The Farebrother trophy’s journey
THE trophy was offered to the Fiji Rugby Union by JJ Sullivan and AS Farebrother, the latter being the manager of the first Fijian team to play abroad in 1924.
Between 1941 and 1953, this competition was disputed in the form of cup between the regional district teams. Five of them would participate to the first edition in 1941. Since 1954, the competition develops around a match: the holder of the trophy accept the challenges from the other teams and the trophy is attributed to the winning team. This format is also used in New Zealand, in the Ranfurly Shield.
The challenges generally are played at the end of summer and in autumn. In case of draw, the defending champion keeps the trophy. Practically, only the three teams from the first division of the regional competition, the Colonial Cup, compete, but for three times, a team from the inferior division, the B-Division, challenged the defending champion. Suva, won the trophy between 1941 and 1947, undefeated in 1951
Nadroga dominated the competition in the 1970s, establishing the record of 28 consecutive wins, before Nadi came to join the competition in the 1980s. In the late 1990s, Lautoka and then, Naitasiri, founded in 1998, became the fourth and fifth great names of the competition.