The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams (formed from the best locally based players, with most not already on their nations' senior rugby team) from the Asia-Pacific region. The tournament is run by World Rugby (previously IRB) through Oceania Rugby.
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union football |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2006 |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Country |  Fiji Japan  Samoa  Tonga |
| Holders | Fiji Warriors (2023) |
| Most titles | Fiji Warriors (10 titles) |
| Related competition | Pacific Nations Cup |
The original IRB Pacific Rugby Cup featured two teams from each of the three Pacific Island countries of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The competition followed the completion of Fiji's Colonial Cup, Samoa's National Provincial Championship and Tonga's Provincial Championship and provided player development pathway leading into the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
Since 2011, the tournament has been contested by national 'A' sides, although some matches also featured teams from Super Rugby academies in Australia and New Zealand. Teams from Japan, Argentina and Canada have also joined the tournament to compete with the three Pacific Island countries.
Teams
The competing national 'A' teams as of the 2018 season were:
Overall
Summary of all Pacific Challenge winners and runners-up, for tournaments up to and including 2020:
By team
| Team | Tournament wins | Runner-up placings | Seasons contested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiji Warriors | 10 | 3 | 16 |
 Pampas XV | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Upolu Samoa | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Tautahi Gold | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Savaii Samoa | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Samoa A | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| Junior Japan | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Tau'uta Reds | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Fiji Barbarians | 0 | 1 | 5 |
 Qld Reds A | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 16 | 16 | 16 |
History
Pacific Island tournament: 2006 to 2010
The Pacific Rugby Cup initially featured six representative teams, two from each Pacific Island country:
Fijian teams: Samoan teams: Tongan teams:
The format was a single round-robin tournament with the top-placed team hosting a final against the second-placed to decide the title. The Fiji Warriors won the competition twice, the Samoan teams won the Cup once each, and Tautahi Gold also claimed the title once for Tonga.[1]
Pacific Australasian series: 2011 to 2014
From 2011, the three Pacific Island countries were represented by their national 'A' teams. They were joined by Japan's national 'A' team, Junior Japan, as the fourth core team in 2013. The itinerary included tour matches against Super Rugby academy opposition from Australia and New Zealand and included the following sides:[A][B]
Pacific Cup teams: Australian teams: New Zealand teams:
The tournament was split into three stages with the core Pacific Cup teams playing Super Rugby academies in the first two stages in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.[2] In the third stage, the Pacific Cup teams played each other in a single round robin, home or away, to decide the title.[C] No finals were played and the team finishing on top of the combined table after all stages was the tournament winner.[3] The Fiji Warriors won all three tournaments from 2011 to 2013.[4][5][6]
The format was expanded again in 2014 with Argentina's Pampas XV and four Australian academy teams joining the competition as core teams competing with the Pacific A sides.[7] The New Zealand development teams did not participate in 2014 and the tournament was held entirely in Australia. Two pools were formed as follows:
Pool A: Pool B:
A single round robin was played in each pool with the top ranked sides from each playing in the final. The Pampas XV defeated Reds A in the final held in Sydney to win the title. Fiji Warriors defeated Samoa A in the play-off for third place.[8]
Pacific Challenge: 2015 onward
The Pacific Rugby Cup was restyled as the "Pacific Challenge" in 2015 and held in Fiji. It returned to a being a tournament solely for national 'A' teams, with Canada A replacing the Australian academy teams.
The Pampas XV won again in 2015 but were replaced by Junior Japan for the following season. The Fiji Warriors won the next four tournaments at home before their dominance was broken by Junior Japan defeating them at Suva to take the 2020 Pacific Challenge title.[9]
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament returned to Apia Park, Samoa in 2023.[10]
- Notes
- A Japan A, Force A, Rebel Rising, and the Brisbane and Sydney Academies joined in 2013.
- B The Blues and Highlanders development teams featured in 2012 and 2013.
- C The Pacific stage was cancelled in 2013 to allow Fiji, Samoa and Tonga to maximise preparations for the end-of-year tours.[11]
Winners
Tournaments
Teams listed are those that qualified for the Pacific Rugby Cup final matches (for seasons without a final, the core teams are shown). Results of the final matches are written so that the score of the team in each row is mentioned first.
