Ben Cohen (rugby union) joined Northampton Saints and made his first team debut against Treorchy in the 1996/97 season, following which his name was rarely left off the team sheet. Cohen had long been linked with a move away from the club. Whilst at Northampton he started in the victorious 2000 Heineken Cup Final as they defeated Munster. Following his release from contract from Northampton RFC in 2007, Cohen had been linked with midlands rivals Leicester Tigers, other English and French rugby union clubs and a switch of codes to rugby league at or Wigan. His future had remained uncertain after he failed to
Rugby union in Samoa Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa was established in 1982. The Western Samoa Rugby Football Union joined the International Rugby Board in 1988. Western Samoa played in the World Cup for the first time in 1991. The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was set up in 2002 as a basis of co-operation between the Fiji Rugby Union, Samoa Rugby Union and Tonga Rugby Football Union. In 2006, the Pacific Tri-Nations was replaced by the IRB Pacific 5 Nations which was then renamed the Pacific Nations Cup. The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup started in 2006 with Upolu Samoa and Savaii Samoa representing