against Tonga. Scored some outstanding tries at the World Cup and played two solid games in the Pacific Tri-Nations in June 2004.

Consistency has given him the fullback's berth from 2004-2006. A reliable man to have as last line of defence, Norman was drafted back into the 2005-06 IRB 7s series for the Singapore 7s where his power helped Fiji dump England 40-19 in the final.

Fiji record:
2000

15 July	v ITALY at Churchill Park in Lautoka	W	43-9	(+70), T
7 July	v CANADA at Apia Park in Apia	W	42-11	(+75)
30 June	v USA at Apia Park in Apia	W	37-21	(+65)
3 June	v SAMOA at Apia Park in Apia	L	17-31
26 May	v TONGA at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku'alofa	W	25-22	(+)

2001

9 June	v SAMOA at National Stadium in Suva	L	27-36	T
16 June	v TONGA at Churchill Park in Lautoka	W	25-20	(-), 2T
23 June	v SAMOA at Apia Park in Apia	W	22-19	(-)
4 July	v CANADA at Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo	W	52-23	(-)
8 July	v SAMOA at Chichibunomiya Stadium in Tokya	W	28-17

2002

1 June	v SAMOA at Apia Park in Apia	W	17-16
7 June	v TONGA at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku'alofa	W	47-22
22 June	v SAMOA at Prince Charles Park in Nadi	L	12-22
29 June	v NEW ZEALAND at Westpac Trust Stadium in Wellington	L	18-68	2T
6 July	v TONGA at Prince Charles Park in Nadi	W	47-20	(-75), 2T
9 Nov	v WALES at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff	L	14-58
17 Nov	v IRELAND at Lansdowne Road in Dublin	L	17-64
24 Nov	v SCOTLAND at Murrayfield in Edinburgh	L	22-36	T

2003

18 Aug	v ARGENTINA at Cordoba Stadium in Cordoba	L	30-49
24 Aug	v CHILE at Prince of Wales Club in Santiago	W	41-16	(-)
11 Oct	v FRANCE at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane	L	18-61	(-59)
23 Oct	v JAPAN at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville	W	41-13	2T
1 Nov	v SCOTLAND at Aussie Stadium in Sydney	L	20-22

2004

5 June	v TONGA at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku'alofa	W	27-26
12 June	v SAMOA at National Stadium in Suva	W	29-3	T

2005

3 Jun	v NZ MAORIS at National Stadium in Suva	L	27-29
10 Jun	v NEW ZEALAND at North Harbour Stadium in Albany	L	0-91
25 Jun	v TONGA at National Stadium in Suva	W	19-11
9 Jul	v SAMOA at Apia Park in Apia	L	10-36	T
23 Jul	v TONGA at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku'alofa	W	24-19	(+58)
30 Jul	v SAMOA at National Stadium in Suva	W	21-15
2 Nov	v NZ Div XV at Churchill Park in Lautoka	w	39-29	t
11 Nov	v WALES at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff	L	10-11
26 Nov	v ITALY at Stadio Brianteo in Monza	L	8-23

2006

3 Jun	v Junior All Blacks at National Stadium in Suva	l	17-35
10 Jun	v TONGA at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford	L	23-24
17 Jun	v ITALY at Churchill Park in Lautoka	W	29-18	T
24 Jun	v SAMOA at National Stadium in Suva	W	23-20	2T
1 Jul	v JAPAN at Nagai Stadium in Osaka	W	29-15

Pacific Islanders
2004

20 Jun	v QLD XV at Ballymore in Brisbane	W	48-29	t
3 Jul	v AUSTRALIA at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide	L	14-29	(-59)
17 Jul	v SOUTH AFRICA at Advocate Express Stadium in Gosford	L	38-24	(-69)

2006

11 Nov	v WALES at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff	L	20-38
18 Nov	v SCOTLAND at Murrayfield in Edinburgh	L	22-34
26 Nov	v IRELAND at Lansdowne Rd in Dublin	L	17-61

Key:	T = try, C = conversion, P = penalty goal, DG = dropped goal, (+) = substitute, (-) replaced, rc = red card, yc = yellow card

Record by nation:

Team	P	W	D	L	t	c	p	dg	pts
Argentina	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Chile	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Canada	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
France	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Ireland	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-
Italy	3	2	-	1	2	-	-	-	10
Japan	2	2	-	-	2	-	-	-	10
New Zealand	2	-	-	2	2	-	-	-	10
NZ Maoris	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Samoa	10	6	-	4	5	-	-	-	25
Scotland	2	-	-	2	1	-	-	-	5
Tonga	8	7	-	1	4	-	-	-	20
USA	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Wales	2	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
Totals	37	21	-	16	14	-	-	-	80

7s record:
2001 – World Games (Akita, Japan)
2002 – Chile, Argentina, Brisbane, Wellington, Manchester (Commonwealth Games)
2006 – Melbourne (Commonwealth Games), Singapore

IRB Pacific Rugby Cup
2006 – Fiji Warriors (4 games, 1 try, 5 pts)
Total – 4 games, 1 try, 5 pts

Other teams:
1996 – Nadi colts, Fiji U21s
1997 – Nadro Colts and Nadroga seniors
1998 – Nadroga
1999 – Fiji U23s v Canada U23s
2000 – Barbarians v Scotland
2001 – Fiji Barbarians (2t) v Australian Barbarians
2002 – Harlequins (England)
2002 – Southland NPC (7 games)
2003-05 – Secom (Japan)

Father’s village: Nabalebale, Cakaudrove
Mother’s village: Matainoco
Grew up in Nadi

Likes: Any Fijian dish, watching movies, playing volleyball, relaxing and spending time at home

Best rugby memory: Lots of good memories but the best one is scoring two tries against the All Blacks in Wellington.

Worst Rugby memory: Losing the Farebrother to Nadi while I was playing for Nadroga. I missed the last kick at goal which would have made a difference.