The Pacific Rugby League International is a rugby league test match that has been played between two

Pacific Island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

nations during the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

's annual representative weekend since 2013. The fixture was held at Penrith Stadium for the 2013 and 2014 test matches. In 2015, two fixtures were held;

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 and Apolima); ...

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 ...

competed for the

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n Cup while

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 consis ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

competed for the

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, V ...

n Cup at

Cbus Super Stadium Robina Stadium, also known by its Naming rights, sponsored name Cbus Super Stadium, is a rectangular football stadium in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast suburb of Robina, Queensland, Robina, Queensland. The main usage is as the home gr ...

. In 2016 the fixtures returned to New South Wales and were held at Parramatta's

Pirtek Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure ...

. In August 2015, the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

announced a new $925 million (Australian) TV deal. As part of the deal it was announced that the Pacific test matches would continue to be televised until at least 2022 and will be played on the Sunday before game 2 of the

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

series. The deal begins in 2018.

Match summaries

2010 tests

2013 test

The 2013 Pacific Rugby League test was played between

and

. The fixture was created as a warm-up international for their

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

campaigns. Tonga won the test match 36–4. Tonga's

Samisoni Langi Samisoni Langi (born 11 June 1993) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for Wakefield Trinity in the Betfred Super League. Langi previously played for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL, and for the Leigh Centurions and t ...

won the man of the match award, after scoring 16 points from two tries and four conversions. Controversy occurred late in the match as the game had to be called off before Langi had the chance to convert the final try due to fans invading the pitch. Both teams selected a number of débutantes, with the most experienced players only appearing between 3-8 times. The most experienced players that played in the test match were Tonga's

Richard Fa'aoso Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

and

Etu Uaisele Etuate Uaisele (born 12 December 1984) is a Tongan rugby league footballer who last played for the Dewsbury Rams in the Kingstone Press Championship. He plays as a winger or centre. Biography Early life Etu, short for Etuate was born in Tong ...

who both made 8 appearances for their country before this test match. Samoa's most experienced player was Ben Roberts who made 3 appearances before this test match. All players were contracted to

clubs (though some were still playing in the

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, except for Tongan winger

who played for the

Wyong Roos The Wyong Rugby League Football Club are an Australian rugby league club based on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The club competed in the New South Wales Cup from 2013 to 2018 and still competes in the Central Coast Division Rugby Leagu ...

in the

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

2014 test

The 2014 Pacific Rugby League test was played between

and

. The fixture was a qualifier for the 2014 Four Nations. Samoa won the test match by 32–16 after being behind 16–12 at half-time. Samoa's Penani Manumalealii won the man of the match award, scoring 3 tries in the match. Samoa picked 7 debutantes for the test match, while Fiji featured three. All of the Samoan team were

based players, while the Fijian side had 10 players from the NRL. Samoa's most capped player was

Daniel Vidot Daniel Sean Vidot (; born 8 February 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler and former professional rugby league footballer. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Xyon Quinn. During his t ...

who made his 6th appearance for his country, while Fiji's most experienced players were Alipate Noilea, Aaron Groom, and captain

Ashton Sims Ashton Sims (born 26 February 1985) is a Fijian former rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for Fiji, and at club level for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, the Brisbane Broncos and th ...

who all made their 10th appearance for their nation.

Aftermath

After the test match,

Petero Civoniceva Petero Civoniceva ( (Thee-vo-nee-thee-vah); born 21 April 1976), is a Fijian-Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representa ...

said that "Test matches between emerging nations is a necessity for the game to grow outside of Australia, New Zealand and England". Due to the win, Samoa had qualified for the 2014 Four Nations. Samoa lost all three matches, losing to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

26–32 at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

on the tournament's opening day double header,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

12–14 at

Toll Stadium Okara Park, currently known commercially as Semenoff Stadium (previously known as Toll Stadium due to a sponsorship agreement) is a multi-purpose stadium in Whangarei, New Zealand. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the ...

in Whangarei, and then finally to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

18–44 at

Win Stadium Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawa ...

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

2015 tests

On 24 December 2014 it was announced that Papua New Guinea would play Fiji and Samoa would play Tonga as part of a 2015 Pacific test double header. The 2015 Melanesian Cup was played between

and

. Fiji beat Papua New Guinea to win the inaugural Melanesian Cup title. Fiji never looked like losing the match after an easy first half performance, leading 18–0 at the break. They went on to win the test match by 22–10. Fiji's

Marika Koroibete Marika Koroibete (born 26 July 1992) is a dual-code international rugby league and rugby union footballer. He has been capped for Australia's national rugby union team, and plays as a winger for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby. Koroibet ...

won the man of the match award, scoring 2 tries in the match. Papua New Guinea's defeat means that they still haven't won a test-match on away soil since the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. Fiji picked 6 débutantes for the test match, while PNG also featured six players making their first ever International appearance for their country. Both teams had a fair share of NRL, Queensland or New South Wales Cup, as well as domestic club players. Papua New Guinea's most capped players were Nene MacDonald, Ray Thompson, and Tyson Martin who all made their 4th appearance for their country, while Fiji's most experienced player was their captain Jason Bukuya who made his 10th appearance for his country. PNG Hunters' Israel Eliab captained Papua New Guinea, and

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney ...

