Why are England playing Fiji in Rochdale

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

A nice bit of coverage for the sport and World Cup. It’s a great story in the build up to the tournament.
 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemeehallwood/2021/04/30/what-links-a-tropical-island-and-a-grey-british-town-a-sporting-connection-like-no-other/

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Brilliant article that, thanks a lot for posting it Sir Kev! That's got me so pumped for the Fiji warm up game and the World Cup after, bring it on!

[Eddie]

Pipe dream stuff I know, but it would be great if the Hornets played the Silktails before the England v Fiji game. 

[The storm]

Because Rochdale has the biggest Fijian community in the UK 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

53 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

I went to the Fiji-Ireland game there in the 2013 WC and it was really good. Big Fijian support there who enjoyed it (plus a couple of Irish guys running around with a tricolour on)

Yeah I remember big Fijian support at the England-Fiji game in Hull, their fans are some of the best the game has, Pacific islanders in general to be fair, the Tongan fans have been unbelievable when we've played them and I've seen no atmosphere better than a full stadium in Port Moresby. 

[meast]

2 hours ago, The storm said:

Because Rochdale has the biggest Fijian community in the UK 

Second biggest outside London I believe?

But why shouldn't England games be taken to different grounds?

I think there should be SL and championship games being taken to different venues ahead of the world cup, or at least some mid season internationals/representative games, especially to some of the RLWC venues.

[Eddie]

5 hours ago, The storm said:

Because Rochdale has the biggest Fijian community in the UK 

Bigger than London’s?

[GUBRATS]

2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Bigger than London’s?

No , it's the second biggest 

[Archie Gordon]

Can anyone actually provide stats on the Fijian populations of London and Rochdale? 

[meast]

15 hours ago, Archie Gordon said:

Can anyone actually provide stats on the Fijian populations of London and Rochdale? 

As of the 2011 census, there were 6,285 Fijian born residents in the UK.

However, that doesn't take into account, other generations and people of Fijian heritage.

So possibly multiply that number by 2 or 3 for people who consider themselves "Fijian"?