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World Rugby to launch rebranded Pacific Nations Cup in 2024
By Finn Morton
As part of World Rugby’s commitment to “increasing global competitiveness” ahead of the 2027 and 2031 Rugby World Cups, the sports governing body has announced a new annual men’s competition from 2024.
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Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the USA will compete in a rebranded Pacific Nations Cup that will be held in the southern hemisphere release window of August and September.
Samoa, Tonga and Fiji will compete in a “Pacific Islands pool,” while the other three teams will consist of the two North American nations and Japan. All six teams will host matches.
Japan and the USA will host the finals series in alternate years, starting with Japan in the competition’s launch season in 2024.
All six teams will play “a minimum of three additional matches a year” by playing in the rebranded PNC. The competition is part of World Rugby’s “objective of reshaping the global men’s competition calendar.”
“We have seen at this Rugby World Cup just how the performance nations need certainty of regular access to top-level competition to be able to build, grow and deliver on the world stage,” World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said in a statement.
Knockout
11 - 12
Final
6 - 44
SF1
15 - 16
SF2
17 - 29
QF1
24 - 28
QF2
30 - 24
QF3
28 - 29
QF4
“This Pacific Nations Cup competition helps address that need as we look to reshape the global calendar to deliver greater opportunity, certainty and equity. By 2026, these teams will have unprecedented high-level competition access.”
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The first finals week will consist of two semi-finals and a 5th place playoff, followed by a bronze final and a grand final.
”We are on the side of growth and this tournament is a key pillar in a wider strategy. Combined with the proposed new two-division global competition model from 2026 and cross-over fixtures against high-performance unions, performance unions could be playing an unprecedented number of annual fixtures from 2026,” World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin added.
“Hosting 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. We will be making some big announcements on this in the coming months.”
What a stupid idea!!!
Japan should compete with Pacific teams!
same old sh*t from world rugby. what an absolute joke. fiji are too good not to be included into the rugby championship. promotion relegation is a must. rugby is held hostage by commercial interests, much like politics. this is why people are turning away from it. f*ck them.
Haven’t you heard about the other announcement.
Uruguay and Chile be like 😥 despite qualifying ahead of the USA and Canada for the world cup.
That was my thought as well, I believe the purpose is to improve USA and Canada’s national team competitivity before the 2031 WC. But now there is definitely a shift between north and south america, the only link being one USA franchise in Super rugby America.
Ignoring the commercial chokehold on the international game for a moment you could almost see a promotion/relegation set up emerging between the Pacific Nations Cup and the Champions Cup.
Despite the distances between these teams it’s somehow still more likely than anything similar happening to Europe with the Six Nations.
It’s just reastablishing what was there pre-covid.
2023, Review. post world cup.What rugby needs to do to expand its global appeal, and interest..
New tournaments
ATLANTIC SHIELD.…….
IRELAND WOLFHOUNDS
SCOTLAND BRAVEHEARTS
CANADA
NAMIBIA
PORTUGAL
SPAIN
ARGENTINA A OR BRAZIL
ENGLAND LIONS OR EMERGING SPRINGBOKS
NATIONS CUP………
ROMANIA
GEORGIA
HONK KONG- CHINA
EMERGING ITALY
FRENCH BARBARIANS
KENYA OR ZIMBABWE OR WALES A
ARGENTINA A OR BRAZIL
ENGLAND LIONS OR EMERGING SPRINGBOKS
CONTINENTAL CUP……
JAPAN
TONGA
SAMOA
USA
CHILE
URUGUAY
AUSTRALIA- PACIFIC
NEW ZEALAND MAORI OR ALL BLACKS 15
All the above played in 2 groups of 4. With 1,2,3,4- to play each other in each group in finals.
FIJI join Rugby championship. + continue in Pacific nations Cup.
Also continue with regional competitions, ie; Rugby championships, Pacific nations Cup, America six nations, six nations. European nations Cup. Africa Cup.
Plus
Another six emerging countries not included in these comps, for a separate competition. RUGBY GLOBAL CHALLENGE Trophy.
U20 competitions in each region to be played in conjunction with each regional senior competition..
Expand World u20 championships
Expand World u20 Trophy competition.
If world rugby can manage to do this with union cooperation, then you can expand world Cup to 24 teams.
Plus..more tier 2 nations playing tier 1