The 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, was the ninth edition of the

IRB Pacific Nations Cup The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held ...

, the annual Tier 2

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

tournament. Unlike previous competitions, the tournament was divided into two conferences of three teams each, with no interconference matches.

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

emerged as the winner of the Pacific Islands conference title ahead of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, while

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

took out the Asia/Pacific conference remaining undefeated ahead of

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Format

Each team played each other once in their respective conferences, with no interconference matches. Four points were awarded for a win, two points for a draw and one point for a bonus point; the bonus point being awarded should a team score four or more tries in a match, or for a loss by seven points or less. The winner of each conferences was the team with the most log points, with tiebreakers being the head to-head results between teams equal on log points, followed points difference for-and-against. As the three-week tournament coincided with the three-week June international window, players were able to be released from their clubs for their national teams. When a team was not in action in either conference, they played host to a touring Tier 1 nation from Europe. In Round 1, the United States hosted

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, while Fiji hosted

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In Round 2, Canada played Scotland, and Samoa played Italy. In Round 3, Japan hosted Italy and Tonga played a Pacific Barbarians side. The full match schedule was announced on 9 April 2014.

Asia/Pacific conference

Table

Fixtures

Round 1

Notes: *

Gordon McRorie Gordon McRorie (born 12 May 1988) is a rugby union scrumhalf who plays for AS rugby Milano and Canada. McRorie made his debut for Canada in 2014 and was part of the Canada squad at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Early life McRorie was born in Stir ...

made his international debut for Canada.

Round 2

Round 3

Notes: * Brett Thompson made his international debut for the United States. * This was the United States first win over Canada in seven attempts. United States last won in July 2009.

Pacific Islands conference

Table

Fixtures

Round 1

Notes: *

Paul Ngauamo Paula Mark Ngauamo (born 19 February 1990) is a Tongan rugby union player. He plays in the hooker position for the France based Top 14 side, Castres Olympique. Ngauamo also represents Tonga at international level. Career Club In 2010 Ngauamo p ...

and

Sonatane Takulua Sonatane Takulua (born 11 January 1991) is a Tongan rugby union player. He plays in the Scrum-Half position for the French based Top 14 side, Toulon. Takulua also represents Tonga at international level. Early life Takalua was born in Lapaha, ...

made their international debuts for Tonga.

Round 2

Notes * Fijian winger,

Sireli Bobo Isireli Bobo (born 28 January 1976), is a Fijian rugby union footballer. Early career Early in his career, he played for Grupo Dramático e Sportivo Cascais, a Portuguese team. He was in the Nawaqavesi 7s and was subsequently picked to play at ...

became the oldest player ever to represent Fiji when he ran onto the field at 38 years and 137 days old.

Round 3

Statistics

Points scorers

Try scorers

Squads

Note: Number of caps and players' ages are indicated as of 7 June 2014 – the tournament's opening day, pre first tournament match.

Canada

Canada's 27-man roster for the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. On 19 June,

Nathan Hirayama Nathan Hirayama (born 23 March 1988) is a Canadian former rugby player. His primary position was fly-half, however, but he also played fullback. He played for both the Canadian national team and the Canadian sevens team. At club level, Hirayama p ...

and Kyle Gilmour were added to the squad as further cover for their respective positions.

Fiji

Fiji 29-man squad for the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. On 31 May, it was announced that

Vereniki Goneva Vereniki Goneva (born 5 April 1984) is a Fijian rugby union footballer who plays for Mont-de-Marsan in France's Pro D2, the second division. He plays as a centre or wing. Goneva made his debut in English rugby for Rotherham against Northamp ...

and

Levani Botia Levani Botia (born 14 March 1989 in Naitasiri) is a Fijian rugby union footballer. Nicknamed "Demolition Man", he plays centre, flanker and wing for Stade Rochelais, La Rochelle and his national team, Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji. Care ...

were withdrawn from the squad due to injury. Watisoni Votu was added to the squad to replace Goneva, while Botia was not replaced. Ahead of the final Round 3 match against Samoa, McKee added former footballer Isoa Donaldson to the squad to increase depth in the Fly Half position.

Japan

Japanese 28-man squad for the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup.

Samoa

Samoa 31-man squad for the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. On 19 June, Joe Tekori was added to the squad to cover the back row.

Tonga

Tonga's 29-man squad for the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup.

United States

United States 40-man roster for the 2014 IRB Pacific Nations Cup. Caps are current as of June 1, 2014. Note: Head coach Tolkin, will weekly reduce the squad to 28 for each test.

References

External links

IRB Pacific Nations Cup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2014 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2014 in Oceanian rugby union 2014 in American rugby union 2014 in Canadian rugby union 2014 in Fijian rugby union 2013–14 in Japanese rugby union 2014 in Samoan rugby union 2014 in Tongan rugby union

Format

Asia/Pacific conference

Table

Fixtures

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Pacific Islands conference

Table

Fixtures

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Statistics

Points scorers

Try scorers

Squads

Canada

Fiji

Japan

Samoa

Tonga

United States

See also

References

External links