World Rugby Pacific Challenge

The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania 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 (previously IRB) through Oceania Rugby.

The Fiji Warriors (in white) taking on 2006 champions Savaii Samoa (navy blue) in 2007

World Rugby Pacific Challenge
SportRugby union football
Instituted2006
Number of teams4
Country Fiji
 Japan
 Samoa
 Tonga
HoldersFiji Warriors (2019)
Most titlesFiji Warriors (9 titles)
Related competitionPacific Nations Cup

The original IRB Pacific Rugby Cup featured two teams from each of the three Pacific Island countries of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The competition followed the completion of Fiji's Colonial Cup, Samoa's National Provincial Championship and Tonga's Provincial Championship and provided player development pathway leading into the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.

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. 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:

Overall

Summary of all Pacific Challenge winners and runners-up, for tournaments up to and including 2019:

By team

Team Tournament
wins		 Runner-up
placings		 Seasons
contested
Fiji Warriors9214
Pampas XV202
Upolu Samoa125
Tautahi Gold105
Savaii Samoa105
 Samoa A049
Junior Japan037
Tau'uta Reds016
Fiji Barbarians015
Qld Reds A011
Total141414

By country

Country Tournament
wins		 Runner-up
placings		 Seasons
contested
Fiji9314
Samoa2614
Argentina202
Tonga1114
Japan037
Australia011
Total141414

History

Pacific Island tournament: 2006 to 2010
Logo 2006–2014

The Pacific Rugby Cup initially featured six representative teams, two from each Pacific Island country:

Fijian teams:  
Samoan teams:  
Tongan teams:  

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.[1]

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:[A][B]

Pacific Cup teams:  
Australian teams:  
New Zealand teams:  

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.[2] In the third stage, the Pacific Cup teams played each other in a single round robin, home or away, to decide the title.[C] No finals were played and the team finishing on top of the combined table after all stages was the tournament winner.[3] The Fiji Warriors won all three tournaments from 2011 to 2013.[4][5][6]

The format was expanded again in 2014 with Argentina's Pampas XV and four Australian academy teams joining the competition as core teams competing with the Pacific A sides.[7] The New Zealand development teams did not participate in 2014 and the tournament was held entirely in Australia. Two pools were formed as follows:

Pool A:  
Pool B:  

A single round robin was played in each pool with the top ranked sides from each playing in the final. The Pampas XV defeated Reds A in the final held in Sydney to win the title. Fiji Warriors defeated Samoa A in the play-off for third place.[8]

Pacific Challenge: 2015 onward

The Pacific Rugby Cup was restyled as the "Pacific Challenge" in 2015 and held in Fiji. It returned to a being a tournament solely for national 'A' teams, with  Canada A replacing the Australian academy teams. Pampas XV won in 2015.

Notes
A Japan A, Force A, Rebel Rising, and the Brisbane and Sydney Academies joined in 2013.
B The Blues and Highlanders development teams featured in 2012 and 2013.
C The Pacific stage was cancelled in 2013 to allow Fiji, Samoa and Tonga to maximise preparations for the end-of-year tours.[9]

Winners
Year # of
Teams		 Final  Venue
Winner Score Runner-up
2006 6 Savaii Samoa 10–5 Fiji Warriors Marist Grounds, Apia
2007 6 Upolu Samoa 35–15 Tau'uta Reds Teufaiva Stadium, Nuku alofa
2008 6 Tautahi Gold 11–3 Upolu Samoa Apia Park, Apia
2009 6 Fiji Warriors 19–7 Upolu Samoa Apia Park, Apia
2010 6 Fiji Warriors 26–17 Fiji Barbarians National Stadium, Suva
2011 3 Fiji Warriors round
robin		  Samoa A various
2012 3 Fiji Warriors round
robin		  Samoa A various
2013 4 Fiji Warriors round
robin		  Samoa A various
2014 9 Pampas XV 36–21 Queensland A T G Millner Field, Sydney
2015 6 Pampas XV 17–9 Fiji Warriors National Stadium, Suva
2016 4 Fiji Warriors 36–0  Samoa A National Stadium, Suva
2017 4 Fiji Warriors round
robin		  Junior Japan National Stadium, Suva
2018 4 Fiji Warriors round
robin		  Junior Japan National Stadium, Suva
2019 4 Fiji Warriors round
robin		  Junior Japan National Stadium, Suva
2020 4 round
robin		 National Stadium, Suva

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.

Legend
Pacific Rugby Cup winner. Pos = Log Position, P = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Diff = Points Difference, TB = Try Bonus Points, LB = Losing Bonus Points, BP = Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points, Refs = References
Grand Final winner.

