Special Issue: Playing on the global periphery: Social scientific explorations of rugby in the Pacific Islands. Guest Editors: Gyozo Molnar and Yoko Kanemasu

In this prologue, we will briefly revisit some of the main research findings that have emerged from our collaborative work on Fiji rugby, as well as reflecting on some of the recommendations derived from our empirical investigation. We discuss issues in relation to national identity and migrations, post-rugby career-related retirement issues and alternative emerging cultural practices that challenge the dominant discourse around Fiji rugby. We then turn our attention to the content of this special issue and briefly introduce the articles included, with the main recommendation that there is a growing need to explore absent and emerging voices and cultural practices in regard to sport-related migration in, from and to the Pacific Islands