| Legend | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Rugby Cup winner. | Pos = Log Position, P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Diff = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, BP = Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points, Refs = References | ||
| † | Grand Final winner. | ||
Pacific Challenge: 2015 to 2020
Contested by the national 'A' teams of Fiji, Japan, Samoa, and Tonga. Canada A along with Argentina's Pampas XV also competed in 2015.[12]
Pacific Rugby Challenge winner and runner-up Year Duration Pos Team Pool matches Play-offs Refs Pld W D L F A Diff TB LB Pts Final 2020 6 March
to
14 March1 Junior Japan 3 3 0 0 143 25 +118 2 0 14 – [13] 2 Fiji Warriors 3 2 0 1 88 26 +62 2 0 10 – 2019 8 March
to
16 March1 Fiji Warriors 3 3 0 0 170 54 +116 3 0 15 – [14] 2 Junior Japan 3 2 0 1 94 97 −3 3 0 11 – 2018 9 March
to
17 March1 Fiji Warriors 3 3 0 0 118 31 +87 3 0 15 – [15] 2 Junior Japan 3 2 0 1 77 77 0 2 0 10 – 2017 10 March
to
18 March1 Fiji Warriors 3 3 0 0 125 71 +54 2 0 15 – [16] 2 Junior Japan 3 2 0 1 92 103 −11 2 0 10 – 2016 8 March
to
21 March1 Fiji Warriors† 3 3 0 0 134 34 +100 3 0 15 36–0 [17] 2 Samoa A 3 2 0 1 98 56 +42 2 0 10 0–36 2015 10 March
to
23 March1A Pampas XV† 3 3 0 0 89 42 +47 2 0 14 17–9 [18] 1B Fiji Warriors 3 2 0 1 145 42 +103 2 1 11 9–17
Competition rules Points breakdown:
4 points for a win
2 points for a draw
1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
Classification:
Teams standings are calculated as follows:
Most log points accumulated from all matches
Most log points accumulated in matches between tied teams
Highest difference between points scored for and against accumulated from all matches
Most points scored accumulated from all matches
Pacific Australasian series: 2011 to 2014
Contested by the national 'A' teams of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Japan A joined as a core team in 2013. The core teams played against Super Rugby academy opposition from Australia and New Zealand before meeting each other in a single round robin to decide the title.[2] No finals were played and team finishing on top of the table after all matches were completed was the tournament winner.[3]
In 2014, Argentina's Pampas XV and four Australian Academy sides were added as core teams. Two pools were formed and a single round robin played in each. The top ranked sides in each pool played off in the final for the title and the second ranked teams played off for third place.
2011–2014 Pacific Rugby Cup finalists.[α] Year Duration Pos Team Pool matches Play-offs Refs Pld W D L F A Diff TB LB Pts Final 2014 21 February
to
23 March1B Pampas XV† 4 4 0 0 148 83 65 3 0 19 36–21 [7][8] 1A Reds A 3 2 0 1 126 55 71 2 1 11 21–36 2A Fiji Warriors 3 2 0 1 154 59 95 2 1 11 54–21 [β] 2B Tonga A 4 2 0 2 96 115 -19 1 0 9 21–54 [β] 2013 1 March
to
7 April1 Fiji Warriors 6 2 2 2 118 155 -37 2 0 14 – [α] [6] 2 Samoa A 6 2 0 4 134 198 -64 1 1 10 – 3 Junior Japan 6 0 0 6 140 361 -221 3 0 3 – 4 Tonga A 6 0 0 6 73 306 -233 0 0 0 – 2012 24 February
to
19 October1 Fiji Warriors 8 7 0 1 205 165 40 3 0 31 – [α] [5] 2 Samoa A 8 3 0 5 191 238 -47 0 1 13 – 3 Tonga A 8 1 1 6 72 253 -181 0 0 6 – 2011 19 February
to
26 March1 Fiji Warriors 8 4 0 4 144 201 -57 0 1 17 – [α] [4] 2 Samoa A 8 3 0 5 135 171 -36 1 2 15 – 3 Tonga A 8 2 1 5 133 233 -100 0 1 11 –
Competition rules Points breakdown:
4 points for a win
2 points for a draw
1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
Classification:
Teams standings are calculated as follows:
Most log points accumulated from all matches
Most log points accumulated in matches between tied teams
Highest difference between points scored for and against accumulated from all matches
Most points scored accumulated from all matches
Notes:
Pacific Island tournament: 2006 to 2010
For the first five seasons, the tournament was contested by six teams; two each from Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. The format consisted of a single round-robin, home or away, and the teams finishing in the first two positions on the table played in a final, hosted by the top ranked team, to decide the Pacific Rugby Cup title.
2006–2010 Pacific Rugby Cup finalists. Year Duration Pos Team Pool matches Play-offs Refs Pld W D L PF PA Diff BP Pts Final 2010 5 May
to
29 May1 Fiji Warriors† 5 4 0 1 155 73 82 3 19 26–17 [19] 2 Fiji Barbarians 5 4 0 1 145 116 29 3 19 17–26 2009 24 April
to
29 May1 Upolu Samoa 5 4 0 1 114 84 30 1 17 7–19 [20] 2 Fiji Warriors† 5 3 0 2 168 89 79 5 17 19–7 2008 18 April
to
24 May1 Upolu Samoa 5 4 0 1 90 49 41 1 17 3–11 [21] 2 Tautahi Gold† 5 3 0 2 97 75 22 1 13 11–3 2007 31 March
to
5 May1 Tau'uta Reds 5 4 0 1 108 102 6 1 17 15–35 [1] 2 Upolu Samoa† 5 3 0 2 112 114 −2 3 15 35–15 2006 15 April
to
20 May1 Savaii Samoa† 5 4 0 1 120 81 39 2 18 10–5 [1] 2 Fiji Warriors 5 3 1 1 112 72 40 2 17 5–10
Competition rules Points breakdown:
4 points for a win
2 points for a draw
1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
Classification:
Teams standings are calculated as follows:
Most log points accumulated from all matches
Most log points accumulated in matches between tied teams
Highest difference between points scored for and against accumulated from all matches
Most points scored accumulated from all matches
2006–2010 Overall pool match results. Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff BP Points Fiji Warriors 25 13 1 11 598 428 170 14 68 Savaii Samoa 25 14 0 11 521 451 70 11 67 Upolu Samoa 25 13 1 11 491 482 9 9 63 Tau'uta Reds 25 12 1 12 455 438 17 8 58 Fiji Barbarians 25 11 1 13 464 592 −128 12 58 Tautahi Gold 25 10 0 15 425 568 −143 7 47
See also
References
External links
- Oceania Rugby official website