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Pacific Nations Cup enters new era with expanded competition
The Pacific Nations Cup has had a revamp, with two new teams added and a new pool structure feeding a playoff that will culminate in a grand final played in either Japan or the USA each year.
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The pools are determined by location, so the Pasifika teams – Samoa, Tonga and Fiji – will make up pool A while Japan join newcomers Canada and the USA in pool B.
The seedings from pool play will then determine the semi-final matchups as well as the 5th/6th playoff.
The competition kicks off on August 23 with the Flying Fijians taking on Manu Samoa. The dates of the expanded competition are in line with the new international rugby calendar, future-proofing its place in the new age of global competition.
The new structure ensures one home game and one away test for each nation within pool play before Japan hosts the 2024 playoffs. The land of the rising sun will alternate with the USA for hosting honours each year.
The competition will be available to watch globally through local broadcast patterns, as well as on RugbyPass TV.
World Rugby’s High-Performance Pathways and Player Development Manager Simon Raiwalui said: “We are incredibly proud and excited to launch the revamped Pacific Nations Cup this year with a vibrant brand and an optimised match schedule. The six teams taking part in the competition will benefit from long-term certainty around fixtures, allowing them to optimise their preparations and engage with fans and commercial partners.
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“With so much talent in the Pacific Islands, Japan and the two North American teams, fans can expect a tough contest and a great spectacle epitomised with epic finals in Japan.”
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “World Rugby’s mission is a global sport for all. The reimagined Pacific Nations Cup is an example of our mission in action. Combined with the proposed new two-division global competition model from 2026 and crossover fixtures against high-performance unions, performance unions could be playing an unprecedented number of annual fixtures from 2026.
“The model supports welfare and also provides unprecedented certainty of fixtures for unions to help increase awareness, excitement and value, while the grand final in the USA every two years is at the heart of our strategy to grow rugby visibility, accessibility and relevance on the road to Rugby World Cup 2031 and 2033. In short, this is a competition that serves several important purposes.”
Japan men’s head coach Eddie Jones added: “The Pacific Nations Cup is really important for Japan because it allows us to play regular tests against strong countries in tournament conditions, which is great practice for the players for Rugby World Cup.
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“The Pacific Nations Cup fits in right next to the Rugby Championship and Six Nations in providing that regular competition for Pacific nations. Having finals is also a good way for players to experience games that have consequences, and it is great for Japan to host them in the first year, showing why it is a great rugby country.”
USA Rugby CEO, Ross Young added: “This is a massively exciting day for USA Rugby, as many years of hard work and collaboration comes together in an official schedule of events. Kicking off our Pacific Nations Cup campaign on home soil in Los Angeles will be a premier experience as we lay foundation for the finals series to be hosted here in 2025. We’re thrilled for the rugby community to join us in this new era of annual competition and opportunity for USA fans and partners alike.”
Tonga Rugby Union Acting CEO Aisea Aholelei said: “The Tonga Rugby Union is excited about this revamped Pacific Nations Cup because of its significance to Tongan rugby and the ‘Ikale Tahi team. The competition will be fierce as all teams will try and prove they belong to the top teams in world rugby. Tonga will take this challenge with a smile and a thumping heart. It will be exciting.”
Rugby Canada CEO, Nathan Bombrys added: “As we saw this past weekend at HSBC SVNS, Vancouver is the preeminent rugby city in North America. We are very excited to see our Canadian national team return to BC Place for an international match against an exciting Japan team. The Pacific Nations Cup provides consistent annual fixtures and quality competition for our men, and we look forward to kicking off the tournament in front of a Canadian crowd in August.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Should have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
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