The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual
rugby union football tournament held in
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
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
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
(previously IRB) through
Oceania Rugby
Oceania Rugby, previously known as the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU), is the regional governing body for rugby union in Oceania. It was founded in 2000 to represent the interests of Oceania rugby within World Rugby, the international g ...
.
The original IRB Pacific Rugby Cup featured two teams from each of the three Pacific Island countries of
Fiji,
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 ...
. The competition followed the completion of Fiji's
Colonial Cup, Samoa's
National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to:
* National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides
* National Provincial Championship (2006–present)
The National Provincial Championship, o ...
and Tonga's
Provincial Championship and provided player development pathway leading into 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 hel ...
.
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
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 ...
. 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:
*
Fiji Warriors
The Fiji Warriors, also referred to as Fiji A, is a national representative rugby team of rugby union in Fiji. It is the second-tier side to the Fiji national team. The Warriors team is selected from players in the Fijian domestic competi ...
*
*
*
Overall
Summary of all Pacific Challenge winners and runners-up, for tournaments up to and including 2020:
By team
By country
History
Pacific Island tournament: 2006 to 2010
The Pacific Rugby Cup initially featured six representative teams, two from each Pacific Island country:
:
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.
[
]
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:
:
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.[ In the third stage, the Pacific Cup teams played each other in a single round robin, home or away, to decide the title. No finals were played and the team finishing on top of the combined table after all stages was the tournament winner.][ The Fiji Warriors won all three tournaments from 2011 to 2013.][
The format was expanded again in 2014 with Argentina's
]
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.
Pacific Challenge: 2015 onward
Contested by the national 'A' teams of Fiji, Japan, Samoa, and Tonga. Canada A along with Argentina's Pampas XV also competed in 2015.[
:
:
]
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.[ No finals were played and team finishing on top of the table after all matches were completed was the tournament winner.][
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.
:
:
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.
:
:
:
See also
* 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 hel ...
References
External links
Oceania Rugby
official website
{{International rugby union
Pacific Challenge
The 1996 Pacific Challenge was a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was played over eight days and in six countries. It featured an uneven draw with every team playing twice, except for Tonga and the New Zealand XII ...
Pacific Challenge
The 1996 Pacific Challenge was a rugby league tournament held between Pacific teams. The tournament was played over eight days and in six countries. It featured an uneven draw with every team playing twice, except for Tonga and the New Zealand XII ...
Rugby union competitions for provincial teams