's Jason Bukuya led Fiji.

Aftermath

On October 17, Tonga had a one-off battle with the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in the Asia-Pacific qualifying playoff for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. The Tongans only led by 4 at the break before running away in the second half scoring 3 tries in the last 20 minutes of the game. Before the game Tongan coach, Kristian Woolf, mentioned how players being eligible for second-tier nations such as Tonga and Samoa are being unfairly punished if they pursue an opportunity with an Australian or New Zealand Test or Origin squad. He made this recent complaint after Tongan internationals

Sio Siua Taukeiaho Sio Siua Taukeiaho (born 3 January 1992) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He plays for Tonga and played for New Zealand at international level. He previously played for ...

and

Tuimoala Lolohea Tuimoala Lolohea (born 23 January 1995) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Huddersfield Giants in the Betfred Super League. He has played for both New Zealand and Tonga at international level. Lolohea previou ...

went off to play for the Kiwis in their end-of-year test series against England. This now means that Tonga can't pick these two players until a 2-year period has passed. Woolf said "Some flexibility in those rules would certainly help in terms of helping your tier two nations becoming more competitive with your first-tier nations."

2016 tests

Another Pacific Island nation that does not compete in these matches,

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

, organised a

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

with

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

Belmore Sports Ground Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-purpose stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to Belmore railway sta ...

on May 8. The 2016 Melanesian Cup was played between

and

. Papua New Guinea created history to win their first Melanesian Cup title. The test looked in a similar situation to last year when Fiji took a comfortable lead into the break but this time around Papua New Guinea scored enough points in the second half to outscore their pacific rivals and win their first major title since the

2009 Pacific Cup The 2009 Pacific Cup, known as the 2009 SP Brewery Pacific Cup due to sponsorship, was a rugby league competition held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The competing teams were the , , , , . Tonga, Fiji and PNG had their places in the draw co ...

. Captain David Mead shone for the Kumuls as he made try-saving tackles, assists and even line breaks in a man-of-the-match performance which was a crucial influence to earning his country's first win on away soil since the year 2000. Fiji picked 7 débutantes for the test match, while PNG featured five players making their first ever International appearance for their country. Both teams had a fair share of NRL, Queensland or New South Wales Cup, as well as domestic club players. Papua New Guinea's most capped player was Rod Griffin who made his 10th appearance for his country, while Fiji's most experienced player was Akuila Uate who made his 12th appearance for his country.

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

's David Mead captained Papua New Guinea, and Port Kembla Blacks' James Storer led Fiji. The 2016 Polynesian Cup was played between

and

. Samoa defeated Tonga to win their second consecutive Polynesian Cup title. The strong crowd would always show their passion and loud screaming support throughout the game after big hits, strong runs and intense moments were key talking points. However a total of 29 errors and a completion rate of just over 50% from both countries was a headache for everyone to watch. Despite Tonga having 55% possession and more territory, they didn't score and the Samoans made them pay by taking their few second-half opportunities that were given to them resulting in another Samoan victory over their old 'War rivals'. Samoa picked 7 débutantes for the test match, while Tonga featured three. Both teams' players varied from National Rugby League players to Queensland or New South Wales Cup to

Holden Cup The NRL Under-20s (known commercially as the Holden Cup due to sponsorship from Holden) was the top league of professional rugby league for players aged 20 years or younger in Australasia. Contested by sixteen teams, the Under-20s competition c ...

and to the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. Samoa's most capped player was Leeson Ah Mau who made his 10th appearance for his country, while Tonga's most experienced player was

Feleti Mateo Feleti Sosefo Mateo (born 2 June 1984) is a former Tonga international rugby league footballer. He played a variety of positions from and five-eighth. Mateo was also selected to represent NSW City Origin and the NRL All Stars. He last played ...

who made his 13th appearance for his country. English Super League club

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

gave permission for two players to leave England and play in the Polynesian Cup test; coincidentally they were captain of both nations. Frank Pritchard captained Samoa, and Sika Manu led Tonga.

Aftermath

A couple of hours before the Pacific test-matches began, discussions were made and confirmed between the

RLIF The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

Deputy Chairman, John Grant, alongside Rugby League Samoa Chairman/ Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation Chairman, Tagaloa Faafouina Su'a, and the Fiji Rugby League Chairman, Filimoni Vosarogo, that Samoa's city of Apia will host a test-match between Samoa and Fiji on October 8, 2016. This test-match will mark 30 years of Rugby league in Samoa.

2017 tests

2018 tests

2019 tests

2020 tests

The 2020 series was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

2022 tests

References

{{Pacific Rugby League Tests International rugby league competitions hosted by Australia Oceanian rugby league competitions 2013 in rugby league 2014 in rugby league 2015 in rugby league 2016 in rugby league 2017 in rugby league 2018 in rugby league Rugby league in Tonga Rugby league in Samoa Rugby league in Fiji

Match summaries

2010 tests

2013 test

2014 test

Aftermath

2015 tests

Aftermath

2016 tests

Aftermath

2017 tests

2018 tests

2019 tests

2020 tests

2022 tests

See also

References