First Nations and Pasifika XV's historic night representing culture and heritage

Australia Broadcast Center

22-07-2025

Players from across Australia and the Pacific gave the British and Irish Lions a scare last night in a fierce and tight-fought match, but for a team that came together only a week ago, it was about more than just the score.
The historic First Nations and Pasifika XV included cultures from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as Australia and the Torres Strait.
Tuesday night's match proved to be physical and challenging for both sides, with the Lions scraping by unbeaten 24-19 in their Australian tour.
Tongan flanker Charlie Gamble said he knew there were critics out there who doubted the team's ability to deliver.
"There were lots of questions, and I think we proved our worth," he said after the match.
Head coach Toutai Kefu said he was "unbelievably proud" of the result, and that it was key for the team to walk away with a performance they were proud of.
"We talked before the game, all week actually, about a performance that you could be proud of when you walked away and looked back ... we never actually talked about the result.
"It was just the performance that we were proud of.
"That's what we talked about, and I thought they delivered on that tonight."
Could a team like First Nations & Pasifika become tradition? ( Supplied: Rugby Australia )
Connection and culture
Captain Kurtley Beale, a Darug man, reflected on a really "special week for everyone involved" in his post-match press conference.
"To be able to represent your family name, your culture — it's a really special experience and to be able to come together in a short amount of time and share stories about where you come from," he said.
"We all kind of found that we all came from similar backgrounds and I think that was a really powerful moment and it allowed us to connect, and I think that kind of showed in the performance tonight."
From a traditional Ava ceremony to sharing a big island feed, the First Nations & Pasifika XV immersed themselves in each other's cultures.
A traditional Ava ceremony took place on the eve of their match. ( ABC Pacific: Seni Iasona )
Gamble shared a similar experience to Beale, seeing similarities in upbringing and cultures.
"It's such a special thing for our culture and [to] represent our families," he told ABC Pacific.
"I was saying all the different journeys and the way we've grown up, it's actually funny, it's all very similar, we've all gone through the same struggles, everything our parents have done to put us in a good position in life.
"To be able to pay them back like this and represent our cultures and families is pretty cool."
Samoan lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, who played in the AUNZ match last week, said knowing who the team represented and why was at the "forefront of our mind throughout the whole week".
"[I'm] just proud to represent my family," he said.
"We're standing on the shoulders of giants in terms of our ancestors and our families that have managed to get us here today.
"The thing about our cultures… and this is the Indigenous and the Pasifika, we value family comes first, tribe comes first or the village, so we find connecting very easy for us. So, we build on that and reinforce that."
Kefu and Beale both believe team's like the First Nations & Pasifika XV are important for the next generation ( ABC Pacific: Seni Iasona )
Kefu and Beale both believe teams like the First Nations & Pasifika XV are important for the next generation of young Pasifika and First Nations kids to have a pathway.
"I think this jersey; this emblem represents them," Beale said.
"To be able to bring talent through and create pathways for those kids is what it's all about, and it's something as a squad that we're very proud to be able to do that and represent them at this level."