The Super Cup or Super Powers Cup was an international

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 ...

competition contested from 2003 to 2005. It featured teams representing

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 ...

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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the

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

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Tournaments

2003

The Super Powers Cup was first launched in 2003. It was planned that

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Japan,

and the United States would play each other once. However, because of the

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...

outbreak the Chinese team were forced to withdraw. Russia won the inaugural 2003 competition, defeating the United States 30–21 in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...

2004

For the 2004 competition Canada joined the competition. In May of that year Japan won the second edition of the Super Powers Cup in Tokyo, where the entire tournament had been staged, beating Russia 29–12 and Canada 34–21 in the process. The United States defeated Russia in the third-place playoff.

2005

In 2005 the tournament was renamed the Super Cup and the participants were again changed, with Romania taking the place of Russia. Romania had been given 'second tier' status by the International Rugby Board (IRB), meaning greater funding and integration into the international calendar, while Russia were at the time considered a third tier nation. Canada and Japan met in the final, with the Canadians winning 15–10. The United States beat a Romanian team missing many of their France-based professionals 23–16 in the third place play-off.

Dissolution

The competition was discontinued in 2005 after the IRB undertook a new Strategic Investment programme, with funding instead going to several new tournaments including the

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 ...

, featuring Japan (since 2006), Canada and United States (since 2013), as well as the

IRB Nations Cup The Nations Cup is a rugby union competition that was first held in 2006 at Estádio Universitário in Lisbon with Argentina A, Italy A, Portugal and Russia taking part. The tournament is part of the International Rugby Board's US $50 million St ...

and

IRB Tbilisi Cup The World Rugby Tbilisi Cup is a rugby union competition that was first held in 2013 at Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi with the hosts Georgia joined by Uruguay, who regularly take part in the Nations Cup, and two newly founded teams: Emerging Ireland ...

, involving European, African and South American teams. In February 2009, representatives from the IRB,

Rugby Canada Rugby Canada is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in Canada. Rugby Canada was incorporated in 1974, and stems from the Canadian Rugby Football Union, a body established in 1884 that now governs amateur Canadian football a ...

, the

Japan Rugby Football Union The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU; ja, 日本ラグビーフットボール協会, ''Nihon Ragubi- Futtobo-ru Kyo-kai'') is the governing body for rugby union in Japan. It was formed 30 November 1926, and organises matches for the Japan nation ...

, the

Rugby Union of Russia Rugby Union of Russia (russian: Союз регбистов России) is the governing body for rugby union in Russia. It was founded in 1936 originally as the Rugby Union of the Soviet Union. The Rugby Union of Russia became affiliated to Wor ...

and

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugb ...

met to discuss the possibility of reviving the tournament under the Super Powers Cup name, beginning in November 2010, but nothing materialized.Nigel Melville Direct : A thrilling rugby weekend - domestic and abroad!
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Honours

References

{{United States national rugby union team Defunct rugby union competitions for national teams Canada national rugby union team Japan national rugby union team Romania national rugby union team Russia national rugby union team United States national rugby union team 2003 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2004 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2005 rugby union tournaments for national teams