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.[10]

Pacific Rugby Challenge winner and runner-up
Year Duration Pos Team Pool matches Play-offs Refs
Pld W D L F A Diff TB LB Pts Final
2019 8 March
to
16 March		 1 Fiji Warriors 330017054+1163015 — [11]
2  Junior Japan 32019497−33011 —
2018 9 March
to
17 March		 1 Fiji Warriors 330011831+873015 — [12]
2  Junior Japan 3201777702010 —
2017 10 March
to
18 March		 1 Fiji Warriors 330012571+542015 — [13]
2  Junior Japan 320192103−112010 —
2016 8 March
to
21 March		 1 Fiji Warriors 330013434+1003015 36–0 [14]
2  Samoa A 32019856+422010 0–36
2015 10 March
to
23 March		 1A Pampas XV 33008942+472014 17–9 [15]
1B Fiji Warriors 320114542+1032111 9–17

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.[2] No finals were played and team finishing on top of the table after all matches were completed was the tournament winner.[3]

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.

2011–2014 Pacific Rugby Cup finalists.[lower-greek 1]
Year Duration Pos Team Pool matches Play-offs Refs
Pld W D L F A Diff TB LB Pts Final
2014 21 February
to
23 March		 1B Pampas XV 440014883653019 36–21 [7][8]
1A Reds A 320112655712111 21–36
2A Fiji Warriors 320115459952111   54–21 [lower-greek 2]
2B  Tonga A 420296115-19109   21–54 [lower-greek 2]
2013 1 March
to
7 April		 1 Fiji Warriors 6222118155-372014   — [lower-greek 1] [6]
2  Samoa A 6204134198-641110 —
3  Junior Japan 6006140361-221303 —
4  Tonga A 600673306-233000 —
2012 24 February
to
19 October		 1 Fiji Warriors 8701205165403031   — [lower-greek 1] [5]
2  Samoa A 8305191238-470113 —
3  Tonga A 811672253-181006 —
2011 19 February
to
26 March		 1 Fiji Warriors 8404144201-570117   — [lower-greek 1] [4]
2  Samoa A 8305135171-361215 —
3  Tonga A 8215133233-1000111 —
Upolu Samoa after winning the 2007 Pacific Rugby Cup.

Notes:

  1. No finals were played from 2011 to 2013. The team finishing on top of the table after all matches were completed was the tournament winner.
  2. Play-off for third place.

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.

2006–2010 Pacific Rugby Cup finalists.
Year Duration Pos Team Pool matches Play-offs Refs
Pld W D L PF PA Diff BP Pts Final
2010 5 May
to
29 May		 1 Fiji Warriors 54011557382319 26–17 [16]
2 Fiji Barbarians 540114511629319 17–26
2009 24 April
to
29 May		 1 Upolu Samoa 54011148430117 7–19 [17]
2 Fiji Warriors 53021688979517 19–7
2008 18 April
to
24 May		 1 Upolu Samoa 5401904941117 3–11 [18]
2 Tautahi Gold 5302977522113 11–3
2007 31 March
to
5 May		 1 Tau'uta Reds 54011081026117 15–35 [1]
2 Upolu Samoa 5302112114−2315 35–15
2006 15 April
to
20 May		 1 Savaii Samoa 54011208139218 10–5 [1]
2 Fiji Warriors 53111127240217 5–10
2006–2010 Overall pool match results.
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Diff BP Points
Fiji Warriors 25131115984281701468
Savaii Samoa 2514011521451701167
Upolu Samoa 25131114914829963
Tau'uta Reds 251211245543817858
Fiji Barbarians 2511113464592−1281258
Tautahi Gold 2510015425568−143747
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See also
  • Pacific Nations Cup

References
  1. "Pacific Rugby Cup". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008.
  2. "IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2012 – Competition Draw" (PDF). Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  3. "International Rugby Board – IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2012 set for kick off". Irb.com. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  4. "2011 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2011. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
  5. "2012 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015.
  6. "2013 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2013. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015.
  7. Kiap (23 March 2014). "Pacific Rugby Cup Final: Reds A v Pampas XV". Green and Gold Rugby. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  8. "2014 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2014.
  9. IRB cancels Pacific leg. Fiji Times, 29 August 2013.
  10. "Fiji to host rugby's revamped 'Pacific Challenge'". Mai Life. 27 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  11. Pacific Challenge Season: 2019. The Rugby Archive.
  12. Pacific Challenge Season: 2018. The Rugby Archive.
  13. Pacific Challenge Season: 2017. The Rugby Archive.
  14. "Fiji Warriors crowned Pacific Challenge champions". World Rugby. 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  15. "Pacific Challenge 2015, match 12". World Rugby. 23 March 2015.
  16. "2010 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2010. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
  17. "2009 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
  18. "2008 Pacific Rugby Cup Fixtures and Results". Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
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